Maharaja of the Sikh Empire
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh
,
GCSI
(6 September 1838 ? 22 October 1893), or
Sir
Dalip Singh
,
[1]
and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of
Perthshire
",
[2]
was the last
Maharaja
of the
Sikh Empire
. He was Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
's youngest son, the only child of
Maharani Jind Kaur
.
[3]
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
Anglo-Sikh War
, under a
British Resident
. He was subsequently deposed by the
British Crown
, and thereafter exiled to Britain at age 15 where he was befriended by
Queen Victoria
, who is reported to have written of the Punjabi Maharaja: "Those eyes and those teeth are too beautiful".
[4]
The Queen was godmother to several of his children.
[5]
He died at 55, living most of his final years in the
United Kingdom
.
[6]
[7]
[8]
His mother had effectively ruled when he was very young and he managed to meet her again on 16 January 1861, in
Calcutta
and return with her to the United Kingdom.
[9]
During the last two years of her life, his mother told the Maharaja about his Sikh heritage and the Empire which once had been his to rule. In June 1861, he was one of the first 25 Knights in the
Order of the Star of India
.
[10]
Early years
[
edit
]
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
East India Company
declared war on the Sikhs and, after winning the
First Anglo-Sikh War
, retained the Maharaja as nominal ruler, but replaced the Maharani by a Council of Regency and later imprisoned and exiled her. Over thirteen years passed before Duleep Singh was permitted to see his mother again.
After the close of the
Second Anglo-Sikh War
and the subsequent annexation of the Punjab on 29 March 1849,
[11]
he was deposed at the age of ten
[12]
and was put into the care of Dr
John Login
and sent from Lahore to
Fatehgarh
on 21 December 1849, with tight restrictions on who he was allowed to meet. No Indians, except trusted servants, could meet him in private. As a matter of British policy, he was to be culturally anglicised in every possible aspect. His health was reportedly poor and he was often sent to the hill station of
Landour
near
Mussoorie
in the Lower Himalaya for convalescence, at the time about 4 days' journey.
[13]
He would remain for weeks at a time in Landour at a grand hilltop building called
The Castle
, which had been lavishly furnished to accommodate him.
[13]
Conversion to Christianity
[
edit
]
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
Sir John Spencer Login
. His two closest childhood friends were both English
Anglican
missionaries. In May 1854 he was sent into exile in Britain.
Life in exile
[
edit
]
London
[
edit
]
Duleep Singh arrived in England in late 1854 and was introduced to the British court.
Queen Victoria
showered affection upon the turbaned Maharaja, as did the
Prince Consort
. Duleep Singh was initially lodged at
Claridge's Hotel
in London before the
East India Company
took over a house in
Wimbledon
and then eventually another house in
Roehampton
which became his home for three years. He was also invited by the Queen to stay with the Royal Family at
Osborne
, where she sketched him playing with her children and Prince Albert photographed him, while the court artist,
Winterhalter
, made his portrait.
[15]
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
[
edit
]
On his return from
Continental Europe
in 1855 he was given an annual pension of £25,000 a year
[17]
(approximately £3,000,000 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
[
edit
]
From 1858 to 1862 Duleep Singh rented
Mulgrave Castle
, near Whitby.
[20]
Sir Samuel White Baker
[
edit
]
While
Sir Samuel White Baker
was visiting the
Duke of Atholl
on his shooting estate in Scotland, he befriended Maharaja Duleep Singh. In 1858?1859, the two partnered an extensive hunting trip in central Europe and the Balkans, via Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. On the last part of the voyage, Baker and the Maharajah hired a wooden boat in Budapest, which was eventually abandoned on the frozen Danube. The two continued into
Vidin
where, to amuse the Maharajah, Baker went to the Vidin slave market. There, Baker fell in love with a
white slave
girl, destined for the Ottoman Pasha of Vidin. Baker was outbid by the Pasha but bribed the girl's attendants. The two ran away in a carriage together and eventually, as
Florence Baker
, she became Baker's lover and wife and accompanied him everywhere he journeyed.
Reunion with his mother
[
edit
]
When he was 18, Singh wrote to his mother in
Kathmandu
, suggesting that she should join him in
Great Britain
, but his letter was intercepted by the British authorities in India and did not reach her. He then sent a courier, Pundit
Nehemiah Goreh
, who was also intercepted and forbidden to contact the Maharani. Duleep Singh then decided to go himself. Under cover of a letter from Login he wrote to the
British Resident
in Kathmandu, who reported that the Maharani had 'much changed, was blind and had lost much of the energy which formerly characterised her.' The British government decided she was no longer a threat and she was allowed to join her son on 16 January 1861 at Spence's Hotel in
Calcutta
and return with him to England.
[21]
Auchlyne and Aberfeldy
[
edit
]
In 1858 the lease of Castle Menzies expired and Duleep Singh rented the house at
Auchlyne
from the
Earl of Breadalbane
. He was known for a lavish lifestyle, shooting parties, and a love of dressing in Highland costume and soon had the nickname "the Black Prince of Perthshire".
[22]
(At the same time, he was known to have gradually developed a sense of regret for his circumstances in exile, including some inner turmoil about his conversion to Christianity and his forced departure from the Panjab). His mother stayed in Perthshire with him for a short time, before he rented the Grandtully Estate, near
Aberfeldy
. Following the death of his mother and Sir John Login in 1863, he returned to England.
[23]
Elveden Estate
[
edit
]
Maharaja Duleep Singh (as he became in June 1861) bought (or the
India Office
purchased for him) a 17,000 acres (69 km
2
) 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
[
edit
]
In 1864, Duleep Singh married
Bamba Muller
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
India Office
, he set sail for 'home' on 30 March 1886. However, he was intercepted and arrested in
Aden
, then part of
Aden Settlement
, where the writ of the
Viceroy of India
began. He could not be stopped from an informal re-conversion ceremony in Aden, far less grand and symbolic than it would have been in India, done by emissaries sent by
Sardar
Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who was earlier planning the
Pahaul
ceremony
at Bombay.
[28]
Sir Duleep was forced to return to Europe.
Death
[
edit
]
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
India Office
, in Elveden Church beside the grave of his wife Maharani
Bamba
, and his son Prince Edward Albert Duleep Singh. The graves are located on the west side of the Church.
A life-size bronze statue of the Maharaja, showing him on a horse, was unveiled by the then
Prince of Wales
in 1999 at Butten Island in
Thetford
, a town which benefited from his and his sons' generosity.
[5]
[29]
In an auction at
Bonhams
, London, on 19 April 2007, the 74 cm high white marble portrait bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh by Victorian sculptor
John Gibson
,
R.A.
, in
Rome
in 1859
[30]
fetched £1.7 million (£1.5 million plus premium and tax).
[31]
[32]
A film titled
Maharaja Duleep Singh: A Monument Of Injustice
, was made in 2007, directed by P.S. Narula.
[33]
Heraldry
[
edit
]
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]
Coat of arms of Duleep Singh
|
- Coronet
- Naval coronet
- Crest
- A sikh symbol upon a naval coronet
- Escutcheon
- Two swords argent saltire proper
- Supporters
- On either side a Lion rampant or
|
Family
[
edit
]
Sir Duleep Singh married twice, first to
Bamba Muller
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:
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 Muller
[
edit
]
Maharani
Bamba Muller
was an
Arabic
-speaking, part-
Ethiopian
, part-
German
woman, whose father was a German banker and whose mother was an
Abyssinian
Coptic Christian
slave. She and Sir Duleep met in
Cairo
in 1863 on his return from scattering his mother's ashes in India; they were married in
Alexandria
,
Egypt
, on 7 June 1864. The Maharani died in London on 18 September 1887.
Ada Douglas Wetherill
[
edit
]
Ada Douglas Wetherill (born 15 January 1869 in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of a civil engineer)
[38]
had been Duleep's mistress before he decided to return to India with his family, and upon being stopped in Aden by the British authorities he abandoned his family and moved to Paris, where she joined him. They married in Paris on 28 April 1889. She stayed with him through his years in Paris and also travelled with him to
St. Petersburg
,
Russia
, where he failed to persuade the
Czar
of the benefits of invading India through the north and reinstalling him as ruler.
[39]
She died in Sussex on 6 August 1930.
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
[
edit
]
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
Ubisoft
's
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
game. He is featured as a young Duleep Singh, which based on his real-life struggle as an exiled ruler in
Victorian London
.
[46]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- 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
Peter Bance
(Bhupinder Singh Bance). Sutton Publishing,
ISBN
0-7509-3488-3
- The Maharajah's Box: An Imperial Story of Conspiracy, Love and a Guru's Prophecy
, by Campbell, Christy. HarperCollins,
ISBN
0-00-653078-8
The Maharaja's Box
- 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
Thomas Evans Bell
. Adamant Media Corporation, 2001.
ISBN
0-543-92432-7
.
- Maharaja Dalip Singh Cheated Out
, by Avtar Singh Gill. Jaswant Printers. 2007
[47]
- The Exile
, by
Navtej Sarna
. Penguin, 2008.
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
Capt. Amarinder Singh
,
ISBN
978-8174367792
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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.
- ^
Dalip Singh
? website
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 tragic life of Maharaja Dalip Singh
By Reeta Sharma,
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
.
- ^
Campbell, Christy (2008).
The Maharajah's Box
. Harper Collins. p. 100.
ISBN
978-0-00-653078-7
.
- ^
Maharaja Dalip Singh in London
Archived
July 29, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
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
.
- ^
Michael Alexander and Sushila Anand.
Queen Victoria's Maharaja: Duleep Singh 1838?93
ISBN
1-84212-232-0
,
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"
.
- ^
a
b
He prepared the exiled Maharaja to seek to wrest back his lost empire
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 Swiss Account of Princess Catherine Duleep Singh
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.
- ^
Michael Alexander and Sushila Anand.
Queen Victoria's Maharajah: Duleep Singh 1838?93
ISBN
1-84212-232-0
,
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
.
- ^
Maharaja Dalip Singh Cheated Out ? Book Review
The Tribune
, November 25, 2007.
- ^
The Exile: A Maharaja's tragic journey
Rediff.com
, 15 October 2008.
External links
[
edit
]
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