Includes bibliographical references and index

Emergence of Sikh space and contesting religious identities -- Emergence of Sikh hegemony and its legitimacy over Muslim elites in 18th-century Punjab -- The process of change : from Muslim elites to non-Muslim elites in 19th-century Punjab -- State formation : the issue of legitimacy among Muslim subjects -- Appendices -- Glossary.

"This book examines the state formation process in Panjab and the qualitative change in the hegemony of elites from Muslims to non-Muslims in the first half of the nineteenth century. It argues that after the emergence of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century, there appeared on the social fabric of elites two distinct categories, the Muslim and the non-Muslim"--Provided by publisher.