Duleep Singh

Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire", was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son, the only child of Maharani Jind Kaur.

Duleep Singh
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh in 1875, aged 37
Maharaja of the Sikh Empire
King of Punjab
Maharaja of Lahore
Reign15 September 1843 – 29 March 1849
PredecessorSher Singh
RegentsMaharani Jind Kaur
Wazir (Vizier)
Born4 September 1838
Lahore, Sikh Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Died22 October 1893(1893-10-22) (aged 55)
Paris, French Third Republic (present-day France)
Spouse
(m. 1864; died 1887)
    Ada Douglas Wetherill
    (m. 1889)
    Issue
    By Bamba Müller:
    By Ada Wetherill:
    • Princess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh
    • Princess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh
    HouseSandhanwalia
    FatherMaharaja Ranjit Singh
    MotherMaharani Jind Kaur
    Religionby birth Sikhism (1838—1853)
    later Christianity (1853—1886)
    reverted to Sikhism (1886—his death)
    Signature

    He was placed in power in September 1843, at the age of five, with his mother ruling on his behalf, and after their defeat in the Anglo-Sikh War, under a British Resident. He was subsequently deposed 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". The Queen was godmother to several of his children. He died at 55, living most of his final years in the United Kingdom.

    His mother had effectively ruled when he was very young and he managed to meet her again on 16 January 1861, in Calcutta and return with her to the United Kingdom. During the last two years of her life, his mother told the Maharaja about his Sikh heritage and the Empire which once had been his to rule. In June 1861, he was one of the first 25 Knights in the Order of the Star of India.

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