Chand Kaur (1802 – 11 June 1842) was fourth ruler of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

, proclaimed as Malika Muqaddisa on 2 December 1840. She was born to Sardar Jaimal Singh of the

Kanhaiya Misl The Kanhaiya Misl was founded by the Sandhu Jats. Jai Singh Sandhu (son of Khushal Singh) of the village Kanha (district Lahore) was the founder of this ''Misl''; hence the misl came to known as Kanhaiya Misl; another founder leader of thi ...

. In 1812, she was married to Crown Prince Kharak Singh, son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

and

Maharani Datar Kaur Maharani Datar Kaur (born Bibi Raj Kaur Nakai; (c. 1784– 20 June 1838) was the queen consort of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire and the mother of his successor, Maharaja Kharak Singh. She was the daughter of Sardar Ran ...

. In 1821 she gave birth to their only son

Nau Nihal Singh Kunwar Nau Nihal Singh (9 March 1821 – 5 November 1840) was the third Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was the only son of Maharaja Kharak Singh and his consort, Maharani Chand Kaur. He was known as Yuvraj Kunwar Nau Nihal Singh. He was also kn ...

, who became second in

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. During her husband's reign she served as the queen consort of the

and became the

Rajmata ''Rajmata'' (''lit.'' king's mother) is an Indian term used for the mother of the head of a princely family in India. Examples include * Rajmata Jijau, mother of Shivaji *Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia of Gwalior, mother of Madhavrao Scindia * R ...

when her son ascended the throne. After the deaths of both her husband

Kharak Singh Kharak Singh (22 February 1801 – 5 November 1840) was the second Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and his consort, Maharani Datar Kaur. He succeeded his father on 27 Jun ...

and son

, she declared herself

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for the unborn child of Nau Nihal Singh and his pregnant widow

Sahib Kaur Sahib Kaur (d.1841) was the second wife of Nau Nihal Singh, third Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and the mother of his son, Jawahar Singh. Biography Kaur was born to Sardar Gurdit Singh Gilwaliwala of Amritsar. She became the second wife of Nau ...

. She abandoned her claim when Sahib Kaur delivered a stillborn son and rival

Sher Singh Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Elder of the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 following his ...

led a successful assault of Lahore. She was later murdered by her servants on 11 June 1842.

Biography

Chand Kaur was born in 1802 into a

Jat Sikh Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdin ...

Sandhu family in

Fatehgarh Churian Fatehgarh Churian is a town located in Gurdaspur district in Punjab, India. It is nearby Gurdaspur city, the district headquarter. It is a municipal council of the Gurdaspur district. The city lies 15 kilometres from the Pakistani border. It ...

in the

Gurdaspur District Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. Her father was Sardar Jaimal Singh, chief of the

. In February 1812, at the age of ten, she married Kunwar Kharak Singh, the eldest son of Maharaja

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He ...

. In 1816, Maharaja Ranjit Singh officially announced Kharak Singh as his

and anointed him "Tikka Kanwar" (

Crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the w ...

) making Chand Kaur the "Tikka Rani Sahiba" (Crown Princess). Their son, Nau Nihal Singh, was born on 23 February 1821 and in March 1837 he married Bibi Nanaki Kaur Sahiba, daughter of

Sham Singh Atariwala Sham Singh Attariwala (1790 – 10 February 1846) was a general of the Sikh Empire. He was born in the 1790s in the town of Attari (a few kilometres from the border of Indian and Pakistan Punjab in India), Amritsar, in the Majha region of Panja ...

Reign of son

After the death of Ranjit Singh on 27 June 1839, Kharak Singh was appointed as his successor and Raja Dhian Singh Dogra as his ''wazir'' (

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

). The new Maharaja only ruled for a few months until October 1839, when he was overthrown in a coup by his son, Nau Nihal Singh, and Dhian Singh. He was imprisoned at Lahore until his death in November 1840 from slow poisoning. Contemporary chroniclers suggest that the poison had been administered under Dhiān Siṅgh's orders. Returning from the cremation of his father on 5 November, Nau Nihal Singh went through the gate of the

Hazuri Bagh Hazuri Bagh ( ur, ) is a garden in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, bounded by the Lahore Fort to the east, Badshahi Mosque to the west, the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh to the north, and the Roshnai Gate to the south. The garden was built during the reig ...

with his companion Udam Singh, son of

Gulab Singh Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in t ...

, and Dhian Singh's nephew. As they passed through the gate stones fell from above, killing Udam Singh and injuring the prince. Dhian Singh, who was a few steps behind, immediately arranged for the prince to be taken into the fort. Nobody else was allowed into the fort, not even his mother, Chand Kaur, who beat on the fort gates with her bare hands in a fever of anxiety. Eyewitnesses stated that before he was taken into the fort the prince appeared to be only slightly injured, was conscious and asked for water. However, when his mother and friends were allowed in to see him, he was dead with severe injuries to his head.

Reign

After the deaths of Kharak Singh and Nau Nihal Singh, Dhian Singh supported the claim of

, the son of Ranjit Singh's estranged first wife, Mehtab Kaur. Chand Kaur turned to Gulab Singh for support. A compromise was proposed that Chand Kaur should adopt Sher Singh's son Pratap Singh. However, she pointed out that Nau Nihal's widow, Maharani Sahib Kaur, was pregnant and might give birth to a rightful successor. The arrival in Lahore of two powerful opponents of Sher Singh, Sardar Atar Singh Sandhawalia and Sardar Ajit Singh Sandhawalia, settled the matter. On 2 December 1840 Chand Kaur was proclaimed Maharani of the Punjab, with the title Malika Muqaddasa, Empress Immaculate. On 13 January, Sher Singh arrived in Lahore. The regiments outside the city walls went over to his side, leaving Chand Kaur with 5,000 men and a limited quantity of gunpowder against a force of 26,000 infantry, 8,000 horse and 45 guns. Chand Kaur's troops in the fort fought for two days, but Dhian Singh arrived on the evening of 17 January and arranged a ceasefire. Chand Kaur was persuaded to accept a pension and relinquish her claim to the throne, and on 27 January Sher Singh was formally anointed as Maharaja.

Retirement and assassination

In July 1841 Sahib Kaur's son was stillborn, ending any justification for a renewed claim to the regency. The dowager Maharani retired to the

haveli of Nau Nihal Singh The Haveli of Nau Nihal Singh (Urdu/ pa, ), officially known as Government Victoria Girls' High School, is a haveli that houses a government school located in Lahore, Pakistan. Dating from the Sikh era of the mid-19th century, the haveli is consi ...

, her son, in Lahore and received a pension of rupees. However her enemies still saw her as a threat and she was battered to death with wooden pikes by her servants on 11 June 1842. Her samadhi, Maharani Chand Kaur Samadhi, is located near Gumat, Jammu. A magnificent gurudwara, known as Gurudwara Maharani Chand Kaur, has also come on the same premises and the adjoining neighborhood is known as Chand Nagar. Another of her samadhi exists at The Royal Lahore Garden, to the south of her samadhi, stands the samadhi of her mother-in-law,

, lovingly called Mai Nakain by her father-in-law,

. In between the samadhis of the two maharanis their the smaller samadhi of her daughter-in-law, Maharani Sahib Kaur.

Notes

References

{{Authority control History of Punjab Punjabi people Punjabi women Sikh emperors Women of the Sikh Empire 1802 births 1842 deaths 19th-century Indian women 19th-century Indian people 19th-century women rulers