Ans. It is true that the Sikh empire went the way Baba Faridhas written:
ਗੰਢੇਦਿਆਂ ਛਿਅ ਮਾਹ ਤੁੜੰਦਿਆ ਹਿਕੁ ਖਿਨੋ॥
(SGGS, P. 488)
“It takes six months (for the formation (of human body in mother’s womb), but only one moment to break it asunder (the death)”.
There are four main reasons for the demise of the Sikh empire:
1. Those who were at the head of affairs of the empire (after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) were not far-sighted enough to realize the (long term) significance of their actions. They got sold (to the enemy). These leaders were either rogues or fools. Rani Jindan was the only true ‘man’ in Punjab and the English people started a treacherous campaign against her. Many Sikh commanders became victims of this campaign.
2. People in general had become soft because of prosperity; they had lost their resolve to live honourably. Cunningham’s remarks are quite appropriate when he writes, “jackals have become the leaders of the nation of lions”.
3. It used to be that a Sikh would be ready to sacrifice his life for another Sikh. Now, however, a brother became a sworn enemy of another brother.
4. The institution of “Gurmata”, that always helped Sikhs at the time of a calamity, had been forsaken (by Maharajah Ranjit Singh). Thus there was no institution that could bring the Sikhs together at a time when they needed such an institution the most.