Explain briefly the rise of Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Sikhs were organised into 12 rival misls or confederacies. Ranjit Singh was the Chief of the Sukerchakia misl who brought all Sikh chiefs west of the Sutlej under his control and established his own kingdom in Punjab. In 1809, Maharaja Ranjit Singh signed the Treaty of Amritsar with Lord Minto, the Governor-General of the English East India company. Both the sides decided not to interfere in each other's internal affairs. After this treaty, Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir, Peshawar and Multan and became the master of a powerful kingdom which extended from the Khyber Pass in the north to Sindh in the south. He built a powerful army with the help of European instructors and set up modern foundries to manufacture cannons at Lahore.