On this day Maharaja Duleep Singh, the deposed and exiled last ruler of the Sikh empire, met his mother after more than a decade at Spence’s Hotel in Calcutta.
Following the meeting, Duleep Singh took his mother, Jind Kaur, back with him to England, where he had been exiled. Jind Kaur died two years later.
After the death of his father Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, Duleep Singh had been living with his mother. On winning the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1846, the British separated Duleep Singh from his mother, who was exiled.
Duleep Singh was kept under supervision of British authorities directly. He was given an Anglicised upbringing, as was the British policy. After the second Anglo-Sikh war and the annexation of Punjab by the British, Duleep Singh was deposed at age 10. He was exiled to England where he arrived in 1854. He was received with great enthusiasm by Queen Victoria, who invited him to her court and also to spend time with her family.
Duleep Singh lived a lavish life, but under strict vigilance. After a struggle, he finally travelled back to India to meet his mother, who was no longer considered a threat by the British.
They met at Spence’s Hotel and she travelled back to England with him, where she told him about his Sikh legacy. It stirred in him a desire to reclaim his own history. But Duleep Singh could not return to India for good. He married two times and had eight children. He died in 1893.
