Sophia Duleep Singh

Sophia Duleep Singh
Sophia Duleep Singh selling The Suffragette in 1913
Born	Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh 8 August 1876 Elveden Hall, Elveden, Suffolk, England
Died	22 August 1948(1948-08-22) (aged 72) Tylers Green, Buckinghamshire, England
Full name Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh
Religion	Sikh
Occupation	Prominent suffragette in the United Kingdom

Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 August 1876 – 22 August 1948) was a prominent suffragette in the United Kingdom. Her father was Maharaja Duleep Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, known as the Lion of the Punjab, who had abdicated his kingdom of Punjab to the British Raj due to political maneuvering by Governor-General Dalhousie in India. He was exiled to England, where he converted to Christianity. Sophia's mother was Maharani Bamba Müller, and her godmother was Queen Victoria. A feminist, Singh lived in Hampton Court in an apartment in Faraday House given to her by Queen Victoria as a grace and favour. She had four sisters, including two stepsisters, and four brothers. Singh considered herself an Edwardian lady with brown skin. In 1895 she and her sisters Princess Bamba and Princess Catherine were introduced as aristocratic debutantes at Buckingham Palace; all three were dressed in regal finery.

Secret documents revealed her identity as a firebrand "harridan law-breaker", since her diaries revealed that she maintained contact with leaders of the Indian nationalist movement such as Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Sarala Devi and Lala Lajpat Rai. During the early twentieth century, Singh was one of several South Asian women who pioneered the cause of women's rights in Britain. Although she is best remembered for her leading role in the Women's Tax Resistance League, she also participated in other women's suffrage groups, including the Women's Social and Political Union.