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 Maharani
Jind Kaur was popularly known as Jindan,
was wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and
mother of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the
last Sikh sovereign of the Punjab. She
was daughter of Manna Singh, an Aulakh
Jatt of Gujranwala, who held an humble
position at the court as an overseer
of the royal kennels. Scant notice of
Maharani Jind Kaurs taken either by
the official Lahore diarist, Sohan Lal
Suri, or the British records until 1838,
when according to the former, a munshi
brought the blessed tidings of the birth
of a son to her it appears that she
and her son lived a life of obscurity
under the care of Raja Dhian Singh at
Jammu in August 1843, the young prince
and her mother were brought to Lahore
in September 1843, both Maharaja Sher
Singh and Dhian Singh were assassinated.
Raja Hera Singh, Dhian Singh's son,
with the support of the army and chiefs,
wiped out the Sandhawalia faction Shortly
after, Hira Singh captured the Fort
of Lahore and on 16 September 1845,
the army proclaimed minor Duleep singh
the sovereign of the State Hira Singh
was appointed the wazir.
The political history of Jind Kaur
begins from that date Gradually, she
assummed the role of a dejure regent
to the minor Maharaja Both Hira Singh
and his adviser, Pandit Jalla, did not
allow her the courtesy and consideration
she was entitled to. Her establishtnent
was put under the control of Misr Lal
Singh. Jind Kaur mobilized opinion at
the Darbar against the dominance of
the Dogras. She and her brother,Jawahar
Singh, pleaded with the army panchayats
(regimental committees) to banish Pandit
Jalla and protect the rights of minor
Duleep Singh "Who is the real sovereign?"
she angrily asked the regimental committees
assembled in council "Duleep Singh
or Hira Singh? If the fonner, then the
Khalsa should ensure that he was not
a king with an empty title" The
council assured the Rani that Duleep
Singh was the real king of the Punjab.
The army generals treated Jind Kaur
with deference and addressed her as
Mai Sahib or mother of the entire Khalsa
Commonwealth .
The eclipse of the Jalla regime was
a political victory for Maharani Jind
Kaur, who had goaded the army to overthrow
Hira Singh and install her brother Jawahar
Singh as the Wazir. She now assumed
control of the governmcnt with the approval
of the army generals who declared that
they would place her on the throne of
Delhi
Jind Kaur proclaimed herself regent
and cast off her veil She became the
symbol of the sovereignty of the Khalsa
ruling the Punjab in the name of her
son. She reviewed the troops and addressed
them, held court and transacted state
businessin public. She reconstituted
the supreme Khalsa Council by giving
representation to the principal sardars
and restored a working balance between
the army panchayats and the civil administration.
Numerous vexatious problems confronted
the Maharani. First, An alarm was created
that an English force was accompanying
Peshaura Singh to Lahore, and that he
was being helped secretly by Gulab Singh
Second, the troops clamoured for a raise
in their pay The feudatory chiefs demanded
the restoration of their resumed jagirs,
remission of fines and reduction of
enhanced taxes and burdens imposed upon
them by Hira Singh.,Finally, it appeared
that the diminishing revenues of the
State could not balance the increasing
cost of the civil and military administration.
Jind Kaur applied herself to the solution
of these problems and secured to this
end the assistance of a newly appointed
council of elder statesmen and military
generals Kanvar Pashaura Singh was summoned
to Lahore and persuaded to return to
his Jagir Early in 1845, a force 35,000
strong marched to Jammu for the chastisement
of Gulab Singh. The council had accused
him of being a traitor to the Panth
and charged him with treachery and intrigue
against his sovereign. In April 1845,
the army returned to Lahore with the
Dogra chief as a hostage. The pay of
the soldiery was enhanced and Jawahar
Singh was formally installed Wazir.
Maharani Jind Kaur's choice of Jawahar
Singh as Wazir became the subject of
criticism. To counteract the rising
disaffection, Jind Kaur hastily betrothed
Duleep Singh, in the powerful Atan family,
opened top negotiations with Gulab Singh
and promised higher pay to the soldiery.
When Jawahar Singh was assassinated
by the army Panchayats suspecting his
hand in the murder of Kanvar Pashayra
Singh, Jind Kaur gave vent to her anguish
with loud lamentation. Early in November
1845, she, with the approval of the
Khalsa Council, nominated Misr Lal Singh
to the office of wazir.
Maharani Jind Kaur has been accused
by some historians of wishing the Khalsa
army to destroy itself in a war with
the English. A more balanced and realistic
view will be obtained by a closer examination
of the policies of Ellenborough and
Hardinge and of other incidental political
factors which led to a clash of arms
between the Sikhs and the English in
December 1845, The Ellenborough papers
in the Public Records Office, London,
especially Ellenborough's and Hardinge's
private correspondence with the Duke
of Wellington, disclose the extent of
British military preparations on the
Sikh frontier. The correspondence reveals
the inside story of the main causes
of the first Anglo-Sikh warr. The republican
upsurge of the Khalsa soldiery to save
Ranjit Singh's kingdom from foreign
aggression, the concentration of large
British forces on the Sutlej, the British
seizure of Suchet Singh's treasure,
the intrigues of British political officers
to break the loyalty of the Sikh governors
of Kashmir and Multan, the rejection
of Lahore claim to the village of Moran,
and the extraordinarily hostile conduct
of Major George Broadfoot, the British
Political Agent at the North-West Frontier
Agency, towards the Sikhs, particularly
the virtual seizure by hint of the cis-Sutlej
possessions of the Lahore Goverment
in view of these factors, the theory
that the Sikh army had become perilous
to the regency and that the courtiers
plotted to engage the army against the
British becomes untenable on the contrary,
the regent was the only person who exhibited
determination and courage during the
critical period of the war with the
British .
In December 1846, Maharani Jind Kaur
surrendered political power to the council
of ministers appointed by the British
Resident after the treaty of Bharoval.
The Sikh Darbar Ceased to exist as a
sovereign political body. The regent
was dismissed with an annuity of Rs
1,50,00O and "an officer of Company's
artillery became, in effect, the successor
to Ranjit Singh "
Maharani Jind Kaur was treated with
unnecessary acrimony and suspicion.
She had retired gracefully to a life
of religious devotion in the palace,
yet mindful of the rights of her minor
son as the sovereign of the Punjab.
Henry Lawrence, the British Resident
at Lahore, and Viscount Hardinge both
accused her of fomenting intrigue and
influencing the Darbar politics. After
Bharoval, Hardinge had issued instructions
that she must be deprived of all political
power in March 1847, he expressed the
view that she must be sent away from
Lahore.
At the time of Tej Singh's investiture
as Raja of Sialkot in August 1847, it
was suspected that the young Maharaja
had refused to confer the title on him
at the instigation of his mother. She
was also suspected of having a hand
in what is known as the Premilla Plot
a conspiracy designed to murder the
British Resident and Tej Singh at a
fete at the Shalamar Gardens. Although
neither of the charges against Jind
Kaur could be substantiated on enquiry,
she was removed to Sheikhupura in September
1847, and her allowance was reduced
to Rs 48,000. Lord Dalhousie, instructed
Sir Frederick Currie, the British Resident
at Lahore, to expel her from the Punjab.
Currie acted promptly. He implicated
Jind Kaur in a fictitious plot and sent
her away from Sheikhupura to Banaras.
She remained interned at Banaras under
strict surveillance in 1848, allegations
were made by Major MacGregor, in attendance
on her, that she was in correspondence
with Mulraj and Sher Singh at Multan.
A few of her letters were intercepted
and an alarm was created when one of
her slave girls escaped from Banaras.
She was removed to the Fort of Chunar
from where she escaped to Nepal disguised
as a maid-servant
Maharani Jind Kaur arrived at Kathmandu
on 29 April 1849. The British Government
promptly confiscated her jewellery worth
Rs 9,00,000 and stopped her pension
At Kathmandu, the sudden appearance
of the widow of Ranjit Singh was both
unexpected and unwelcome, Yet Jung Bahadur,
the prime minister, granted her asylum,
mainly as a mark of respect to the memory
of the late Maharaja Ranjit Singh. A
residence was assigned to her at Thapathall,
on the banks of the Vagmati river, and
the Nepalese government settled upon
her an allowance for her maintenance.
The Nepal Residency papers relate the
details of Jind Kaur's unhappy sojourn
in Nepal till 1860. The British Residency
in Kathmandu kept a vigilant eye on
her throughout. It believed that she
was engaged in political intrigue to
secure the revival of the Sikh dynasty
in the Punjab. Under constant pressure
firm the British, the Nepal Darbar turned
hostile lowards the Maharani and levied
the most humiliating restrictions on
her. But the forlorn widow of Ranjit
Singh remained undaunted. She quietly
protested against the indignities and
restrictions imposed upon her by Jung
Bahadur. Jung Bahadur expelled from
the valley one of her attendants, and
the Maharani dismissed the entire staff
foisted upon her by the Nepalese Government.
She was then ordered to appear in person
in the Darbar to acknowledge Nepalese
hospitality, which she refused to do.
The breach between her and Jung Bahadur
widened. The Nepal Residency Records
tell us that an open rift took place,
and "several scenes occurred in
which each seemed to have given way
to temper, to have addressed the other
ill very insulting language."
Towards the end of 1860, it was signified
to Maharani Jind Kaur that her son,
Maharaja Duleep Singh, was about to
return to India and that she could visit
him in Calcutta. She Welcomed the suggestion
and travelled to Calcutta to meet her
son, Who took her with him to England.
Maharani Jind Kaur died at Kensington,
England, on 1 August 1863.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Copyright © Harbans Singh "The
encyclopedia of Sikhism."
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