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Starting off as a martial race, the Sikhs stood up against Aurangzeb and his brutal imposition of jizya. There was a dire need to replenish the national coffers after his father, the megalomaniac Shah Jahan, had depleted them, completing the magnificent Taj Mahal. Their prowess continued during the reign of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. The emperor remains the lone leader who managed to unite Punjab and conquer the region now referred to as Afghanistan.
