Kharak Singh

He was born on 22 February 1801 in Lahore, Punjab. He was the first son of Ranjit Singh and his second wife Datar Kaur Nakai.C. Grey, European Adventurers of Northern India, 1785 to 1849, Asian Educational Services, 1996, His mother was the daughter of Ran Singh Nakai, third ruler of the Nakai Misl. The prince was named by his father{{Cite book|last=Vaḥīduddīn|first=Faqīr Sayyid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaQGAQAAIAAJ&q=raj+kaur+triumphed+over+mehtab+kaur|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|date=1965|publisher=Lion Art Press}} "Kharak" (ਖੜਕ) which means 'Wielder of the Sword' he was named after the unconquerable warrior mentioned in Dasam Granth. According to Gyani Sher Singh, Ranjit Singh knew the entire Dasam Granth by heart. It was his birth that persuaded his father to proclaim himself the Maharaja of Punjab.{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D068dKeyGW4C&q=kharak+singh|title=Ranjit Singh|date=2009-03-24|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-306543-2}}

He married four times. In 1812, at the age of 11 he was married to Chand Kaur Kanhaiya, daughter of Sardar Jaimal Singh, chief of the Kanhaiya Misl. Their son Nau Nihal Singh was born in 1821. In 1816, the prince was married to Bibi Khem Kaur Dhillon, a Jat Sikh daughter of Jodh Singh Kalalvala and granddaughter of Sahib Singh Dhillon. After the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, Bibi Khem's jagirs were reduced by the British raj due to her anti-British role in the war. His third wife, Kishan Kaur Samra, was a daughter of Chaudhari Raja Singh of Amritsar of the Samra clan; they were married in 1818. She was the only queen to live after the fall of the Sikh Empire in 1849, had an annual pension paid by the British Raj of RS 2324 and died in Lahore in 1876 while living at the Lahore Fort. His last wife, Inder Kaur Bajwa was married by proxy in a "chadar dalna" ceremony, in 1815.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1UoAAAAYAAJ&q=samra+jat+Amritsar&pg=PA392|title=The Panjab Chiefs: Historical and Biographical Notices of the Principal Families in the Lahore and Rawalpindi Divisions of the Panjab|last1=Griffin|first1=Lepel Henry|year=1890}} She was a relative of Chet Singh Bajwa.{{Cite book|last=DiscoverSikhism.com|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheSikhMisals|title=History of the Sikh Misals}}

File:Kharak Singh, emperor of the Sikhs.jpg

Kharak Singh was brought up in his family's martial tradition and assigned to a variety of military expeditions. While barely six years old, he was given the command of the Sheikhupura expedition. In 1811, he was placed in charge of the Kanhaiya estates, and deputed in 1812 to punish the recalcitrant chiefs of Bhimbar and Rajauri. Kharak received the principality of Jammu as his jagir in 1812.

Since his birth he was heir of his father. But Sada Kaur only viewed him as heir presumptive as her daughter Mehtab Kaur was the first queen of Ranjit Singh. In 1816 to put an end to all intrigues Ranjit Singh officially announced Kharak Singh as his heir apparent and anointed him "Tikka Kanwar Yuvraj" (Crown prince).{{Cite book|last=Singh [Author|first=Ranjit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilZJDQAAQBAJ&q=kharak+singh+1816&pg=PT115|title=Golden Crystal|date=2013|publisher=Unistar Books|isbn=978-93-5113-048-2}}{{Cite book|last=Archives|first=India (Republic) National|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tugJAQAAIAAJ&q=in+1816+kharak+singh+to+put+an+end|title=Maharaja Kharak Singh, June 27, 1839-November 5, 1840: Select Records Preserved in the National Archives of India, New Delhi|date=1977|publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University}}

The same year, his mother, Mai Nakain took over his training for 18 months and even accompanied him to his expedition to Multan.{{Cite web|title=Book Review: The Hidden History of Female Agency in the Sikh Empire|url=https://thewire.in/books/book-review-royals-and-rebels-priya-atwal|access-date=2021-09-12|website=The Wire}} During the battle the queen herself oversaw the steady supply of grain, horses, and ammunition being sent to Kot Kamalia, a town equally distanced between Multan and Lahore.{{Cite book|author=Chopra, Gulshan Lall|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/16516859|title=The Panjab as a sovereign state (1799-1839)|date=1929|publisher=Uttar Chand Kapur & Sons|oclc=16516859}} In 1818, together with Misr Diwan Chand he commanded an expedition against the Afghan ruler of Multan Nawab Muzaffar Khan, achieving a decisive victory at the Battle of Multan. He was invested with the command of Siege of Multan (1818) as well as of Battle of Shopian in 1819, which resulted in Srinagar and Kashmir being annexed to the Sikh Empire. When the Sikh army entered the city of Srinagar after the battle, Prince Kharak Singh guaranteed the personal safety of every citizen and ensured the city was not plundered. The peaceful capture of Srinagar was important as Srinagar, besides having a large Shawl-making industry, was also the center of trade between Panjab, Tibet, Skardu, and Ladakh.{{Cite book|author=Chopra, Gulshan Lall|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/16516859|title=The Panjab as a sovereign state (1799-1839)|date=1929|publisher=Uttar Chand Kapur & Sons|oclc=16516859}}

He was also sent on similar campaigns undertaken by Ranjit Singh for the conquest of Peshawar and against the Mazaris of Shikarpur.

In 1839, Ranjit Singh awarded Kashmir to Kharak Singh, which was seen as a check on the ambitions of Gulab Singh Dogra.Vanit Nalwa, Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837), Manohar, New Delhi, 13 January 2009

On the advice of Fakir Azizuddin, before his death his father proclaimed him the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.{{Cite book|last=Duggal|first=Kartar Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&q=kharak+singh+fakir&pg=PA57|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-410-3}}

File:Maharaja Kharak Singh on horseback.jpg

On the death of his father he was proclaimed the Maharajah and installed on the throne at Lahore Fort on 1 September 1839.

Kharak Singh was a patron of arts and had commissioned a Sanskrit astronomy manuscript – the Sarvasiddhantattvacudamani.

Though courageous and good in battle, Kharak was regarded as simple mindedBobby Singh Bansal, Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in India & Pakistan, Hay House, Inc, 1 Dec 2015, and believed to lack his father's shrewdness and diplomatic skills. He developed a close relationship with his tutor Chet Singh Bajwa after the death of his mother, who gained such an ascendancy over him as to render him a puppet. This relationship with Chet Singh created tensions with Prime Minister Raja Dhian Singh.

The Austrian physician, Johann Martin Honigberger who was present at court, described his coronation as a dark day for the Punjab, and referred to the Maharaja as a blockhead who twice a day deprived himself of his senses and spent his whole time in a state of stupefaction.William Dalrymple, Anita Anand, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond, Bloomsbury Publishing, 15 June 2017 Historians challenge the popular oriental notion of Kharak Singh being considered "imbecile",{{Cite web|last=Sheikh|first=Majid|date=2019-06-23|title=HARKING BACK: Exquisite haveli with bloody tales of treachery|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1489836|access-date=2021-10-23|work=Dawn|location=Pakistan}} as said by Alexander Burnes and Henry Montgomery Lawrence -who had never met Kharak Singh.{{Cite web|last=Swamy|first=M. R. Narayan|title=Palace Women, Princes in Sikh Empire|url=https://www.southasiamonitor.org/books/palace-women-princes-sikh-empire|access-date=2021-09-12|website=South Asia Monitor}} Burns was the first to refer to Kharak Singh as imbecile but also mentions that Kharak was extremely kind hearted and noted that the prince was the master of an impressive military and good at the administrating and handling important strategic and governing duties assigned to him.{{Cite book|last=Atwal|first=Priya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiA3ygEACAAJ|title=Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire|date=2020-09-24|publisher=C. Hurst (Publishers) Limited|isbn=978-1-78738-308-1}}

Claude Martin Wade, who was at the Lahore Durbar for 16 years disagreed as well, stating that Kharak Singh was a man with a "mild and humane disposition, who was "loved by his dependants". Wade suggests that Kharak Singh seemed to have a dismal reputation as he maintained a low profile.{{Cite book|last=Atwal|first=Priya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPcTEAAAQBAJ&q=royals+and+rebels|title=Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire|date=2021-01-15|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-756694-7}} Dr. Priya Atwal and Sarbpreet Singh note that Kharak Singh was politically intelligent and well versed in multiple languages, the most educated prince of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who not only led military expeditions but also diplomatic events.{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Sarbpreet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWUoygEACAAJ|title=The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia: Stories from the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|date=2019|publisher=Tranquebar by Westland Publications Private Limited|isbn=978-93-88689-47-2}} Sarbjeet Singh states Kharak Singh along with his brothers was a victim of circumstance, something he labeled "A Shakespearean tragedy".

Raja Dhian Singh is known to resent the influence of Chet Singh Bajwa, tutor of Kharak Singh on the emperor, as well as the court. It was rumored that both the Maharaja and Chet Singh were secretly planning to sell out the Punjab to the British, pay them six annas in every rupee of state revenue and, worse of all, disband the Sikh army. Misled by these fictitious tales, the court and Nau Nihal Singh became estranged from Kharak Singh.{{Citation|title=Koh-i-Noor Diamond|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72816-0_12469|work=Dictionary of Gems and Gemology|year=2009|pages=500|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|doi=10.1007/978-3-540-72816-0_12469|isbn=978-3-540-72795-8|access-date=2021-09-12}}

Chet Singh was assassinated on 9 October 1839. Early that morning the conspirators entered the Maharaja's residence in the Fort and assassinated Chet Singh in the presence of their royal master, who vainly implored them to spare the life of his friend.

Kharak Singh was poisoned with white lead and mercury. Within six months he was bedridden, and eleven months after the poisoning he died on 5 November 1840 in Lahore.G. S. Chhabra, Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-2: 1803-1920), Lotus Press, 2005, p.176 The official announcement blamed a sudden mysterious illness. Though never proven, most contemporaries believed Dhian Singh to be behind the poisoning. Dhian Singh also murdered one of Kharak Singh's wife, Rani Inder Kaur by setting her on fire.

Dhian Singh had previously resisted attempts to allow Kharak training in statecraft, and on 8 October 1839 he instigated his removal from the throne with Nau Nihal Singh becoming de facto ruler.

A haveli known as Kharak Singh's Haveli, located in Shahi Qila, Lahore, is associated with him.{{Cite news |last=Atta |first=Ayesha |date=6 October 2023 |title=300-year-old documents found in Kharak Singh's Haveli |url=https://www.samaa.tv/208732195-300-year-old-documents-found-in-kharak-singh-s-haveli |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Samaa}} In 2023, a treasure-trove of artefacts and historical documents were discovered at the haveli.

• Gurdaspur District

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Kharak Singh}}

• Singh, Harbans "The encyclopedia of Sikhism. Vol III." pages 494–495
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20171218030926/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/warriors/khemkaurdhillon.html "Bibi Khem Kaur Dhillon", URL accessed 11/16/06]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140621130115/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/warriors/maharaja_kharak_singh.html Genealogy of Kharak Singh]

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| title = Maharaja of the Sikh Empire

| years = 27 June 1839 – 8 October 1839

| before = Ranjit Singh

| after = Nau Nihal Singh

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Sikh Empire|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharak Singh}}

Category:Sikh emperors

Category:1801 births

Category:1840 deaths

Category:Ranjit Singh

Category:People from Lahore