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RANI JINDAN KAUR
The last queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Rani Jindan Kaur, known for her beauty and courage, was the Regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843-1846. She was the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was popularly known as ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ (Lion of Punjab). Jindan Kaur was stunningly beautiful, and her father who was a palace employee was convinced by the Maharaja to give her hand in marriage to him. In 1835, Jindan Kaur was symbolically married to an arrow and a sword that had been sent to her village by the Maharaja and thus joined the palace as the Maharaja’s 17th Queen. Amongst all the wives of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Maharani Jindan Kaur was the most beautiful, brave, politically inclined, and enthusiastic. She was also a fearless lady, and was thus given the name ‘The Iron Lady’. Jindan Kaur gave birth to a son (Duleep Singh) in September 1838.
Jindan Kaur Aulakh was born in 1817 at Chachar, Gujranwala, to Manna Singh Aulakh, the keeper of the royal kennels. She had an elder brother, Jawahar Singh Aulakh, who became the ‘Wazir’ of the Sikh Empire until his assassination by the Sikh Khalsa Army. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, Jindan Kaur and her son lived in anonymity under the care of Raja Dhian Singh at Jammu, which was governed by his brother Gulab Singh. Following the assassination of Maharaja Sher Singh, 5-year old Duleep Singh was proclaimed the Maharaja. Jindan Kaur thus became the Regent and gradually a symbol of sovereignty. She cast off her veil, held court, and personally addressed the troops. She faced numerous problems, the most dangerous being that certain Sikh factions were secretly negotiating with the British East India Company. She tackled them bravely with the help of her newly appointed council of elder statesmen and military leaders. However, on 13 December 1845, the British Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge declared war on the Sikhs. The Sikhs were defeated, owing to the betrayal of their Commanders-in-Chief, Lal Singh and Raja Tej Singh, and in March 1846, the Treaty of Lahore was signed.
Portrait of Rani Jindan Kaur by George Richmond (1863)
Ranjit Singh and his wives
Duleep Singh remained as Maharaja and Rani Jindan Kaur as the Regent. However, in December, she was replaced by a Council of Regency, that was controlled by a British Resident and given an annual pension of 150,000 rupees. In August 1847, Duleep Singh refused to crown Tej Singh as the Raja of Sialkot. It was then that the British realised that the Maharani was a ‘serious obstacle’ to British rule in India. They launched a smear campaign to discredit her, painting her as the ‘Messalina of the Punjab’, an enchantress too defiant to be controlled. They felt that her refusal to co-operate, combined with her strong influence on Duleep Singh, could lead to an uprising among the Punjabi people. They decided to separate the mother and son. Nine-year-old Duleep was taken to England by his tutor, a Christian missionary, where he converted to Christianity. Maharani Jindan was imprisoned at the fortress of Sheikhupura and then Chunar Fort in Uttar Pradesh.
Though she was kept under tight security, the Maharani did not lose courage. A year later, she escaped from under the nose of the Britishers, disguised as a servant. She travelled on foot through the forest to seek sanctuary in Nepal, where she was given asylum by the then Prime Minister, Jung Bahadur Rana. As for Duleep Singh, with his mother gone, he was placed under the care of John Login, who was deemed by the British to be one of the most reliable men in all India. Duleep Singh was raised like an Englishman. The Rani never lost her hope to see her son again. Finally, after 14 years, she was able to meet him at the Spence’s Hotel, after the British assessed that she was no longer a threat to them. Though Rani Jindan never regained the kingdom for her son, their reunion prompted Duleep Singh to convert back to Sikhism, thus undoing the work of the British to ‘brainwash’ him.
Rani Jindan Kaur seated on a cushion
According to authors and researchers, Rani Jindan Kaur was a symbol of courage and anti-British sentiments. She had an iconic status as she was the last one to stand up to the British. The extenuating circumstances over her later years took a toll on her health, and Rani Jindan Kaur passed away on 01 August 1863.
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