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Three Letters of Maharani Jind Kaur The Khalsa and the Punjab Studies in Sikh History, to the Nineteenth Century The publication ofthis volume has been made possible by grants fi'om ANANDPUR SAHIB FOUNDATION and DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA edited by Himadri Banerjee Indian History Congress •]TU Ii k a 2002.. Three Letters of Maharani find Kaur Three Letters of Government will not exercise any interference in the internal admi­ nistration ofthe Lahore State-but in all cases or questions which may Maharani Jind Kaur be referred to the British Government, the Governor-General will give the aid of his advice for the further of the interests of the Lahore , Ganda Singh Government' (Aitchison 1892: vol. IX, no. XVI, 42). But she had been disillusioned to find that in the course oftheir nine months' stay in the country the British had won over, by liberal grants and promises of jagirs, high offices, titles and other favours of most ofthe leading chiefs of the state and had so placated them in their own favour as to turn their backs upon the interests ofthe Lahore state and to petition to the British government to tighten the British hold upon the Punjab. he story of the incarceration of Maharani hnd Kaur (popularly Maharani Jind Kaur stoutly opposed the Treaty of Bharowal (16 T known as Mai Jindan), the mother ofMaharaja Duleep Singh, in December 1846) that placed the administration ofthe Punjab entirely the fort ofLahore, her removal from there to the fort of Sheikhpura as in the hands of the British Resident with 'full authority to direct and a state prisoner and her ultimate banishment from the Punjab is very control all matters in every department of the State' (Singh 1940: 96, tragic. But it has become all the more tragic and painful by the discov­ article 2 of the Treaty). ery of three of her letters, that form the subject of this paper. These Maharani Jind Kaur wished to save the Punjab from the letters were purchased by me in October 1940 from Pandit Kirpa Ram, clutches of the British government. In the words of Henry Lawrence grandson ofthe late Rai Sahib Pandit Wazir Chand Trikha of]hang for to the government, 17 December 1846-a day after the Treaty of the Khalsa College, Amritsar, and are preserved there in the collection Bharowal-'During the last day or two, her whole energies have been of the Sikh History Research Department. One of these letters is in devoted to an endeavour to win over theSardars ofhigh and low order Maharani's own handwriting while the other two are transliteration of and to unite them all together in a scheme ofindependent government the originals, rendered into Persian characters by Herbert B. Edwardes, ofwhich she herselfwas to be the head.' But this was successfully foiled whose initials (H.B.E.) are inscribed thereon. One of them bears the by Frederick Currie with the help ofcouncillors like Tej Singh-a non­ initials (J.L.) of John Lawrence. PunjabiI commander-in-chief of the Sikh forces-who had played to The first letter was written on, or a day or two after, 14 August the tune ofthe British in 1845-46 and had brought about the defeat of 1847, when it was decided by the British Resident at Lahore, Colonel the Lahore army. Henry Lawrence, that 'the Maharani is to confine herself to the The Treaty ofBharowal, 16 December 1846, made the British Summan [Burj]' in the fort ofLahore and that some ofher old servants Resident at Lahore an absolute and sole dictator in the Punjab. The were to be dismissed and replaced by those chosen by the government. Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge, was very particular about Ever since the arrival of the British in the Punjab after the reducing Maharani Jind Kaur to a nonentity. He had, therefore, writ­ Anglo-Sikh war of 1845-46, there had been a clash ofinterests. On the ten to Currie on 7 December 1846, that 'in any agreement made for one side there were the political agents of the East India Company continuing the occupation of Lahore, her deprivation of power is an who wished to establish themselves permanently in the Punjab. They indispensable condition' (Singh 1940: 92-93). And it was with this had got a foothold in the country and they did not want to go back. In object in view that he had further suggested in the same letter, fact, they had their eyes far beyond the Sikh frontiers to the northwest. On the other side was the Queen-mother, Maharani hnd Kaur, who If the Sardars aI\P influential chiefs, and especially the Attareewala had initially been in favour ofthe retention ofthe British troops, under family, urge the British Government to be guardian ofthe Maharaja the terms of the Treaties of the 9 and 11 March 1846: 'the British during his minority, the Ranee's Power will cease silently and quietly, 138 139 THE KHALSA AND THE PUNJAB Three Letters of Maharani find Kal.ll" the admission being recorded that the British Government, as guar­ and moulding his mind and character according to the future plans dian ofthe Boy administering the affairs ofthe State, is to exercise all and designs of the British government who had decided upon the the fUlTctiolTs and possess all the powers of the Regent on behalf of the annexation of his country sooner or later. The Governor-General, Prince (Singh 1940: 93). therefore, readily agreed to the proposal ofseparating the mother .from her son prior to her removal from Lahore and ultimate banishment This was accomplished by the Treaty ofBharowal. The Maharanee was from the country. To begin with, she was ordered to confine herself to pensioned off with an annual allowance of Rs 1. 5 lakhs. the Samman Burj in the fort of Lahore from where she wrote the But the British political agents at Lahore were not fully satis­ following letter to Henry Lawrence. fied. 'The Ranee', according to Herbert Edwardes, 'had more wit and daring than any man of her nation' (Bell: 13). According to History of Robkar the Panjab 1846, Vol. II, she was possessed of a wonderful ability 'to From Bibi (find Kaur) Sahib to (Colonel) Lawrence, act with energy and spirit' and was well known as 'being skillful in the I had entrusted my head to your care. You have thrust it under the use of her pen, whereby, it is supposed, she was able to arrange and feet of traitors. You have not done justice to me. You ought to have combine means of Hira Singh's overthrow' (ii: 311). As long as she instituted an enquiry, and then charged me with what you found was in Lahore, the British could not feel secure in their saddle in the against me. You ought not to have acted upon what the traitors told Punjab, thought the British Resident. He, therefore, tried to 'give the you. dog a bad name and hang it'. She was advertised as implicated in every­ You have kept no regard of the friendship of the great thing anti-British in the country. She was said to be behind the Prema Maharaja. You have caused me to be disgraced by other people. You conspiracy for the murder ofSardar Tej Singh and the insurrection at have not even remained true to treaties and agreements. Raja Lal Multan. But there was no proof, nor could any evidence be mustered Singh was true and faithful to me. He was loyal. Hjlving levelled against her. As such, no legal action could in either case be formed charges against him, you sent him away. We thought that as the Sahib against her. himself was with us, we had no fear from anyone. We could never A strong pretence, however. came handy to the British Resi­ imagine that we will be put in prison with baseless charges concocted dent, Colonel Henry Lawrence, on 7 August 1847, when in the darbar against us. Produce any writings of ours. Prove any charges against held for the purpose ofconferring titles and honours on those selected me. Then you could do anything you like. by the Resident, the young Maharaja Duleep Singh refused to annoint Myself, the Maharaja and twenty-two maid-servants are Sardar Tej Singh with the tilak of the title of Raja. The Maharaja could imprisoned in the Samman (Burj). All other servants have been dis­ not have done this on his own initiative, argued the Resident. He con­ missed. We are in a very helpless condition. Even water and food are strued it as an affront to the British government that had decided to not allowed to come in. Now that you persecute us in this way, it is create Tej Singh a Raja, in recognition for his services to them. But his better that you hang us instead of it. loyalty to and complicity with the British in the Anglo-Sikh war of If you administer justice to us, well and good; otherwise I 1845-46, when he was himself the commander-in-chief of the Sikh shall appeal to London headquarters. Even the allowance ofone lakh forces arrayed against the British, was, according to all interpretations and fifty thousand that had been fixed has not been paid by any body. of political morality, nothing short of treachery to the government of The amount of fifty-one thousand that I had spent in four months, I the Punjab whose trusted servant he was. And the Maharani could not have paid to Missar Meghraj after having sold my ornaments. 1never have willingly allowed a traitor to be annointed by her own son whose begged for anything from anyone.
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