Sukerchakia Misl in the context of "Sikh Confederacy"

Gujranwala is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its eponymous district and division. It is nicknamed the "City of Wrestlers" and is famous for its cuisine and historical significance. A metropolitan hub, it is the fourth-most populous city in the province and the fifth-most populous in the country.

Founded in the 18th century, Gujranwala is a relatively modern town compared to the several nearby millennia-old cities of northern Punjab. The birthplace of Ranjit Singh, the city served as the capital of the Sukerchakia Misl between 1763 and 1799, and of the Sikh Empire from 1799 to 1801, before it shifted to Lahore.

The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Sikh War. At its peak in the mid-19th century the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east, and was divided into eight provinces. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831 (making it the 19th most populous state at the time), it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.

In 1799, Ranjit Singh of Sukerchakia Misl captured Lahore from the Sikh triumvirate which had been ruling it since 1765, and was confirmed on the possession of Lahore by the Durrani ruler, Zaman Shah. He was formally crowned on 12 April 1801 by Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single misl to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab. By 1813 all the remaining Sikh misls had been annexed by Ranjit Singh, and the following years saw progressive expulsion of the Afghans from Punjab; the Afghan influence east of Indus ended after the fall of Multan in 1818. In the subsequent decades Durrani Afghans lost Kashmir and Peshawar to the Sikhs as well. By 1840 Ladakh and Baltistan had been brought under Sikh suzerainty by Gulab Singh. Ranjit Singh modernised his army using the latest training as well as weapons and artillery.

Ranjit Singh (Punjabi: ਰਣਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ; Persian: رنجیت سنگھ; c. 13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), born as Buddh Singh (Punjabi: ਬੁੱਧ ਸਿੰਘ), was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.

Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl, Singh survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. At the age of ten years old, he fought his first battle alongside his father. After his father died around Ranjit Singh's early teenage years, he became leader of the Misl. Ranjit was the most prominent of the Sikh leaders who opposed Zaman Shah, the ruler of Durrani Empire, during his third invasion. After Zaman Shah's retreat in 1799, he captured Lahore from the Sikh triumvirate which had been ruling the city since 1765. At the age of 21, he was formally crowned at Lahore.

Maha Singh (Punjabi: Mahaṅ Singh; 1760 – 15 April 1790 or 1756 – April 1792), also spelt as Mahan or Mahn Singh, was the second Sardar of the Sukerchakia Misl, which as a Sikh grouping with its guerilla militia was one of twelve Sikh Misls that later became part of the Sikh Empire. He was the eldest son of Sardar Charat Singh and Sardarni Desan Kaur Warraich. He was the father of the Punjabi king Ranjit Singh.

Upon the death of his father, Charat Singh, he succeeded to the leadership of the Sukerchakia Misl. His son Ranjit Singh succeeded him and established the Sikh Empire. He is known for his alliance with Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and for reducing the power of the Kanhaiya Misl. Maha Singh married firstly Mai Man Kaur, daughter of Sardar Jai Singh Mann of Mughalchak-Mananwala, and secondly Sardarni Raj Kaur, daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind and mother of Ranjit Singh.