Author Topic: Rebel Queen: Maharani Jindan Kaur (Read 4765 times)

Kudrat Kaur · « **on:** March 26, 2011, 03:04:10 PM »

Maharani Jindan Kaur`s life much of which was spent raging against the British empire for cheating her out of the Punjab, then a vast country stretching from the Khyber Pass to Kashmir is the subject of a film called Rebel Queen, which premiered at New York`s International Sikh film festival.

Beautifully painted- Maharani Jindan Kaur Ji.
By George Richmond,1863. oil paints, gold frame.

Her revolt began when her husband Ranjit Singh, the last Maharaja of Punjab, died of a stroke in 1839 and the British tried to wrest the kingdom from the heir to the throne, her infant son, Duleep Singh. During her rule as regent, Jindan waged two disastrous wars against the British that led to the annexation of the Punjab. She may have made huge strategic errors due to her military inexperience and young age (she was in her early 20s), but Jindan was a fierce ruler. British historian Peter Bance describes her as a “very gutsy woman”. “She stood her ground against the British . . . she actively took charge of the Punjab.”

Christy Campbell, author of The Maharajah`s Box, a book about the Maharani`s son, Duleep, says Jindan was “one of the most remarkable characters of 19th-century history, let alone Indian or Sikh history.”

The Maharani was described as “a serious obstacle” to British rule in India. They launched a smear campaign to discredit her, painting her as the “Messalina of the Punjab”, a seductress too rebellious to be controlled. She refused to co-operate and the British saw that her influence on Duleep could lead to an uprising among the Punjabi people. They decided to separate mother and son.

Nine-year-old Duleep was taken to England where he converted to Christianity, living the life of a typical English gentleman, with Queen Victoria among his friends. The Maharani Jindan, however, was dragged from the court of Lahore by her hair and thrown into the fortress of Sheikhupura and then Chunar Fort in Uttar Pradesh.

After being imprisoned, she disguised herself as a servant and escaped the fort. She travelled through 1,200 kilometres of forest to reach sanctuary in Nepal, where she wrote a letter boasting to the British that she had escaped by “magic”. She never regained the kingdom for her son. But they were reunited years later, which prompted the Maharajah to convert back to Sikhism, undoing the work of the British to “brainwash” him.

Her story encouraged American entrepreneur Bicky Singh to fund the production of Rebel Queen with around $25,000. Director Michael Singh, a California-based film-maker, says: “There`s great drama and tragedy in her story. She was a heroic figure and was well-documented by the British.

Author Topic: Rebel Queen: Maharani Jindan Kaur (Read 4765 times)

Kudrat Kaur

Rebel Queen: Maharani Jindan Kaur

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