Lahore was the capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sikh Empire.
Ranjit Singh captured Lahore in 1799 and made it the political center of the expanding Sikh state. He was proclaimed Maharaja there in 1801, and the city remained the empire’s capital until the British annexation of Punjab in 1849.
Lahore already had deep historical importance and became the site of royal administration, military organization, and court culture under Ranjit Singh. The empire also controlled other major cities, including Amritsar, Multan, and Peshawar, but Lahore held the central political role.
Amritsar was the most important spiritual center of Sikhism, which is why the two cities are sometimes confused in trivia. Lahore was the imperial capital; Amritsar was the major sacred city.