Don’t brand your campaign Islamic, it’s a fight for a piece of land.

Ranjit Singh was the leader of the Sikh Empire of Punjab. He was popularly known as Sher-i-Punjab, or "Lion of Punjab". He fought several wars to expel the Afghans in his teenage years and was proclaimed as the "Maharaja of Punjab" at age 21. His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839.

Almost 777 years of foreign rule, starting from the Turkish invader Mahmud of Ghazni in 1022 after ousting the Hindu Shahi ruler Raja Tarnochalpal, until the time Maharajah Ranjit Singh entered the gates of Lahore on July 7, 1799; Punjabis had not ruled their own land.

Prior to his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls (confederacies), twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim. Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took over other local kingdoms to create the Sikh Empire of Punjab.

He repeatedly defeated invasions by Muslim armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British. He received support from Punjabi Musalmans who fought under his banner against the Afghan forces of Nadir Shah and later of Azim Khan.

Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernization, investment into infrastructure, and general prosperity. His army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and Europeans. His court reflected a secular pattern, his Prime Minister Dhian Singh was a Dogra, his Foreign Minister Fakir Azizuddin was a Mulsim, his Finance Minister Dina Nath was a Brahmin, and artillery commanders such as Mian Ghausa, Sarfaraz Khan were Muslims.

The Khalsa army of Ranjit Singh reflected the regional population. In the Doab region, his army was composed of the Jat Sikhs, in Jammu and northern Indian Hills it was Hindu Rajputs, while relatively more Muslims served his army in the Jhelum river area to areas closer to Afghanistan.

When Dost Mohammed Khan attacked Peshawar in 1834 to regain it, Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent Fakir Azizuddin, his Foreign Minister, for negotiations. When Fakir Azizuddin reached his camp and talks started, the courtiers gave it a religious bend and he was taunted severely for his allegiance to a non-Muslim. Fakir Azizuddin asked all present that being a good Muslim, it wasn’t his moral duty to loyally serve his king?

The aggressors who were in no mood to let go, cleverly started alluding to the massive bloodshed of Muslims on both sides of the war ensued. Fakir Azizuddin took a pause and asked Dost Mohammed Khan that if he convinced Maharaja Ranjit Singh to give Peshawar back to him, would he return peacefully? The answer was a resounding ‘yes’. And then Fakir Azizuddin retorted: “Don’t brand your campaign Islamic, it’s a fight for a piece of land.”