Editing Ranjit Singh (section)

===Governance===
[[File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh with two British officers.jpg|thumb|Maharaja Ranjit Singh with two British officers, artist unknown, 19th century, gouache and gold on paper]]
[[File:Darbar (royal court) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh being held outdoors using a large tent.jpg|thumb|[[Durbar (court)|Darbar]] (royal court) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh behind held outdoors using a large tent]]
Ranjit Singh allowed men from different religions and races to serve in his army and his government in various positions of authority.<ref>Kartar Singh Duggal (2001). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms. Abhinav Publications. pp. 125–126. {{ISBN|978-81-7017-410-3}}.</ref> His army included a few Europeans, such as the Frenchman [[Jean-François Allard]], and Italian Jewish [[Jean-Baptiste Ventura]] though Singh maintained a policy of refraining from recruiting Britons into his service, aware of British designs on the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuiper|first1=Kathleen|title=The culture of India|date=2010|publisher=Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1615301492|page=136}}</ref> Despite his recruitment policies, he did maintain a diplomatic channel with the British; in 1828, he sent gifts to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and in 1831, he sent a mission to Simla to confer with the British Governor General, [[Lord William Bentinck|William Bentinck]], which was followed by the [[Ropar Meeting]];<ref name=prinsep152>{{cite book|author=Henry Thoby Prinsep|title=Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab, and Political Life of Muha-Raja Runjeet Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8bz-gg6mD4C |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-02872-1 |pages=152–161 }}</ref> while in 1838, he cooperated with them in removing the hostile Islamic Emir in Afghanistan.<ref name=roylorge100/>