Y5/6 (B): What was the Sikh Empire?
Exploring how the Sikh Empire was founded and its legacy.
Please note
This unit has been updated for Summer 2026. There are no changes to the Progression of knowledge, skills and key vocabulary documents.
The Archived unit: The Sikh Empire will no longer be updated.
Unit overview: What was the Sikh Empire?
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Explain terms such as unification and absolute power.
- Identify the skills and behaviours of leaders that contributed to achieving a goal.
- Describe and assess the impact of beliefs on change.
- Identify the significance of a place.
- Make deductions and inferences from sources.
- Apply criteria to decide and explain historical significance.
- Describe how and why interpretations are different.
- Make observations and explain historical achievements.
This unit prepares the children for the challenges of Key stage 3 History.
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Lessons
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 1: How did the Sikh Empire begin?
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 2: How do Sikh beliefs impact society?
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 3: What made Lahore important to the Sikh Empire?
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 4: Why is Ranjit Singh historically significant?
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 5: How do different interpretations shape our understanding of the Sikh Empire?
Y5/6 (B): Lesson 6: How do the achievements of Sophia Duleep Singh compare to Ranjit Singh?
Key skills
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Key knowledge
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Key vocabulary
alliance
bias
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Unit resources
Knowledge organiser: What was the Sikh Empire?
Aimed at pupils, two pages providing key facts and definitions from the unit 'What was the Sikh Empire?'.
Vocabulary display – History Y5/6 (B): What was the Sikh Empire?
A display version of key vocabulary from the 'What was the Sikh Empire?' unit.
Subject resources
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Cross-curricular opportunities
English: Reading comprehension, Spoken language.
British values: Mutual respect, Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Religious Education
Geography: Human geography.
Build on the learning
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