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Wives of Ranjit Singh
Maharaja's wives and concubines From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Maharaja Ranjit Singh had many wives, possibly around thirty.[1] Furthermore, he kept a company of around twenty-three concubines and a 150 dancing-girls, mostly from Kashmir and the Punjab Hills.[2][3] The numerous wives were of various ethnic backgrounds, such as Punjabi, Pashtun, and Pahari, and also various caste-backgrounds, such as Jatt, Rajput, and Gujjar. The marriages initially helped strengthen the Sukerchakia Misl and later the Sikh Empire, due to marital-alliances to various groups.[1][4] After Ranjit Singh provided help to Sansar Chand of Kangra against the invading Gurkhas, he married two of the Kangra ruler's daughters.[2] At-least five of his wives were Muslim.[5]
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Of his marriages, at-least ten of these marriages were by the traditional ceremony and included five Sikhs, three Hindus, and two Muslim ladies.[2][3] At-least a further ten of his marriages had taken place by the chaddar ceremony, which included seven Sikh and three Hindu ladies.[2][3] At the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death, four of his wives (two Rajputs) and seven of his slave-girls (concubines) committed sati on his funerary-pyre.[6][7]
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List of notable wives
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Mehtab Kaur
Main Article: Mehtab Kaur
Jean-Marie Lafont notes that Ranjit Singh's first wife, Mehtab Kaur, was the only wife to bear the title of 'Maharani'.[8] Mehtab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh in 1786, married him in 1789, and was sent to live with him from 1769 after the muklawa (a ceremonial tradition in which the bride is sent to live with her husband's family) occurred.[9] According to historian Sardar Singh Bhatia, Mehtab, however, largely lived with her mother, Sada Kaur, resenting Ranjit's father for having killed her own.[10] Bhatia records that Mehtab had three sons: Ishar Singh (1804), Sher Singh (1807) and Tara Singh (1807). Mehtab died in 1813.[11]
Raj Kaur
Main Article: Raj Kaur
Estranged from Mehtab Kaur, Ranjit Singh married Raj Kaur (also known as Datar Kaur and Mai Nakain) in 1797.[10] Bhatia notes that Raj Kaur was Ranjit Singh's 'favourite' wife and 'took active interest in the affairs of the State'.[12] Bhatia only makes notes of Raj Kaur's oldest son, Kharak Singh, who was born in 1801.[12] Later descendants of Ranjit Singh have proved that Rattan Singh was also Raj Kaur's son.[13] Raj Kaur died in 1838.[12]
With regard to her death The Missionary reported,[14]
"The Maharajah was never the same person again. He was no longer able to mount his horse himself and had to be lifted into the saddle. His recovery was retarded by the death of Mai Nakain, his favourite wife and companion of over forty years . He took the Nakain's death to heart and brooded over it a long time"
Ratan Kaur and Daya Kaur
Ratan Kaur and Daya Kaur were both wives of Sahib Singh Bhangi. When Sahib Singh Bhangi died, Ranjit Singh married the widows in 1811.[15][16] Bhatia notes that the wedding was conducted via the chādar andāzī ceremony, a ceremony in which the marriage is effected upon the unfurling of a cloth on one's head.[15] Daya Kaur had two children: Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh (1821). Ratan Kaur had one child, Multana Singh (1819). Both wives outlived Ranjit Singh.[16][15]
Mahitab Devi
Mahitab Devi of Kangra, also known as Randi Guddan or Rani Katochan, married Ranjit Singh in 1829. Bhatia notes that Mahitab Devi had 'great influence' over Ranjit Singh and advocated for the arts by 'establishing a school hill music and dance' and introducing 'the art of Phulkari embroidery'.[17] Mahitab Devi died in 1939, taking her husband's head in her lap and performing sati by immolating herself in his funeral pyre.[17]
Jind Kaur
Main Article: Jind Kaur
Jind Kaur, wife of Ranjit Singh, is more notable as the mother of Duleep Singh (1838), the final ruler of the Sikh Empire.[18] Jind Kaur married Ranjit Singh in 1835 after her father, Manna Singh Aulakh, who happened to be Ranjit Singh's 'royal kennel keeper', convinced him of her beauty.[19] Jind Kaur outlived Ranjit Singh and was appointed regent when her son was eligible for the throne.[18][19]
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Other known wives
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In the 1830s toward the end of Ranjit Singh's life, his number of marriages increased substantially as many new women were wedded to him.[20] His other wives included, Mehtab Devi of Kangra, also called Guddan or Katochan, and Raj Banso, daughters of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.[21] He was also married to Rani Har Devi of Atalgarh, Rani Aso Sircar, and Rani Jag Deo. According to the diaries, that Duleep Singh kept towards the end of his life, these women presented the Maharaja with four daughters. Dr. Priya Atwal notes that the daughters could be adopted.[9] Ranjit Singh was also married to Jind Bani or Jind Kulan, daughter of Muhammad Pathan from Mankera, presented to him in 1824, and Gul Bano, daughter of Malik Akhtar from Amritsar. Another Pashtun woman, named Zebo, was also married to him, who was originally sent as a concubine from Kashmir in 1832 after being given by her father.[21] The marriages to Pashtun women happened as the Sikh Empire conquered Kashmir and former Afghan territory on its western-border.[21]
Ranjit Singh married many times, in various ceremonies, and had twenty wives.[22][23] Sir Lepel Griffin, however, provides a list of just sixteen wives and their pension list. Most of his marriages were performed through chādar andāz.[24] Some scholars note that the information on Ranjit Singh's marriages is unclear, and there is evidence that he had many concubines. Dr. Priya Atwal presents an official list of Ranjit Singh's thirty wives.[25] The women married through chādar andāzī were noted as concubines and were known as the lesser title of Rani (queen).[26] While Mehtab Kaur and Datar Kaur officially bore the title of Maharani (high queen), Datar Kaur officially became the Maharani after the death of Mehtab Kaur in 1813. Throughout her life was referred to as Sarkar Rani.[27] After her death, the title was held by Ranjit's youngest widow Jind Kaur.[28] According to Khushwant Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal Le Voltaire, his son Dalip (Duleep) Singh remarked, "I am the son of one of my father's forty-six wives."[11] Dr. Priya Atwal notes that Ranjit Singh and his heirs entered a total of 46 marriages.[29] But Ranjit Singh was known not to be a "rash sensualist" and commanded unusual respect in the eyes of others.[30] Faqir Sayyid Vaḥiduddin states: "If there was one thing in which Ranjit Singh failed to excel or even equal the average monarch of oriental history, it was the size of his harem."[31][30] George Keene noted, "In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken off a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman".[30]
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Titles
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There were various khitab (titles) given to the women depending on their status.[20] In the period of the Sikh Misls, high-status women, such as Sada Kaur and Raj Kaur, were given the title sardarni and the more-general term musammat.[20] However, by the time of the 1830s when many new women were wed to Ranjit Singh, the wives were given the more prestigious title of sarkarat, a plural term referring to the multiple women who took-on the sarkar title after their marriage to Ranjit Singh.[20] As per the writings of the court-historians, there were different terms used to differentiate between royal-women, such as wives, versus concubines and other women of the court (servants, dancers, courtesans, slaves, etc.), with royal-women being known through the titles of maharani, rani sahiba, sarkar, and were described as purdahnashin, for their practice of purdah.[20] However, there were cases where non-royal women, such as dancing-girls, managed to elevate themselves to the position of being wives, such as the case of Gul Begum.[20] Maharaja Ranjit Singh would go-on to bestow Gul Begum with the maharani title.[20] The wives' families would often benefit from these marriages, with their brothers and other members of their family often being gifted jagirs and prestigious titles/positions.[21] Most significant and powerful of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's wives was Maharani Datar Kaur who he affectionately called Mai Nakain.[33] Though he went on to marry many women Mai Nakain remained his favorite and most respected wife.[34]
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A list prepared by Priya Atwal of the known wives of Ranjit Singh, using contemporary documents and other sources, is as follows:[35]
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References
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