Ochterlony was greeted with professions of loyalty by the Malwa Chiefs. Khushwant Singh notes that Sada Kaur was present to welcome him as well; in a court thick with spies and intrigue, news of her meeting with Ochterlony must have surely reached Ranjit Singh.
Given the tenuous position Sher Singh and Tara Singh occupied in Ranjit Singh’s affections and seeing no signs of a real reconciliation between him and her daughter Mehtab Kaur, Sada Kaur now decided to take a different course. In 1810, she approached the British and complained that her son-in-law had usurped her rights. Further, she accused Ranjit Singh of treachery and told the British that he did not intend to honour the treaty he had signed with them. The British took note of her accusations, but did nothing. Ranjit Singh had honoured the treaty until then and they had no reason to believe that he would do otherwise in the future.
The year 1812 marked the wedding of the heir apparent, Kharak Singh, to Chand Kaur, the daughter of Jaimal Singh Kanhaya of Fatehgarh. Both Latif and Sohan Lal provide accounts of the lavish wedding celebrations. The Rajas of Jind, Nabha, and Kaithal were present as were agents of the King of Kabul, the Nawab of Multan, the Governor of Kashmir, the Rajas of Nurpur, Kangra, Jasrota, Basoli, Haripur, Mankot, and the chief of Thatta, all of them laden with large quantities of tambol or wedding presents. (Sohan Lal notes that an entire volume would have to be dedicated to accounting for all of the gifts received). The British were represented by Colonel Ochterlony, who had quickly gone from provocateur to friend and admirer of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. All the major Sikh chiefs were present and Jaimal Singh spared no expense in the entertainment of his guests. Fifty thousand rupees were spent on the first day alone and fifteen thousand was offered to the monarch every day in cash. Ranjit Singh’s troops were dressed in scarlet broadcloth and striped silk and the marriage was celebrated with great splendour.
Notable by her absence was Sada Kaur.
She forbade her grandsons Sher Singh and Tara Singh from attending as well. Kharak Singh’s marriage and the heirs that would inevitably follow must have been seen by her as a death blow to her ambitions, which had rested on a matrimonial alliance with the Sukerchakias.
The further deterioration of the relationship between Sada Kaur and her erstwhile protégé is not very well-documented, but a careful study of Umdat Ut Twarikh does yield a few clues. Sohan Lal obliquely mentions that around Vasakhi in 1812, ‘… between the Maharaja and Mussamat Sada Kaur, a little ill-will had found its way on the basis of putting off and treating as trivial the affair of Ramgarhias’. Fakeer Syed Waheedudin provides the missing context in The Real Ranjit Singh. The doughty old lady had been raiding the territories of her traditional rivals, the Ramgarhias, who by then were vassals of Ranjit Singh, forcing him to intercede and bring about a settlement on more than one occasion. Sohan Lal goes on to describe the successful mediatory efforts of a Bhai Lal Singh, which resulted in Sada Kaur instructing her grandsons to ‘… fix up your camp inside the fort of the Bhangis and under the haveli of the Maharaja’. Sohan Lal’s assertion that ‘… the said lady sought a happy interview with the Maharaja and the ill-will and misunderstanding were removed altogether’, should be taken with a grain of salt! By then, the relationship between Ranjit Singh and Sada Kaur had deteriorated beyond repair, but keeping up the appearance of a reconciliation was a clever tactic on the part of the wily matriarch.
In the Umdat Ut Tawarikh, Sohan Lal also alludes to a rebellion by the doughty Akali warrior Phoola Singh (whose tale is told in the chapter The Timeless Warrior). Diwan Moti Ram was sent over to the Cis-Sutlej (south of the Sutlej river; outside the direct control of Ranjit Singh) territory for the capture of Phoola Singh, who had risen in revolt on the pretext of helping Sada Kaur and Nihal Singh Attariwala. The Diwan brought them both back to the presence of the Maharaja and the disturbance in the Cis-Sutlej territory came to an end. It is interesting that Sada Kaur’s name is mentioned; while Sohan Lal does not indicate why Sada Kaur needed help, it would be safe to assume that it was yet another indicator of her continued travails arising from her contentious relationship with the monarch.
Sada Kaur continued to cast about for allies. When her intrigues with the British largely failed, she turned her attention to another powerful woman of the time.
Johanna Nobilis Sombre was the ruler of Sardhana, a small state near Meerut. She had been born Farzana, the daughter of Latafat Khan and his Kashmiri wife Zeldah. History remembers her as Begum Sumru. From her humble beginnings as a courtesan in Shahjahanbad, the old city of Delhi, she became the companion of a German mercenary named Walter Reinhardt Sombre and eventually became the ruler of the state he had carved out for himself. Begum Sumru was an intrepid military commander, a ruthless adversary and a wily courtier, becoming the favourite of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam.65
Begum Sumru had encountered the Sikhs many times during their incursions south of the Sutlej even before the rise of the Sikh monarchy and had a healthy respect for their fighting abilities. For that reason, perhaps, she was reluctant to intrigue against Ranjit Singh and nothing came from the parley but who knows how the history of Punjab might have been altered if these two formidable women had joined hands. Needless to say, Ranjit Singh received reports of the overtures and it only served to harden his heart against his mother-in-law.
Mehtab Kaur took ill and passed away in 1813. So severe was the rift by then that Ranjit Singh did not even bother to offer condolences to his bereaved mother-in-law.
And then came the final quarrel between Ranjit Singh and Sada Kaur.
Sada Kaur had always been resentful and jealous of Kharak Singh, the anointed heir to the throne and for years had been exhorting Ranjit Singh to settle estates and territories on her grandsons Sher Singh and Tara Singh. In response, Ranjit Singh insisted that Sada Kaur should hand over half of her own territories to them. Sada Kaur retorted angrily that as their father he had the bigger responsibility and in any event the boys were her heirs and would inherit her property when she died. The matter remained unresolved and neither Ranjit Singh nor Sada Kaur made any further attempts at reconciliation.
Matters finally came to a head in the summer of 1821, when Ranjit Singh made a decision to divest Sada Kaur of her estates. She was almost sixty years old and had no heirs other than Sher Singh and Tara Singh. Ranjit Singh commanded Sher Singh to take control of his grandmother’s estates. Ranjit Singh’s intentions are clearly documented by his official biographer, Sohan Lal:
The princes Sher Singh and Tara Singh demanded that their grandmother, Sada Kaur hand over the town of Bela to them, but the lady showed great reluctance, offering numerous excuses. Ranjit Singh sent an envoy to arbitrate the matter but it was clear that there would be no resolution. Outwardly, Ranjit Singh remained solicitous but in his heart he had determined to disposses Sada Kaur of everything she owned.
Of course, Sada Kaur was fully aware of Ranjit Singh’s intentions and started to make plans for her survival. Many years ago, when tribute had been levied on Adinanagar, one of her possessions, she had been offered the village of Wadni, which lay across the Sutlej in compensation. As the Cis-Sutlej territories were under the protection of the British, she thought that she might be able to seek their protection as a subject. When Ranjit Singh sent written orders that half of Sada Kaur’s estates were to be provided for Sher Singh and Tara Singh’s maintenance, she demurred and threatened to cross the Sutlej and seek British protection for Wadni. Ranjit Singh responded with a conciliatory and respectful letter, and invited Sada Kaur to Lahore to discuss the matter. Despite the estrangement, she did not suspect foul play and accepted the invitation. Ranjit Singh bluntly presented her with a fiat accompli; her estates had been conferred upon Sher Singh and Tara Singh and she was made to execute a deed to that effect. Sada Kaur ranted and raved, but Ranjit Singh was unmoved.
Now, Sada Kaur plotted her escape and on the pretext of visiting the shrine of Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru at the western gate of the city, fled in a closed carriage.
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As news of Sada Kaur’s flight got out, Sardar Desa Singh Majithia was dispatched to apprehend her. She was caught near a bridge, twelve miles outside Lahore. Despite her protests and the string of abuses she hurled at her captors, she was brought back to the Maharaja in Lahore. Desa Singh Majithia marched at the head of a large contingent and seized all of Sada Kaur’s estates and property without much resistance, with the exception of the fort of Atalgarh, where Sada Kaur’s maidservant put up a stiff fight. Sohan Lal reports that Sada Kaur was forced to accompany Desa Singh and attempts were made to bribe the defenders of the fort with a large sum of money and when that failed, Sardar Fateh Singh Ahluwalia and Dewan Kirpa Ram denied Sada Kaur food and water. Unable to put up with such mistreatment, she sent word to the people in charge of the fort that they must hand over the keys to the fort. Batala, the ancestral home of the Kanhaya Sardars, was given to Sher Singh and the rest of Sada Kaur’s territory was incorporated into the district of Kangra. The immense wealth of the Kanhaya Misl including shawls, jewellery and military stores was seized and became the property of the Lahore Durbar. It is quite astonishing that a monarch, who according to all accounts was considered just and never had a reputation for subjecting even his foes to cruel and unusual punishment, would condone such treatment of a close family member.
Ranjit Singh also sent troops to move upon Wadni, but the British agents at Ludhiana ejected them, recognising Wadni to be the territory of the Kanhaya Misl. Sada Kaur was however not allowed to travel there as Ranjit Singh feared that she would oppose him publicly and vociferously if she was set free. Ranjit Singh decided to avoid a confrontation with the British and her Cis-Sutlej possessions were declared lapsed into British territories. Ranjit Singh kept lobbying the British and in 1827, with the support of the British Resident in Ludhiana, Captain Wade, the last piece of land that still bore Sada Kaur’s name, albeit only nominally, passed into the hands of Ranjit Singh.
A small daily allowance was provided to Sada Kaur during her incarceration. She was jailed first in Lahore and subsequently in Amritsar.
There are conflicting accounts of Sada Kaur’s days in incarceration. In The Real Ranjit Singh, Syed Waheedudin writes that Sada Kaur sent a message from her confinement to Ranjit Singh through her maidservant, asking that she be put to death rather than be deprived of her station and her property. He claims that Ranjit Singh wept and said that Sada Kaur had been more than a mother to him. He appealed to the maidservant to make her mistress understand that what had been done was what she herself would have done if she had taken a reasonable view of things. The property could have gone to her grandsons and it was necessary that they learn to look after it before it actually became theirs.
Khushwant Singh, in Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of the Sikhs offers a very different account. Citing the Lahore Akhbar of May 1822, he writes that two maidservants of Sada Kaur’s petitioned Ranjit Singh on behalf of Sada Kaur and conveyed her greetings, presumably those of a mother to her son. Ranjit Singh haughtily replied ‘Sada Kaur is not my mother nor I her son’. The maidservants wept and asked Ranjit Singh if he had forgotten how their mistress had helped him on the battlefield and made him what he was. Sada Kaur wanted it conveyed that instead of imprisoning her and having her watched by ‘women of low caste’, she wished to be put to death. There were tears in Ranjit Singh’s eyes as well. He promised to call on Sada Kaur but was non-committal in response to her complaints. He dismissed the maidservants with a sigh, saying ‘Such has been the will of God’.
Ranjit Singh never went to see his mother-in-law. Sada Kaur died in captivity in 1832. In the words of Latif:
Thus fell, after having figured prominently in Panjab politics for about thirty years, the high-spirited Sada Kaur, one of the most remarkable women in the history of the Punjab. She had been the mainstay of Ranjit Singh’s power, the ladder whereby that monarch had been enabled to reach the summit of his greatness. She was the companion of his toils, and to her energy, intrigues and influence he chiefly owed his success in his early exploits. She maintained an unbending disposition to the last, and her ruin was brought about by the course of events, not less than by the high tone she was in the habit of assuming and the independence of character she asserted, both of which the Sikh monarch had become incapable of tolerating by the growth of his power. She bore the calamity of her confinement with great restlessness and impatience, upbraiding and execrating her ungrateful son-in-law, beating her breast with vehemence, and renewing her curses and lamentations every day.66
Her funeral ceremonies were performed by Prince Naunihal Singh and Ranjit Singh went to Amritsar to offer condolences to her relatives.
The indignities did not stop with her death. Latif writes that Misr Beli Ram was promptly dispatched to her home to seize whatever valuables were left.
MURDER MOST FOUL: THE TRAGEDY OF SHER SINGH, PRINCE OF LAHORE
On the Sangrand (first day) of the month Assu, Maharaja Sher Singh was at a baradari (a mansion with twelve gates) near Shah Bilawal watching wrestling bouts. His oldest son, Kunwar Pratap Singh was in the nearby orchards owned by the Bhadaniya Sardars distributing largesse. He had already donated eleven cows and five horses and was about to be weighed in silver, which would then be donated as well. Just then the Sandhawalia Sardars arrived, accompanied by new recruits, whom they wanted to present to the Maharaja. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia made his way towards the Maharaja and Lehna Singh Sandhawalia sought out the young prince. It had been decided that when a gunshot would be heard from the direction of the baradari, where the monarch was, Kunwar Pratap Singh was to be beheaded.
Ajit Singh Sandhawalia, accompanied by fifty horsemen, arrived at the baradari, just as the Maharaja was conferring rich rewards upon the wrestlers who had won their bouts, completely oblivious of the angel of death dancing on his head. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia bowed low and announced that the new recruits were ready for inspection, upon which the monarch turned to Diwan Dina Nath, commanding that the troops be inspected, counted and their names documented. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia then with a smile opened a handsome chest he was carrying and pulled out a double barrelled rifle crafted in England, proudly commenting on its beauty and remarking that it had cost him the princely sum of fourteen hundred rupees.
As Maharaja Sher Singh extended his hand to inspect the gun, the treacherous Ajit Singh Sandhawalia squeezed both the triggers, discharging the gun into his monarch’s chest. ‘Oh! What treachery have you committed!’ gasped the king as he collapsed, falling down lifeless. One of the king’s faithful retainers snatched up a sword and dispatched two of Ajit Singh Sandhawalia’s soldiers but he missed when he swung at the traitor himself, the sword shattering in his hand as it crashed into a wall. He was quickly cut to pieces and all of the other attendants of Maharaja Sher Singh fled in a panic. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia severed his monarch’s head from his body and mounted his steed, Maharaja Sher Singh’s head in one hand.
When Lehna Singh Sandhawalia heard the gunshot, he advanced towards the young Pratap Singh, unsheathed sword in hand. The terrified lad begged and pleaded for his life, exhorting his uncle to spare him, promising that he would forever be his servant, but to no avail. His stone-hearted and merciless uncle, unmoved by his innocent and handsome nephew’s pleas swung his blade and severed his head.
This account of the murder of Maharaja Sher Singh and his son Kunwar Pratap Singh, translated from the Punjabi, is from Raj Khalsa Part I by Gyani Gian Singh, also the author of the Twarikh Guru Khalsa.
In the previous chapter, we already examined the controversy surrounding Sher Singh’s birth and the murmurings of illegitimacy as his grandmother Sada Kaur fought fiercely to ensure that his inheritance and his place at court was preserved. It was only after his grandmother’s death that Sher Singh began to transition from neglected pariah to one of his father’s favourites. Hari Ram Gupta, in his History of The Sikhs Vol. V writes that the title of Kunwar or Prince was conferred upon Sher Singh after his grandmother’s demise.
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sp; The wealthy province of Kashmir, once the playground of the Mughal Emperors and the jewel in the Afghan crown, had been conquered by Kunwar Kharak Singh and Misr Diwan Chand in 1819 after a crushing victory over the Afghans in the battle of Shaupiyan. Moti Ram, the son of the late general Diwan Mohkam Chand had been appointed governor of the province, which yielded an annual revenue of seven million rupees. Moti Ram was followed by Diwan Chuni Lal, Diwan Kirpa Ram and then by Bheema Singh Ardali. Baron Hugel, who visited Punjab and Kashmir writes in Kashmir under Maharaja Ranjit Singh that the administrative record of these governors is full of failings and deeds of corruption; most of these governors were either recalled for maladministration or were constantly grilled for non-fulfilments of their engagements.
Bheema Singh Ardali did a particularly poor job; Sunni-Shia riots broke out and he was unable to control them resulting in 300 Irani Shia merchants leaving Kashmir and returning to their homeland. With the law and order situation deteriorating, several Kashmiris started to leave for the stability of the British territories. The Maharaja decided that it was time for his second son to be put to the test. On 14 November, 1831, Kunwar Sher Singh was appointed Governor of Kashmir. The prince had already established a reputation as a spendthrift and a lover of the luxurious life. His salary was fixed at ten thousand rupees a month and he was ordered to remit a monthly revenue of two hundred thousand rupees. Wasakha Singh was appointed his deputy and tasked with revenue collection. As the prince spent his time carousing and enjoying a lavish lifestyle, Wasakha Singh proceeded to rob the Durbar blind and was dragged to Lahore in chains when Ranjit Singh learned of his perfidy.
The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia Page 18
