A description of the battles of (Maha)Raja Ranjit Singh with Shah Zaman, Emperor of the Durrani Empire, between 1795-99, including descriptions of the slaying of two Afghan generals, a siege of Lahore (during which Ranjit Singh rode up to the walls and challenged Shah Zaman to a

"Sultan" the last pure-blooded Barbary lion

A sandstone stele of Vāmana in abhaṅga, lower hands in varada mudra, holding a conch, a rosary, mace and a chakra; depicted with full cheeks and slight smile, his hair in snail-shell curls and uṣṇīṣa, śrivatsa on the chest, adorned with jewellery Uttar Pradesh, 10th/ 11th c.

"Although the Seleucids had no definite purpose of Hellenising Asia, mere contiguity naturally produced some effect. The cities, not the kings, Hellenized the East" – A History of Zoroastrianism Vol III by Mary Boyce and Frantz Grenet

I am approaching the end of Andre Wink's Al Hind Volume 1; there are two more volumes (I will be reading them, gradually) - additionally, these 3 books I've mentioned before make for great supplementary reading, to get a sense of the formation of the civilisation of medieval

Ideally, all these regions should have been linguistically organised states. That would have made for a culturally vibrant (and more governable) north India.

The Khalsa Shahi system shares much in common with Akbarean Sul-i-Kul, which, again, has been compared quite often with the Asokan Dhamma. These are all manifestations of the well balanced Tao of the Cakravartin-Dharmaraja: great conqueror kings who are also patrons of justice.

Girnar Jain Temple built by Solanki Rajput.

As you form ideas, your ideas (re)form you.

Shah Muhammad, who had lived through the best days of Sikh Empire, began his 'Jangnama' with a eulogy to Ranjit Singh, and the peace and brotherhood that existed between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in his reign :

I do not claim that the Sikh Empire was a utopia, but it definitely was an advancement over anything that existed in the region in the 19th century.

By the way it was also one of the first polities in the world to officially ban slavery and the slave trade.

My heavenly home is bright and fair; Nor pain nor death can enter there; Its glittering towers the sun outshine; That heavenly mansion shall be mine. I'm going home to die no more.

The world on the eve of the Muslim conquests, from Hugh Kennedy : The Great Arab conquests. [I will be sharing notes and excerpts from the book in this thread, gradually.]