Duleep Singh
Duleep Singh | |
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Maharaja of the Sikh Empire Maharani Jind Kaur | |
Wazir (Vizier) |
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Born | 6 September 1838 Lahore, Sikh Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) |
Died | 22 October 1893 Paris, French Third Republic (present-day France) | (aged 55)
Spouse | |
Issue | By Bamba Müller:
By Ada Wetherill:
|
Maharani Jind Kaur | |
Religion | by birth Sikhism (1838—1853) later Christianity (1853—1886) reverted to Sikhism (1886—his death) |
Signature |
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh,
He was placed in power in September 1843, at the age of five, with his mother ruling on his behalf, and after their defeat in the
His mother had effectively ruled when he was very young and he managed to meet her again on 16 January 1861, in
Early years
After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, Duleep Singh lived quietly with his mother, Jind Kaur Aulakh, at Jammu ruled by Gulab Singh, under the protection of the Vizier, Raja Dhian Singh. He and his mother were recalled to Lahore in 1843 after the assassinations of Maharaja Sher Singh and Dhian Singh, and on 16 September, at the age of five, Duleep Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, with Maharani Jind Kaur as Regent.
On 13 December 1845 the British
After the close of the
Conversion to Christianity
In 1853, under the tutelage of his long-time retainer Bhajan Lal (himself a Christian convert), he converted to Christianity at Fatehgarh Sahib with the approval of the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. His conversion remains controversial, and it occurred before he turned 15. He later had serious doubts and regrets regarding this decision and reconverted to Sikhism in 1886.[according to whom?][14]
He was also heavily and continuously exposed to Christian texts under the tutelage of the devout
Life in exile
London
Duleep Singh arrived in England in late 1854 and was introduced to the British court.
He eventually got bored with Roehampton and expressed a wish to go back to India but it was suggested by the East India Company Board he take a tour of the European continent which he did with Sir John Spencer Login and Lady Login. He was a member of the Photographic Society, later the Royal Photographic Society, from 1855 until his death.[16]
Castle Menzies
On his return from Continental Europe in 1855 he was given an annual pension of £25,000 a year[17] (approximately £2,500,000 in today's value) provided he "remain obedient to the British Government," and was officially under ward of Sir John Spencer Login and Lady Login, who leased Castle Menzies in Perthshire, Scotland, for him. He spent the rest of his teens there, but at 19 he demanded to be in charge of his household. Eventually, he was given this and an increase in his annual pension.
In 1859 Lt Col James Oliphant was installed as Equerry to the Maharaja at the recommendation of Sir John Login. Oliphant was to be a possible replacement should anything happen to the Maharaja's most trusted friend Sir John Login (who did indeed die four years later in 1863).[18]
In the 1860s, Singh moved from Castle Menzies to Grandtully Castle.[19]
Mulgrave Castle
From 1858 to 1862 Duleep Singh rented Mulgrave Castle, near Whitby. [20]
Sir Samuel White Baker
While
Reunion with his mother
When he was 18, Singh wrote to his mother in
Auchlyne and Aberfeldy
In 1858 the lease of Castle Menzies expired and Duleep Singh rented the house at
Elveden Estate
Maharaja Duleep Singh (as he became in June 1861) bought (or the India Office purchased for him) a 17,000 acres (69 km2) country estate at Elveden on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, close to Thetford, in 1863. He enjoyed living in Elveden Hall and the surrounding area and restored the church, cottages, and school. He transformed the run-down estate into an efficient game preserve and it was here that he gained his reputation as the fourth best shot in England.[24][25][26]
The house was remodelled into a quasi-oriental palace where he lived the life of a British aristocrat.[27] Maharaja Duleep Singh was accused of running up large expenses and the estate was sold after his death to pay his debts. Today, Elveden is owned by The 4th Earl of Iveagh, the head of the Anglo-Irish Guinness family of brewing fame; it remains an operating farm and private hunting estate.
Re-initiated into Sikhism
In 1864, Duleep Singh married Bamba Müller in Cairo and established his family home at Elveden Hall in Suffolk. He eventually became disaffected and embittered with the British, and he reverted to Sikhism.
While in exile, he sought to learn more about Sikhism and was eager to return to India. Though previous efforts were thwarted by his handlers, he re-established contact with his cousin Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who on 28 September 1884 left Amritsar for England along with his sons Narinder Singh and Gurdit Singh and a Sikh granthi (priest), Pratap Singh Giani. He also brought a list of properties held by Sir Duleep Singh in India. All this renewed his connection with Sikhism.[28]
The British Government decided in 1886 against his return to India or his re-embracing Sikhism. Despite protests from the
Death
Maharaja Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893 at the age of 55, having seen India after the age of fifteen during only two brief, tightly controlled visits in 1860 (to bring his mother to England) and in 1863 (to cremate his mother's body).
Maharaja Duleep Singh's wish for his body to be returned to India was not honoured, in fear of unrest, given the symbolic value the funeral of the son of the Lion of the Punjab might have caused and the growing resentment of British rule. His body was brought back to be buried according to Christian rites, under the supervision of the
A life-size bronze statue of the Maharaja, showing him on a horse, was unveiled by the then
In an auction at
A film titled Maharaja Duleep Singh: A Monument Of Injustice, was made in 2007, directed by P.S. Narula.[33]
Heraldry
The Maharaja and his family used a coat of arms which was drawn up by Prince Albert, despite not being registered at the College of Arms. It contained a coronet, lions, and a shield with a cross, along with the motto "Prodesse quam conspicii" ("to do good rather than be conspicuous").[34]
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Family
Sir Duleep Singh married twice, first to Bamba Müller in 1864, and then to Ada Douglas Wetherill (1869-1930) in 1889. He had eight children in total.
He had seven children from his marriage to Bamba. Their first child and male heir died aged one day in 1865.[35] The others were:
- Prince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh (10 Jan 1866-7 Jun 1918)
- Prince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh (23 Jan 1868-15 Aug 1926)
- Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Duleep Singh (29 Sep 1869-10 Mar 1957)
- Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh[36] (27 Oct 1871-8 Nov 1942)
- Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 Aug 1876-22 Aug 1948)
- Prince Albert Edward Alexander Duleep Singh (1879-1 May 1893)
He also had two children from his marriage to Wetherill:
- Princess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh (26 Dec 1887-10 Apr 1941)
- Princess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh (25 Oct 1889-14 Sep 1926)
All the eight children died without legitimate issue, ending the direct line of the Sikh Royalty.[37]
There is a memorial at Eton College in England to Princes Victor and Frederick, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh's two sons who studied at Eton in the 1870s.[4]
Maharani Bamba Müller
Ada Douglas Wetherill
Ada Douglas Wetherill (born 15 January 1869 in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of a civil engineer)
Queen Victoria and Maharaja Duleep Singh reconciled their differences before he died. Out of loyalty to Maharani Bamba, the Queen refused to receive Ada, whom she suspected had been involved with the Maharaja before Maharani Bamba's death in 1887.[40]
Miscellany
In 1854, Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society, met her Master Morya in England, who was in her words, "in the company of a dethroned native prince". This "native prince" according to general consent was Sir Duleep Singh. [41]
He was a member of the Freemasons and was admitted into the lodge in 1861.[42][43]
On 21 October 1893, the day before Sir Duleep Singh's death, Prince Victor Duleep Singh, the eldest son of Sir Duleep Singh, had visions of his father looking at him through a picture frame. [44]
Duleep Singh remembered his servant James Cawood who died in 1865 with a gravestone in Killin cemetery, Killin, Scotland.[45]
A 2017 film, The Black Prince, by the Indian-born film director Kavi Raz told the story of Duleep and his relationship with Queen Victoria.
Maharaja Duleep Singh's character is featured in
Further reading
- Sikh History in 10 Volumes, by Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. Published by Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2009–2012.
- Sir John Login And Duleep Singh, by Lady Lena Login. W. H. Allen & Co., London. 1890.
- Maharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence, by Dhuleep Singh, Ganda Singh. Published by Punjabi University, 1977.
- Sikh Portraits by European Artists,, by Aijazuddin, F.S. Sotheby Parke Bernet, London and Oxford U. Press, Karachi and New Delhi, 1979.
- The Duleep Singh's: The Photograph Album of Queen Victoria's Maharajah, by ISBN 0-7509-3488-3
- The Maharajah's Box: An Imperial Story of Conspiracy, Love and a Guru's Prophecy, by Campbell, Christy. HarperCollins,
- Queen Victoria's Maharajah, Duleep Singh, 1838–93, by Michael Alexander and Sushila Anand. 1980. ISBN 978-1-84212-232-7
- Duleep Singh: The Maharaja of Punjab and the Raj, by Rishi Ranjan Chakrabarty. Published by D.S. Samara, 1988. ISBN 0-9514957-0-4.
- Maharaja Duleep Singh: The Last Sovereign Ruler of the Punjab, by Prithipal Singh Kapur. Published by Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, Dharam Parchar Committee, 1995.
- Maharaja Duleep Singh, Fighter for Freedom, by Baldev Singh Baddan. Published by National Book Shop, 1998. ISBN 81-7116-210-X.
- Maharaja Daleep Singh, by Balihar Singh Randhawa. Sikh Literary & Cultural Stall, 1998. ISBN 1-900860-01-5.
- The Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Government: A Narrative, by Surjit Singh Jeet. Published by Guru Nanak Dev University, 1999.
- The Annexation of the Punjaub, and the Maharajah Duleep Singh, by ISBN 0-543-92432-7.
- Maharaja Dalip Singh Cheated Out, by Avtar Singh Gill. Jaswant Printers. 2007[47]
- The Exile, by ISBN 978-0-670-08208-7.[48]
- Sovereign, Squire & Rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the heirs of a Lost Kingdom, by Peter Bance, Coronet House Publishing, London, 2009
- The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar, by ISBN 978-8174367792
References
- ^ His name has several alternative spellings. Among them are Dhulip, Dulip, Dhalip, Dhuleep and Dalip, but he used Duleep when writing it himself, although Dalip is the conventional spelling for the Punjabi name. Official British letters and documents sometimes refer to him as Dalip the Ultimate.
- Britannica.com
- ^ "The Black Prince of Perthshire". The Scotsman. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ a b Eton, the Raj and modern India; By Alastair Lawson; 9 March 2005; BBC News.
- ^ a b Royal tribute to first Sikh settler BBC News, July 29, 1999.
- ^ Freeman, Henry. East India Company, Beginning to End.
- ^ Wild, Antony. East India Company: trade and Conquest.
- ^ William, Dalrymple (4 March 2015). "The East India Company: The original corporate raiders". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ E Dalhousie Login, Lady Login's Recollections, Chapter 14, Smith Elder, 1916
- ^ "No. 22523". The London Gazette. 25 June 1861. p. 2622.
- The Tribune, February 20, 1999
- ^ Duleep Singh Archived July 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine www.collectbritain.co.uk.
- ^ a b Misra, Prachi Raturi (4 September 2016). "Mussoorie memories of a boy king". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-00-653078-7.
- Victoria & Albert Museum.
- ^ Royal Photographic Society. Members: 1853–1901 Accessed 6 July 2014
- ^ "Sophia Duleep Singh". Historic Royal Palaces. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
- ^ Login, Lena Campbell (November 23, 1970). "Sir John Login and Duleep Singh". [Patiala] Languages Dept., Punjab. Retrieved November 23, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Grandtully Castle from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info.
- ^ "The Maharajah of Mulgrave" (PDF). Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Login, Lady Lena Campbell (1916). "Lady Login's Recollections". California Digital Library. Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 207, 208 (Chapter XIV). Retrieved 18 July 2014.
- ^ On the trail of the Sikh heritage BBC News, September 30, 2008.
- ^ ""The 'Black Prince' of Perthshire", Highlander Web". Archived from the original on February 24, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-84212-232-7
- ^ "The UK's finest country sports publication".
- ^ Edwards, Adam (13 October 2001). "All guns blazing". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12.
- ^ "Elveden Hall, Elveden, Suffolk".
- ^ The Tribune, September 21, 2002.
- ^ Duleep Singh Statue Archived March 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Prince charming of Punjab heads up art sale The Times, March 14, 2007.
- ^ Sikh hero bust is sold for £1.7m BBC News, April 20, 2007.
- ^ Bust of Duleep Singh went for 1.7 million pounds in 2007 Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Hindustan Times, October 07, 2008.
- ^ "Maharaja Duleep Singh: A Monument Of Injustice (DVD)". Archived from the original on July 12, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ "Wooden panelcarved coat of arms (panel)". Norfolk Museums Collections. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Geograph:: The grave of the son of Maharajah Duleep... © Richard Hoare".
- The Tribune, June 25, 2001.
- ^ The lives and times of three generations of India princesses. Edited by Peter Bance Archived July 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Navtej Sarna
- ^ "ヘアケア、頭皮ケア". duleepsingh.com. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Russia’s onward march; progress in Asia and India is her goal. Native Indians who may help her-- the story of Duleep Singh’s going to Russia. The New York Times, October 9, 1887.
- ISBN 978-1-84212-232-7.
- ^ Blavatsky, Helena. Blavatsky Collected Writings Online.
- ^ "The life of a British Maharaja". Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
- ^ Grand Freemasonry Lodge of India. Some eminent Indian masons Accessed 10 November 2020.
- ^ Barrett, William (1908). Occultism and common-sense.
- ^ Killin News Apr 1998, P3
- ^ "Did You Know This Ubisoft Game Had Maharaja Duleep Singh's Feature In It". Kiddaan. 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
- The Tribune, November 25, 2007.
- ^ The Exile: A Maharaja's tragic journey Rediff.com, 15 October 2008.
External links
- Duleep Singh – official website
- Gallery of Rare pics of Maharaja Duleep Singh
- Genealogy of Lahore (Princely State) Queensland University
- Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail
- Maharajah Duleep Singh, Biography and Images Norfolk Museum and Archeology Service
- The Maharajah Duleep Singh's Estate Act 1882, Legislation.gov.uk
- Video links
- BBC 2 film on Duleep Singh on YouTube