I am so much impressed by the glorious history of Punjab during the golden era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who incidentally was raised in his childhood by his maternal Family in a village called Badrukhan a mere 5 miles east of my village Badbar in Barnala District. My mind once again went back to the times after seeing a movie 'Victoria & Abdul' of the nearby same period. ‘Victoria & Abdul’ is a 2017 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim.
Today is 124th death anniversary of Maharajah Duleep Singh, (Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI) , the last Sikh ruler of the Sikh Raj, which had at its height included Panjab, the Northwest Frontier Provinces, Kashmir, Jammu and Ladak. He was the youngest son of the legendary Shere-e-Punjab (Lion of the Punjab) (Maharaja Ranjit Singh) and (Maharani Jind Kaur). In his later years Duleep Singh purchased a 17,000 acre (69 km²) country estate at Elveden and hastened his "dark and mournful end" on October 22, 1893.
DEATH....
Despite his English education and royal life style amid European glamour, the rebellious Sikh spirit that had tasted sovereignty was hibernating in some remote recess of the sub-conscious mind of Maharajah Duleep Singh who on gaining self-awareness underwent a metamorphosis that turned him into a rebel. In 1886 he made up his mind to return to India and place himself as the prophesised moral head of the Sikh people. He got as far as Aden where he was arrested and returned to Europe.
With his innate political acumen, he glanced over the international horizon, established secret contacts with the Punjab, Irish revolutionaries, and the Russian government. Before his intended march from Russia to India, Duleep Singh had been re-initiated as a Sikh by taking amrit pahul. In the proclamations issued by him, he asserted himself to be "The Lawful Sovereign of the Sikh Nation". But the destiny willed it otherwise. His health broke down and he suffered an epileptic fit in a lonely room of the Hotel de la Tremouille in Paris.
It seems that his belated realisation that his second wife Ada was, perhaps, a planted spy whose duties where to monitor his intentions and activities caused him a mental shock that hastened his "dark and mournful end" on October 22, 1893. Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893 at the age of 55, having seen India after the age of fifteen during only two brief, tightly-controlled visits in 1860 (to bring his mother to England) and in 1863 (to scatter his mother's ashes). Duleep Singh's wish for his body to be returned to India was not honored, in fear of unrest, given the symbolic value the funeral of the son of the Lion of the Punjab might have caused, given growing resentment of British rule. His body was brought back to be buried according to Christian rites, Though he had requested to be returned to India to be cremated as a Sikh, fears of troubles his return might cause led the authorities to bury him on his estate at Elvenden under the supervision of the India Office in Elveden Church beside the grave of his wife Maharani Bamba, and his son Prince Edward Albert Duleep Singh. The graves are located on the west side of the Church.A life-size bronze statue of the Maharajah showing him on a horse was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales in 1999 at Butten Island in Thetford, a town which benefited from his and his sons' generosity.
Family
Duleep Singh married twice, first to Bamba Müller and then to Ada Douglas Wetherill. He had eight children in total, six from his first marriage to Bamba:
Prince Victor Duleep Singh
Prince Frederick Duleep Singh
Prince Albert Edward Duleep Singh
Princess Bamba Duleep Singh
Princess Catherine Duleep Singh
Princess Sophia Duleep Singh
He also had two children from his second marriage to Ada Douglas Wetherill:
Princess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh
Princess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh
All the eight children died without legitimate issue, ending the direct line of the Sikh Royalty.
