#maharaja Ranjit singh

[histroy-of-punjab]

Fall of Sikh Empire

Welcome to our new video series examining the fascinating history of the fall of the Sikh Empire, also known as the Khalsa Raj, under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Sher - E - Panjab). In this series, we'll take a closer look at the factors that contributed to the decline and eventual dissolution of this once-great kingdom. Through a mix of stunning visuals and insightful vocals by Bhai Lakhwinder Singh Sohal Dhadi Jatha, we'll explore the key events and personalities that shaped this critical period in South Asian history. From the internal conflicts and political turmoil that weakened the Sikh empire from within, to the external pressures and military campaigns that eventually overpowered it from without, we'll delve into the many challenges that the Sikh people faced in the waning years of their empire. Join us as we uncover the legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Khalsa Raj, and examine the lessons that can be learned from this pivotal chapter in South Asian history. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on the latest episodes, and don't forget to hit the like button and share with your friends. Let's explore the fall of the Sikh Empire together.

[pebblegalaxy]

Hari Singh Nalwa - A Prominent Military Commander of the Sikh Empire

Hari Singh Nalwa was a prominent military commander and general of the Sikh Empire in northern India, during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army and was known for his bravery, military tactics, and administrative skills. He fought in several battles and campaigns, including the First Anglo-Sikh War, and expanded the boundaries of the Sikh…

[onlinesikhstore]

Rare Antique Brass Sikh Guru Nanak Sat Kartar Nanakshahi Good Luck Gift Token T1

Rare Antique Brass Sikh Guru Nanak Sat Kartar Nanakshahi Good Luck Gift Token T1

Bala Mardana Baba Nanak

Token Coin as shown in the photos.

Type: Hindu Token

Period: Not Known - used item

Country/Region of Manufacture: India

[historbuff]

Biography of Maharani Jinda Kaur :-

Introduction :-

Words of Maharani Jinda Kaur -

" I will be called Shahi Fakirni

When the city will write the hall"

This collection is written by Maharani Jinda Kaur , whose life from being a royal women to the end was a very difficult one. Maharani Jinda Kaur continued to try to save the Sikh nation till her last breath and Maharani Jinda Kaur spent her last days as a Fakir.

( Seizing Rajpath Maharaja Duleep Singh)

On 18 March 1949, the British government confiscated Rajpath from Maharaja Duleep Singh. Some of these conditions were also laid down.

1). Maharaja Duleep Singh waives all right and claims on this behalf.

2). The debt owed by the British government to the Lahore government will be confiscated by the British government.

3). Maharaja Duleep Singh will be treated like a king . On 29 March 1849 AD, the state of Punjab came to an end. Read more :-

[cameramator]

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Pavilion

Lahore Fort, Pakistan

[xxthewolvenstormxx]

The funeral procession of Henrik Ibsen, walking up Ullevålsveien from the church to the cemetery. 1906-06-01

A Funeral Procession… passing along Berkeley Street in Dublin.

The funeral of Ismail Gasprinsky, Bakhchisaray, 1914.

The funeral procession of French president Sadi Carnot. Image published in Finnish periodical Uusi Kuvalehti in July 1894.

Funeral_do_ator_Joaquim_de_Almeida_(1921)

The Funeral of Lord Trịnh Tùng from Recueil de Plusieurs Relations et Traites by J.B.Tavernier, Chevalier and Baron D'Aubonne 1679.

The lying in state of King Edward VII, showing guards surrounding his coffin at Westminster Hall 17 MAY 1910

Maharaja Ranjit Singh's funeral. ca. 1840, paint on paper, The British Museum. Pahari-Sikh, from the family workshop of Purkhu of Kangra

Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral by George Edward Robertson

*All Art from WikiCommons

[kaalbela]

In the 16th century in Punjab, Shah Hussain, a Sufi poet and mystic met and fell in love with a Hindu boy called named Madho Lal. Though gay marriage was not legal anywhere in the world before this century, Hussain and Madho defied social conventions and lived together for six years till Hussain's death in 1599. Hussain's poetry is significantly inspired by his relationship with Madho, with some poems addressed directly to him. After Hussain's death Madho continued to live close to where he was buried in present day Baghbanpura in Lahore, and was buried next to Hussain after his death. They continue to lie buried side by side in the same enclosure to this day, and the enclosure is named Hazrat Madho Lal Hussain, embodying one soul living in two bodies.

The annual celebration called Mela Chiraghan or Festival of Lights is held in March in Lahore in order to celebrate the love of Madho and Hussain as well as Hussain's poetry. It is unknown how the ritual was established, but it dates as far back as the the 18th century: there are records of Maharaja Ranjit Singh leading a barefooted procession from the Fort to the mausoleum for this celebration. At present, the festival is conducted over three days and attracts large crowds. Cotton-seed oil lamps are lighted in the streets and houses of the city. Devotees sing and dance and read Hussain's poetry in order to commemorate the triumph of tolerance over forces of bigotry.

[ingek73]

India archive reveals extent of ‘colonial loot’ in royal jewellery collection

File from India Office archive details how priceless items were extracted from colony as trophies of conquest

by David Pegg and Manisha Ganguly

Published: 14:00 Thursday, 06 April 2023

Five years ago, Buckingham Palace marked its summer opening with an exhibition celebrating the then Prince Charles’s 70th birthday with a display of his favourite pieces from the royal collection, Britain’s official trove of items connected to the monarchy. “The prince had a very, very strong hand in the selection,” the senior curator said.

Among the sculptures, paintings and other exhibits was a long gold girdle inlaid with 19 large emeralds once used by an Indian maharajah to decorate his horses. It was a curious choice to put into the exhibition in light of the violent means by which it had come into the hands of the royal family.

Emerald girdle of Maharaja Sher Singh, c 1840. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023

As part of its Cost of the crown series, the Guardian has uncovered a remarkable 46-page file in the archives of the India Office, the government department that was responsible for Britain’s rule over the Indian subcontinent. It details an investigation, apparently commissioned by Queen Mary, the grandmother of Elizabeth II, into the imperial origins of her jewels.

The report, from 1912, explains how priceless pieces, including Charles’s emerald belt, were extracted from India as trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria. The items described are now owned by the monarch as property of the British crown.

Plundered stones

To fully understand the context behind the jewels, and their place in India’s history, it was necessary to visit the archives.

A journal records a tour in 1837 of the Punjab area in north India by the society diarist Fanny Eden and her brother George, the governor general of the British Raj at the time. They visited Ranjit Singh, the maharajah in Lahore, who had signed a “treaty of friendship” with the British six years earlier.

The half-blind Singh wore few if any precious stones, Eden wrote in her journal, but his entourage was positively drowning in them. So plentiful were the maharajah’s gems that “he puts his very finest jewels on his horses, and the splendour of their harness and housings surpasses anything you can imagine,” she wrote. Eden later confided in her journal: “If ever we are allowed to plunder this kingdom, I shall go straight to their stables.”

Twelve years later, Singh’s youngest son and heir, Duleep, was forced to sign over the Punjab to the conquering forces of the British East India Company. As part of the conquest, the company did indeed plunder the horses’ emeralds, as well as Singh’s most precious stone, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond.

The queen mother’s crown sits on top of the coffin during her funeral in 2002. Photograph: Dan Chung/The Guardian

Today, the Koh-i-noor sits in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, on display at the Tower of London, and it has become an emblem of Britain’s tortured relationship with its imperial history.

Anita Anand, a journalist and historian who co-wrote a book titled Koh-i-noor on the diamond, said it was “a beautiful and cold reminder of British supremacy during the Raj”, the period between 1858 and 1947 when India was ruled by the crown.

“Its facets reflect the fate of a boy king who was separated from his mother,” Anand said. The stone too was “taken far away from his home, recut and diminished”. Anand said: “That is not how India sees itself today.”

Buckingham Palace is plainly aware of the sensitivities surrounding looted artefacts. After the Indian government let it be known that for Camilla, the Queen Consort, to wear the Koh-i-noor at Charles’s coronation would elicit “painful memories of the colonial past”, the palace announced she would swap it for a less contentious diamond.

But, as was discovered by Queen Mary, the Koh-i-noor was not the only gem taken from Singh’s treasury to have found its way to the British monarchy.

Royal with a pearl necklace

Among the jewels identified in the document found by the Guardian is a “short necklace of four very large spinel rubies”, the largest of which is a 325.5-carat spinel that later came to be identified as the Timur ruby.

Its famous name is erroneous: research by the academic Susan Stronge in 1996 concluded it was probably never owned by Timur, a Mongol conquerer. And it is a spinel, a red stone similar to, but chemically distinct from, a ruby.

Elizabeth II was shown handling it in the 1969 BBC documentary Royal Family, and was clearly acquainted with the myths surrounding it. “The history, of course, is very fascinating. It belonged to so many kings of Persia and Mughal emperors, until Queen Victoria was sent it from India,” she observed.

The Timur ruby necklace, 1853. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023

The queen was never pictured wearing the item. However, she may have worn another of the Lahore treasures, identified in the India Office report as “a pearl necklace consisting of 224 large pearls”.

In her 1987 study of royal jewellery, Leslie Field described “one of the Queen Mother’s most impressive two-row pearl necklaces … made from 222 pearls with a clasp of two magnificent rubies surrounded by diamonds that had originally belonged to the ruler of the Punjab” – almost certainly a reference to the same necklace.

The queen wearing pearls at the Royal Opera House in 2012. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

In 2012, Elizabeth II attended a gala festival at the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate her diamond jubilee. Photographs showed her wearing a multi-string pearl necklace with a ruby clasp.

Were these Ranjit Singh’s pearls? There was speculation they may have been, though Buckingham Palace was unable to confirm either way.

Queen Mary’s interest appears to have been prompted by curiosity about the origin of some of her pearls rather than any moral concern about the manner in which they were obtained. But a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said slavery and colonialism were matters that “his Majesty takes profoundly seriously”.

Shashi Tharoor, formerly an undersecretary at the United Nations, and currently an MP in India, said: “We have finally entered an era where colonial loot and pillage is being recognised for what it really was, rather than being dressed up as the incidental spoils of some noble ‘civilising mission’.

“As we are seeing increasingly, the return of stolen property is always a good thing. Generations to come will wonder why it took civilised nations so long to do the right thing.”

[women-throughout-history]

Maharani Jind Kaur

Maharani Jind Kaur, also known as Rani Jindan, was a significant figure in Sikh history, serving as the last queen of the Sikh Empire from 1843 to 1846. Born in 1817 in Gujranwala, she became the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, Jind Kaur took on the role of regent for her son, Maharaja Duleep Singh. Jind Kaur's reign as regent was marked by political turmoil and conflict with the British East India Company. In 1845, during the First Anglo-Sikh War, she dispatched the Sikh Army to confront the British, leading to the annexation of the entire Punjab in 1849. After her son's dethronement, she faced imprisonment and exile by the British. Despite challenges, Jind Kaur escaped captivity in 1849, disguising herself as a slave girl and finding refuge in Nepal. Her efforts to resist British dominance continued through correspondence with rebels in Punjab and Jammu-Kashmir. She later reunited with her son in Calcutta in 1861, influencing him to return to Sikhism. Jind Kaur's exile took a toll on her health, and she passed away in her sleep on August 1, 1863, in Kensington, England. Denied the opportunity to be cremated in Punjab, her ashes were eventually brought back to India in 1924 and reburied in the Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore. Despite her challenging life and exile, Maharani Jind Kaur's legacy endures as a symbol of resilience and resistance against colonial rule. In 2009, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Kensal Green Dissenters Chapel, honouring her contributions to Sikh history.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.12 (before 1920)

70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple. 927 – King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north. 1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre. 1335 – Pope Benedict XII issues the papal bull Fulgens sicut stella matutina to reform the Cistercian Order. 1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea. 1488 – Joseon Dynasty official Choe Bu returned to Korea after months of shipwrecked travel in China. 1493 – Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published. 1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty. 1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace. 1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred idols and books of the Maya. 1576 – Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal. 1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published. 1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland. 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage. 1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later. 1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly. 1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire). 1801 – British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras. 1806 – At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine. 1812 – The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario. 1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress. 1913 – Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends. 1913 – The Second Revolution breaks out against the Beiyang government, as Li Liejun proclaims Jiangxi independent from the Republic of China. 1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona. 1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

[histroy-of-punjab]

Hari Singh Nalwa Birthday 1st May

 Hari Singh Nalwa was a prominent Sikh general and commander during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire. He was born on 1st May 1791 in Gujranwala, Punjab (now in Pakistan) and was the son of Gurdas Singh Uppal.

Hari Singh Nalwa served as the governor of Peshawar and was known for his bravery and leadership qualities. He was instrumental in expanding the Sikh Empire's territory and played a key role in many battles, including the Battle of Multan, Battle of Jamrud, and the Battle of Nowshera.

He also built many forts, including the famous Jamrud Fort, to protect the empire's territories in northern areas. He was considered a fierce warrior and was known to fight in the frontline alongside his soldiers.

Hari Singh Nalwa died in the Battle of Jamrud in 1837, fighting against the Pashtun tribes. His death was a huge loss for the Sikh Empire, and he is still remembered as a legendary figure in the Sikh community. His legacy lives on through the many forts and structures he built and the sacrifices he made for his people.

[pebblegalaxy]

Hari Singh Nalwa - A Prominent Military Commander of the Sikh Empire

Hari Singh Nalwa was a prominent military commander and general of the Sikh Empire in northern India, during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army and was known for his bravery, military tactics, and administrative skills. He fought in several battles and campaigns, including the First Anglo-Sikh War, and expanded the boundaries of the Sikh…

[shut-up-rabert]

Jo log India mein rehte bhi nahi unhe India se Khalistan chahiye

Not lahore that was Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Capital

Not Gujranwala that was Guru Maharaj’s birth place

Not US/UK/Canada where they live kyunki sasura wo log jail mein daal denge.

Bhaisahab ko chahiye bhi India mein, aur west punjab lene ki himmat nahi hai kyunki jis ISI se funding/training mil rahi hai usse gaddari kaise kare, but India se Haryana Himachal bhi maang rahe hai.

All while Indian Sikhs inka support bhi nahi kar rahe. Because they believe this is not what the Gurus taught them, but these people are speaking over them in saying that all the Sikhs want it.

Bhai, jigra chahiye hota hai itni entitlement rakhne ke liye, koi aam baat hai itna besharm hona?

[mottamadhan]

Full article copy-pasted below

An Indian princess whose pivotal role remains largely forgotten in history, had great influence in the Women's Suffrage Movement, which led to British women acquiring the right to vote. Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of Duleep Singh and granddaughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Born in the summer of 1876, she spent the early part of her life in the English Countryside and only first visited India in 1903. This was a turning point in her life as she was alarmed by the treatment of her fellow citizens under an autocratic colonial regime.

The princess was enamoured by the work of many Indian revolutionaries and was especially intrigued by the work of Lala Lajpat Rai who was imprisoned on sedition charges. This discovery first moved Sophia to turn against the British Raj and she returned to England looking for a fight. She actively got engaged in WSPU (Women’s Social & Political Union) and inadvertently became a significant part of the Suffrage Movement. 

As part of the Women's Tax Resistance League, they led rallies with the slogan “No taxation without representation” and "No Vote, No Tax". Known as the most vilified women in England, they garnered a special dislike amongst royals. In November 1910, on the day later known as ‘Black Friday’, Sophia and Emmeline (woman who organised the Suffrage Movement) led a protest with suffragettes marching towards the House of Commons. As noted by the Quint, they were passionate with the hopes of convincing then Prime Minister Herbert Asquith’s government to pass a limited suffrage bill.

However, they were attacked by the police and the princess soon got arrested. This only fueled her fire as she started selling ‘The Suffragette’ newspaper outside the elite area of Hampton Court Palace. She also subverted the census and claimed that if women do not count then they should not be counted either. The rebellious princess threw herself at the prime minister's car, all while screaming slogans and holding onto a banner that read “Give Women the Vote”. 

The suffrage sisters were continuously imprisoned and were brutally fed to put a stop on their hunger strikes. Sophia noted the crown’s ruthless antics that only seemed to get worse at home and in their acquired colonies. At last, her efforts came to fruition when the Representation of the People Act of 1918 was passed which gave women over 30 the right to vote. This further led to women over 21 acquiring the right to vote in 1928. 

The princess turned activist spent the majority of her life in public protests and fighting against the establishment. During the First World War she took to the bedside of wounded Indian soldiers known as ‘Lascars’. Through all her efforts she only ever worked for the upliftment of those who were forgotten by a powerful regime, becoming a part of the most integral movement in human history. Finally being recognised for her bravery, the princess is to be honoured with a commemorative Blue Plaque by English Heritage in London.

[royal-diaries-podcast]

Maharaja Duleep Singh (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893)

A young Maharaja Duleep Singh.

Maharaja Duleep Singh (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893),  was born in Lahore in 1838. He was the youngest son of the legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lion of Punjab, Duleep Singh ascended to the Gaddi of Lahore in 1843. This period also saw the once impenetrable Punjab annexed by the British East India Company. 

Promptly de-throning the young Maharaja, the Company was determined to cut him off from his now erstwhile subjects to curb any chance of a rally of support to re-instate him. He was removed from Punjab by British authorities, sequestered to the Hill Station of Mussoorie, followed by his de facto exile to England. 

In 1849 at the age of 10, he was removed from the Punjab with his title and power devolved. The Koh-i-Noor Diamond, part of his inheritance, was surrendered to Queen Victoria. 

Queen Victoria wearing the Koh-i-noor as a brooch

He was subsequently kidnapped by the British Crown, 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". 

Duleep Singh (1838–1893) in 1854; portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Duleep Singh became known for his extravagant lifestyle, enjoying the countryside and game-shooting in particular. Duleep Singh also rebuilt the church, cottages and school in Elveden. Despite his lifestyle in Britain, he decided to fight to reclaim his land and title in the Punjab. 

Duleep Singh photographed by Dr. Ernst Becker in 1854 on the lower terrace at Osborne House

In 1886 he returned to India where he re-converted to Sikhism. He went to live in Paris where he enlisted the help of Irish revolutionaries and the Russians to lead a revolt against the British in the Punjab but he was ultimately unsuccessful in bringing these plans to fruition. 

The Koh-i-noor diamond (which may have been referred to in Mesopotamian texts dating to 3200 bce) mounted in the centre of the cross pattée on the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Crown.