twelve years old. His widow took charge of the adininistiation, and attempted by every means in her power to render her son effeminate, but without success. When he was about seventeen years old she died suddenly and under somewhat suspicious circumstances, and he immediately as- sumed tlie government. In 1799, having rendered important service as an alh- to Zeraan Shah of Afghanistan, who had invaded the Pvmjab, he re- ceived Lahore, which lie held despite the etl'orts of t)ie neighlioring sirdars. To them lie next turned his attention, and succeeded in subiluing some and rendering others tributary. His successes alarmed the Sikh chiefs, allies of the British, sit- uated between the Sutlej and the .Jumna, who be- sought the interference of Lord Minto, the Gov- ernor-General. According to a treatv made with Ranjit-Singh in 1808 by Charles Metcalfe, the English gave up all interference north of the Sutlej, on condition that that boundary should be respected. Ranjit-Singh, thus freed from the only danger he feared, by 1812 had compelled all but three of the Punjab sirdars to resign their authority, and proclaimed himself Raja. In 1813 he obtained possession of Attock. took ilultan by storm in 1817, and in 1819 annexed Kashniir, assuming after these exploits the title of maha- raja. In 1822 he took into his ser-ice Allard and Ventvira, two French officers who had served under Xapoleon, and by their aid he finished the reconstruction of his army, with the view of ex- tending his dominion to the west of the Indus. In pursuance of this scheme, he wrested the Prov- ince of Peshawar from the Afghans in 1829. After several years of desultory war ivith the Afghans, his army was routed by them in 1836, but this reverse does not seem to have affected the stability of his rule, even in the most recently ac(iuired districts, and his reign was not dis- turbed by a single revolt. He died June 27, 1839. He was totally uneducated and could neither read nor write, but his administration was energetic, and, for an Oriental despotism, equitable. Consult Griffin, Ranjit-,^ingh (Oxford, 1892).
RANK, rank, .Joseph (1816-90). An Austrian
novelist, born at Friedrichsthal. He studied law
and philosophy in Vienna, but devoted himself
entirely to literature, and won reputation with
the popular tales Aiis dcm Bohincr Wnlde (1843),
a new series of which, A'chc (icschichten uus dein
Biihmer ^Vcdde, was published in 1847. These
and his other village stories rank among
the best of their kind in German literature.
Elected a member of the Frankfort Parliament in
1848, he sided with the moderate liberals, lived
subsequently at Stuttgart. Frankfort. Weimar,
and Xuremberg, and in 1861 became secretary of
the Imperial Theatre at Vienna, being afterwards
appointed to a similar position at the Imperial
Opera. His numerous novels and tales include:
Florian (1853) : Gcschichten (inner Leiite (1853) ;
Von Bans cm Haus (1853); Achtspiinnig
(1856) : .4ms Dorf uiid ftfadt (1860) : Ein Dorf-
hnittis (1861) ; Im Klostf-rlwf (1875) ; and Der
Heelenfiinycr (1885). Posthumously appeared
Erinnerunrjen aus meinem Lchen (Vienna, 1896).
Consult Pridl, Jos<eph Rani- (Prague, 1892).
RANK AND COMMAND. In the military
or naval services, the ditt'erent steps or grades
of command are marked by a distinct title of
rank or standing. The rank is relative to the
grade or command, and an officer maj' be of the
same grade jet be inferior in rank to another.
Officers of the same grade are senior or junior to
each other, according to the priority of their com-
mission. In the United States, the Regular Army
commission takes precedence of either militia or
State National Guard commissions of the same
grade. Where the grade and date of commission
of two or more officers is the same, seniority is
according to length of previous service; and
should their period of service be equal, the order
of appointment determines the rank between
officers of the same regiment. Brevet (q.v.) rank
applies only to the army.
As responsibility and subordination are the basis of organization, rank and command are the necessary correlatives. Every rank should have its proper command, and conversely every com- mand should be accompanied by a proper rank. The only safe guide is the custom of nations, ac- cording to which all the forces of the land, com- prising usually several armies, are commanded by a general-in-chief, who is often the sovereign or head of the nation himself, if he should be by education and training a soldier capable of tak- ing the field in that capacity; each separate army is commanded by a general or field-mar- shal, each army corps by a lieutenant-general, each division by a major-general, and each brig- ade by a brigadier-general. The regiment is com- manded by a colonel, assisted by a lieutenant- colonel, each battalion by a major, and each com- pany by a captain, assisted by first and second lieutenants.
There are some slight differences in the various armies of the world. For example, in France the highest rank is that of Marshal of France, and there is no grade corresponding to the United States major-general; in Germany the generals are classified as marshal-generals, colonel-gen- erals, generals of infantry, cavalry, or artillery (commanding army corps), lieutenant-generals (commanding divisions), and major-generals (commanding brigades) — there are no brigadier- generals, and there are two grades of captains, first and second class. In Great Britain the bat- talions are commanded by lieutenant-colonels, and the field batteries by majors. The grades of non-commissioned officers, other than sergeant and corporal, are also quite different in the differ- ent armies.
Promotion is an important factor in rank and command, since its rate determines the age at which any particular rank or command is reached, and the latter is a very important ele- ment in the organization of an army, because rapid promotion insures to the higher commands young, and therefore energetic, officers. Germany may be taken as the type of the Continental armies, and there promotion from second to first lieutenant takes place in the arm of the service, from first lieutenant to captain by corps, from captain to major in the arm again, and above that in the entire army; transfers are often made in order to equalize jironiotion. and incapable officers are retired ; in tlie general staff promotion is more rapid, because there are more majors than captains, and the former are continually passing out for service in the line. Promotion in the German army has been as follows: to first lieu- tenant after 7 years of service, to captain after 12. to major after 23. to lieutenant-colonel after 30, to colonel after 33, and to major-general after
