Jind Kaur

Maharani Jind Kaur
Maharani of Punjab Rani Jindan
Maharani Jind Kaur at 45. (Portrait by George Richmond)
Born	1817 Chachar, Gujranwala, Sikh Empire
Died	1 August 1863(1863-08-01) (aged 45) England
Spouse	Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Father	Manna Singh Aulakh
Religion	Sikh
Occupation	Maharani of Sikh Empire

Maharani Jind Kaur (1817 – 1 August 1863) was regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843 until 1846. She was the youngest wife of the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Ranjit Singh, and the mother of the last Maharaja, Duleep Singh. She was renowned for her beauty, energy and strength of purpose and was popularly known as Rani Jindan, but her fame is derived chiefly from the fear she engendered in the British in India, who described her as "the Messalina of the Punjab", a seductress too rebellious to be controlled.

After the assassinations of Ranjit Singh's first three successors, Duleep Singh came to power in September 1843 at the age of 5 and Jind Kaur became Regent on her son's behalf. After the Sikhs lost the First Anglo-Sikh War she was replaced in December 1846 by a Council of Regency, under the control of a British Resident. However, her power and influence continued and, to counter this, the British imprisoned and exiled her. Over thirteen years passed before she was again permitted to see her son, who was taken to England.

In January 1861 Duleep Singh was allowed to meet his mother in Calcutta and take her with him back to England, where she remained until her death in Kensington, London, on 1 August 1863 at the age of 46. She was temporarily buried in Kensal Green Cemetery and cremated the following year at Nashik, near Bombay. Her ashes were finally taken to the samadh (memorial) in Lahore of her husband, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by her granddaughter, Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Duleep Singh.

In 2010 the New York International Sikh Film Festival premiered the film 'The Rebel Queen', telling the story of the Maharani.

Jind Kaur Aulakh was born in Chachar, Gujranwala, the daughter of Manna Singh Aulakh, the overseer of the royal kennels. She had an elder brother, Jawahar Singh and an elder sister, who married Sardar Jawala Singh Padhania, the Chief of Padhana in the Lahore District. Manna Singh extolled Jind Kaur's beauty and virtues to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who summoned and married her in 1835 by sending his 'arrow and sword' to the village. On 6 September 1838 she gave birth to her only child, Duleep Singh. On the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 she did not commit sati with the senior wives as she needed to care for her 10-month-old infant.