Nineteen century Indian King Maharaja Ranjit Singh is the greatest ruler of all times as per a poll held by the “BBC World Histories Magazine”. Known as “Lion of Punjab”, Maharaja Ranjith Singh defeated all other competitors in the poll.
More than 5,000 readers participated in the poll Ranjit Singh polled more than 38 per cent of the vote. He was praised for creating a new tolerant empire.
African Independence Fighter Amilcar Cabral came in the second place. He polled 25 per cent of the votes. Ranjith Singh is credited with uniting more than one million Guineans in their fight against Portuguese occupation. The King was also instrumental in the fight for independence in colonised African countries.
Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill is in the third place. He got seven percent of the votes. American President Abraham Lincoln is at fourth place. British monarch Elizabeth I is on top of female female leaders. Historians Matthew Lockwood, Margaret MacMillan, Gus Casely Hayford and Rana Mitter nominated the names for the polls.
Mughal Emperor Akbar, Russian Empress Catherine the Great and French leader Joan of Arc are also in the list of top leaders.
BBC World History Magazine editor Matt Elton said that Maharaja Ranjith Singh was not as familiar as others in the list. But he made to the top and this showed the great warrior’s leadership qualities still inspired people. He said that Ranjith Singh’s rule was interpreted as representing ideals of tolerance, cooperation and freedom when global political tensions are on a rise. Ranjit Singh was more than a mere conqueror. The Maharaja was a unifier when the Indian subcontinent was rive with imperial competition, wars of conquest and religious strife.
Lockwood, an assistant professor of history at University of Alabama, nominated Ranjit Singh.
