Maharaja Duleep Singh
Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last King of the Sikh Empire was born on September 6th, 1838. He was the son of a junior wife of the Lion of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and was not destined to become the ruler of the once powerful empire of the Sikhs. After the great King died, Punjab witnessed a tumultuous period during which three successive rulers were killed due to internal intrigues and political machinations played out by the courtiers. Duleep was placed on the throne at the age of five and after two closely contested wars with the British, the Sikh empire witnessed its sunset in 1849, when the young King had to surrender the empire along with the priceless Kohinoor diamond to the victors.
After taking over the kingdom of Punjab, the British took care of the innocent, disposed King; however, they were cautious of the Sikhs and made sure that he was placed at a distant location from his community so that future insurrections could be avoided with the brave Sikh warriors. Duleep was separated from his mother and was placed in the care of Dr. Login at Fatehgarh, a place quite far from the Punjab. Here the young impressionist child was introduced to the English culture along with the tenants of Christianity. After considerable introspection, Duleep decided to convert to the new faith.
Duleep moved to the United Kingdom and was introduced to Queen Victoria and her family. The Queen was impressed with the young boy who had beautiful eyes and looked handsome in his native dress. He became a regular visitor at the royal palace and seemed to have amicable relationship with the Queen, her consort, Prince Albert and her young family. During his stay in his adoptive or exiled country, Duleep was however prevented from attending formal university as it was felt that he may not be able to adapt and may face hardships at the hands of other students. Also, the Queen wanted Duleep to marry princess Gouramma from a princely state in India, whom she had adopted. Duleep had expressed his interest in marrying another British girl; however, that request was never advanced as inter-racial marriages were a taboo during that period.
Duleep had many restrictions placed on him and the British were not sincere at fulfilling their part of the treaty. He was not given the stipulated amount of pension that was agreed upon when Punjab was annexed. Duleep was prevented from going to Punjab when he went to India to bring back his mother to UK and after a few years, was again not allowed to go to his native land to perform final cremation rites of his deceased mother. Duleep showed his resentment early on in his youth by marrying a girl from an Abyssinian descent in Egypt. After marriage, Duleep lived in a grand estate which had considerable expenses for daily maintenance, and on top of that he had to live on a truncated income. He had regularly corresponded with the British bureaucracy and had asked them to honour their part of the treaty; however, his appeals were unfavourably and coldly addressed by the Government. Had they been more diplomatic and generous in their dealings with Duleep, the government would have been able to avoid embarrassing situation in the future.
Duleep was a victim of the ambitious aspirations of his own relatives. His mother, Maharani Jindan was an intelligent and sagacious woman whom the British looked upon with contempt and tarnished her character. She on being reunited with her son, informed him of his lost empire, she re-introduced him to his Sikh religion and gave fuel to his rebellious nature that had been ignited in the young man.
Also, Duleep’s cousins in India corresponded with him and gave him hopes that he had the support of other Princely rulers and that they would contribute financially and militarily in helping him restore his former kingdom. Mischievously, ‘Sakhis’ or Sikh prophecies had been written by people with vested interests and they had predicted that Duleep would rise up against the British and eventually defeat them with the help of Russia and other western powers and he would be the saviour of the Sikh nation. All these intrigues did play with the mind of Duleep Singh and he rebelled against the British by leaving the UK and moved over to Paris and Russia to seek their help in overthrowing his antagonists. He was a pawn in the hand of the British who kept a strict watch on the movements of Duleep during his stay abroad. His correspondence was closely monitored and most of his wealth was disposed from him in an unscrupulous manner. Unfortunately, during all of this, Duleep also abandoned his wife and young children, who were subsequently raised by their guardians in the UK and had to deal with their own issues during their lifetime.
Duleep was determined that he would be able to take advantage of the political situation in Europe and would receive help from Russia so that he could lead an army from Afghanistan and along with the Sikh soldiers in the Indian Army would be able to defeat the British. However, his plans failed to materialize and he lost his wealth to pretenders and conspirators during the ordeal. Eventually, the stress took a toll on his health and he became an indignant person. The Queen did visit Duleep and forgave him for his transgressions as she genuinely loved and cared for her ‘Black Prince’ as she used to affectionately refer to him. Duleep died a broken man in a lonely apartment in Paris. He was brought back to his adoptive country and buried at Elveden Church along with his wife and a younger son. He was a boy who started off his life being one of the most powerful Kings; however, during his final moments had no one beside him who could hold his hand and comfort him during his final breath. I personally have felt quite sorry for him and hope his spirit may rest in peace.
