The Last Maharaja: Duleep Singh

He was crowned before he knew the weight of his title, and once he did power had shifted hands.

The last of a bloodline

6th September, 1838. The final child was born into the royal house of the Sikh Empire, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Maharani Jind Kaur - Duleep Singh.

15th September, 1843. Duleep Singh was crowned Maharaja of Punjab, following the assassination of Sher Singh. His coronation was a necessity - the Sikh court needed a figurehead, and Duleep Singh was the next royal.
His mother, Maharani Jind Kaur served as regent. She sought to preserve Punjabi Sovereignty amid growing external pressures.

But behind the crown, power was shifting - toward a growing British presence and the Dogra brothers.

The End of SOVEREIGNTY

By the mid 1840s, the Sikh Empire had surrendered to its inevitable fall.

• The First Anglo Sikh War ended with the Treaty of Lahore, which gave the British East India Company political supervision over the Sikh Empire.

• The Second Anglo Sikh War resulted in full British victory.

• In March of 1849, the 11 year old Maharaja Duleep Singh formally surrendered his sovereignty to the British East India Company.

Along with the empire, the Koh-i-Noor diamond was also transferred to the British, and the Sikh empire was annexed as a province of British India.

Removal and resettlement

Following the annexation of Punjab to British India, Duleep Singh was placed under the guardianship of Dr. John Login, a British officer charged with overseeing his education and welfare.

He was relocated to Fatehgarh, where he converted to Christianity and was raised by English customs. As an adolescent, he was bough to England where he lived closely with the elite class. Despite living with privileges and status, he no longer held any official royal title as the empire had fallen.

A changing Identity

As an adult, Duleep Singh was reunited with Maharani Jind Kaur, who had been exiled to Nepal herself. After her death in 1863, Duleep converted back to Sikhism, and attempted to return to India, but was not successful.

Death and Legacy

Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893, aged 55 and was buried in England. His life is a complex story of displacement. His role in history is largely symbolic, and he greatly represents the end of Indigenous rule in Punjab.

To the Maharaja who was crowned, and dethroned too early. 
To the bloodline who saw the rise and fall of Indigenous rule in Punjab. 
May history hold you in reverance, TrishSaab