An Inspirational Woman
Princess Sophia was a grand daughter of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. Her father was Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh ruler of Punjab. She was an altruistic person, who made prodigious contributions for the upliftment of women and service to humanity. Unfortunately she been forgotten by her countrymen and left to obliterate from history.
Even though Sophia went through vicissitudes of life and emotional turbulence, she grew up to be a caring and compassionate person: she helped the poor and downtrodden Indian labourers (Lascars) who were working at British docks and were living in deplorable conditions. She provided them food, clothing and shelter from her own personal funds.
She was a pioneer of Woman’s Suffragette movement and fought for rights of women and eventually succeeded in perusing the British Govt. to grant voting rights to women.
During the First World War, Sophia cared for and served wounded Indian soldiers at a convalescent home located in Brighton, England. She gave moral and emotional support to the soldiers, who were recovering in foreign lands, away from their families.
Sophia was a true hero, a role model, a person with sense of service and indomitable spirit to fight for the rights of fellow humans. The book ‘Sophia’ by Anita Anand has been very well written and gives an excellent account of Sophia and her family.
Reference: Sophia by Anita Anand
Peter Bance
