Duleep Singh
| Duleep Singh | |
|---|---|
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh in 1875, aged 37 | |
| Maharaja of Punjab, Kashmir and Jammu | |
| Reign | 15 September 1843 – 29 March 1849 |
| Predecessor | Sher Singh |
| Successor | Office abolished |
| Regent | Maharani Jind Kaur |
| Vizier |
|
| Born | 6 September 1838 Lahore, Sikh Empire |
| Died | 22 October 1893 (aged 55) Paris, France |
| Spouse | Bamba Müller
(m. 1864; died 1887)Ada Douglas Wetherill
(m. 1889) |
| Issue | By Bamba Müller:
By Ada Wetherill:
|
| House | Sukerchakia |
| Father | Maharaja Ranjit Singh |
| Mother | Maharani Jind Kaur |
| Religion | by birth Sikhism (1838—1853) later Christianity (1853—1886) reverted to Sikhism (1886—his death) |
| Signature | |
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh GCSI (6 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), also spelled 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 East India Company 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 in Paris, otherwise 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]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Eton, the Raj and modern India; By Alastair Lawson; 9 March 2005; BBC News.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
first Sikh settlerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ 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.