Jagatjit Singh

{{Short description|Last ruling Maharaja of Kapurthala from 1877–1947}}

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Jagatjit Singh
{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|GCSI|GCIE|GBE|size=90%}}}}

| image = Maharaja de kapurthala jagatjit singh.jpg

| succession = Maharaja of Kapurthala

| reign = 3 September 1877 – 15 August 1947

| predecessor = Kharak Singh (as Raja)

| successor = Monarchy abolished
Paramjit Singh (titular ruler)

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1872|11|24}}

| image_size = 200px

| caption =

| birth_place = Kapurthala, Kapurthala State, British India

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1949|06|19|1872|09|05}}

| death_place =Bombay, Bombay State, India

| religion = Sikh

| father =Kharak Singh Sahib Bahadur

| mother =Anand Kaur Sahiba

| spouse = six wives

| issue = five sons and one daughter

| dynasty = Ahluwalia dynasty

| coronation = 24 November 1890

| full name = Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur

}}

Colonel Maharajah Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur (24 November 1872 – 19 June 1949) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala during the British Raj in India, from 1877 until his death, in 1949. He ascended to the throne of Kapurthala state on 16 October 1877 and assumed full ruling powers on 24 November 1890 as well indulging in traveling the world and being a Francophile.{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Brig. Sukhjit |last2=Frederick |first2=Cynthia Meera |title=Prince, Patron & Patriarch ;Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala |date=2019 |publisher=Roli Books |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=9788193860854}}

Early life and family

File:Photograph of the child-monarch Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala State and suite, ca.1880.jpg

He was born in an Ahluwalia Sikh family. He received the title of Maharaja in 1911. He learned various languages like Punjabi, English, Hindi, French, Spanish, Italian etc. Like his contemporaries Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jind, Jagatjit Singh was also a philanthropist. When he was young he sang in front of the Viceroy with his friend, the next Maharaja of Dholpur, in French and Italian which outraged many of the visitors.

He was cousin of Sardar Bhagat Singh, one of the few Indian Justices of High Court during the British Raj. His grandson Sukhjit Singh served as a Brigadier in the Indian Army. Another grandson Arun Singh was a Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government who advised Indira Gandhi to declare Operation Blue Star.

Career

= Early career =

His dream was for Kapurthala to be a 'Paris of the East'. He built from the Jagatjit Palace in a French style modelled on the Palace of Versailles, the Moorish Mosque in the North African style “Maghrebi”, the Kapurthala War Memorial and other sites.File:Jagatjit Singh by Panjab Digital Library.jpg]]

He also built a Gurdwara at Sultanpur Lodhi. An advocate of educational opportunities for girls, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh also supported numerous undertakings to ensure women received proper medical care under schemes first initiated under The Countess of Dufferin Fund which provided medical aid, helped build hospitals and medical facilities exclusively for women.

= Late career =

He served as the Indian Representative to the League of Nations General Assembly in Geneva in 1925, 1927, and 1929,[http://www.indiana.edu/~league/7thassemb.htm The League of Nations Photo Collections] attended the Round Table Conference in 1931 and was Lt Governor of the PEPSU at the time of his death in 1949, aged 76.

He spent lots of his time travelling, he visited China, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, United States of America, Brazil, Argentina and other areas. He had a liking for Japan and France.

He was the first Sikh Maharaja to have cut his Kesh (uncut hair), and was known to have secretly converted to Islam. The Shiromani Akali Dal took on this matter and pressured him. Since 1946 he started becoming closer to his religious heritage and announced that his grandson (Sukhjit Singh) would be a Keshdhari Sikh.

During the Partition of India the 60 percent of Muslims in his state were pushed out by his Kapurthala State Forces to Pakistan, leaving only 1 percent left afterwards.

Death

Under his leadership, the Kapurthala State joined the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (P.E.P.S.U.) after the Partition of India. Maharaja Jagatjit Singh passed away in 1949.

Marriages

First marriage at Paprola, on 16 April 1886, to Maharani Harbans Kaur Sahiba, daughter of Mian Ranjit Singh Guleria of Paprola (died 17 October 1941 in Mussoorie from heart failure). They had two sons.
Paramjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Mahijit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Second marriage at Katoch, 1891, to Rani Parvati Kaur Sahiba, daughter of a Sardar of Katoch (died 20 February 1944 in Kapurthala). They had a son.
Amarjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Third marriage at Bashahr, 1892, to Rani Lakshmi Kaur Sahiba, a Princess of a Rajput family from Bashahr (died September 1959 in Kapurthala).
Fourth marriage at Jubbal, 1895, to Rani Kanari Sahiba, daughter of the Dewan of Jubbal (died circa 1910). They had a son and a daughter.
Karamjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Amrit Kaur Sahiba
Fifth marriage at Paris, 28 January 1908 (later divorced), to Rani Prem Kaur Sahiba [née Anita Delgado], (born 1890 in Málaga, Spain, died 7 July 1962 in Madrid, Spain from heart failure). They had a son.
Ajit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Sixth marriage at Kapurthala, 1942, to Rani Tara Devi Sahiba [née Eugenia Marie Grossupovai]; she was an actress and the daughter of a Czech count.

Honours

= British and Indian =

Grand Cross of the Hamidiya Order of Merit of the Rampur State of India 1926
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) 1911 Delhi Durbar Honours (previously appointed KCSI in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours){{London Gazette |issue=28559 |date=8 December 1911 |pages=9357 }}{{London Gazette|issue=26947 |date=14 March 1898 |page=1676 }}
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) 1 January 1921{{London Gazette |date=1 January 1921 |supp=y |issue=32178 |pages=7 }}
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) 29 November 1927{{London Gazette| issue=33333 |page=7662 |date=29 November 1927}}
Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold 1897
Delhi Durbar Medal in Gold 1903
King George V Coronation Medal, with Delhi Durbar Clasp 1911
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935
King George VI Coronation Medal 1937
Indian Independence Medal 1947

= Foreign =

{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia}}:
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, 1st Class, 1911
{{flag|Kingdom of Egypt}}:
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile, 1924
{{flag|Morocco}}:
Grand Cordon of the Sharifan Order of Alaoui, 1924
{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}:
Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1924
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Chile 1925
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru 1925
Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Cross of Honour and Merit of Cuba 1925
Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania 1926
Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II of Empire of Ethiopia 1928
Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Sava of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1928{{Cite book|last=Acović|first=Dragomir|title=Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima|year=2012|location=Belgrade|publisher=Službeni Glasnik|pages=602}}
Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III of the Kingdom of Spain 1928
Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory of Tunisia 1928
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia 1929
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Empire of Iran 1930
Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion, 1st Class of Czechoslovakia 1934
Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Agatha of San Marino 1935
Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Sylvester of the Vatican 1935
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of France 1948 (Grand Officer: 1924)

In media

Probably as a reminiscence of his marriage to Anita Delgado, Don Pimpón, a character in the Spanish version of Sesame Street, claimed to have travelled the world extensively with "his friend the Maharaja of Kapurthala."
He appeared in the American Horror Story: Freak Show episode "Orphans" in a flashback where he gives Elsa Mars custody of Mahadevi "Ma Petite" Patel.

Footnotes

External links

{{cite web |last1=Pathé |first1=British |title=Diamond Jubilee Of Maharaja Of Kapurthala |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/diamond-jubilee-of-maharaja-of-kapurthala |website=www.britishpathe.com |access-date=25 July 2022}}
[https://kapurthala.gov.in/history/ The history of Kapurthala is the history of the Ahluwalia Dynasty]

{{s-ttl|title=Raja of Kapurthala

|years=1877–1911}}

{{s-ttl|title=Maharaja of Kapurthala

|years=1911–1947}}

{{s-aft|after=Monarchy abolished Accession to the Dominion of India}}

Category:1872 births

Category:1949 deaths

Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India

Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire

Category:Indian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Sun of Peru