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Kapurthala State

Coordinates:31°23′N75°23′E/ 31.383°N 75.383°E/31.383; 75.383
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Kapurthala State
1772–1947
Flag of Kapurthala
Flag
Coat of arms of Kapurthala
Coat of arms
Kapurthala State in Punjab Province, 1909.
Kapurthala State inPunjab Province,1909.
StatusPart of theSikh Confederacy(1772–1801)
Under theSikh Empire(1801–1846)
(Princely Stateunder theEast India Company) (1846–1857)
(Princely Stateunder theBritish Raj) (1857–1947)
Historical eraNew Imperialism
• Established
1772
• Part of thePunjab States Agency
1930
• Accession to theIndian Union
1947
Area
19011,320 km2(510 sq mi)
Population
• 1901
314,341
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Sikh Confederacy
Patiala and East Punjab States Union
Today part ofPunjab,India
Kapurthala stateThe Imperial Gazetteer of India,1909, v. 14,p. 408–416.

Kapurthala State,was a kingdom and laterPrincely stateof thePunjab ProvinceofIndia.Ruled by Ahluwalia Sikh rulers, spread across 510 square miles (1,300 km2). According to the 1901 census the state had a population of 314,341 and contained two towns and 167 villages.[1]In 1930, Kapurthala became part of thePunjab States Agencyand acceded to theUnion of Indiain 1947.

In colonial India, Kapurthala State was known for itscommunal harmony,with its Sikh rulerJagatjit Singhbuilding theMoorish Mosquefor his Muslim subjects.[2]At the time of theIndian independence movement,the ruler of the Kapurthala Stateopposed the partition of Indiaand advocated for a united, secular country.[3]

Origins[edit]

The ruling dynasty of Kapurthala originated in theAhluwalia misl.According to this account, Krishna's descendant Gaj built the fort ofGajni,and lost his life in a battle against a jointRoman-Khorasaniarmy. His sonSalibahanestablished the city ofSialkot,and started theShak eraafter defeating theShaksin 78 CE.

After the Muslim conquest of Punjab, his descendants migrated to theJaisalmerarea, where they came to be known as BhattiRajputtribe. AfterAlauddin Khalji's conquest of Jaisalmer, some of the Bhatti tribe people's migrated toTarn Taran district,and got assimilated withJats.In the 17th century, they joinedGuru Hargobind's army. Ganda Singh of this family raidedLahore,whose governor Dilawar Khan persuaded him to join the Lahore army, and assigned him thefiefof Ahlu and some other villages. Ganda Singh's son Sadhu (or Sadho) Singh lived in Ahlu, because of which the family came to be known as Ahluwalia. Sadhu Singh and his four sons married into Kalal families, because of which the family came to be known as Ahluwalia. The descendants of Sadhu Singh son Gopal Singh (who was the grandfather of Jassa Singh) established the royal family of Kapurthala.[4]The British administratorLepel Griffin(1873) dismissed this account as spurious.[4]The Sikh author Gian Singh, in hisTwarikh Raj Khalsa(1894), wrote that the Ahluwalia family adopted the Kalal caste identity much before Sadhu Singh.[5]

TheAhluwalia mislrose to prominence underJassa Singh Ahluwalia,[6][7]who was the first person to use the name "Ahluwalia". Originally known as Jassa Singh Kalal, he styled himself as Ahluwalia after his ancestral village of Ahlu and belonged to theKalalcommunity.[8]He is regarded as the founder of the Kapurthala State.[9]

Even after other misls lost their territories toRanjit Singh'sSikh Empire,the emperor permitted the descendants of Jassa Singh to retain their estates. After theBritishtook over the Sikh territories in 1846, Jassa Singh's descendants became the ruling family of the Kapurthala State.[10]

Demographics[edit]

Religion in Kapurthala Princely State(1941)

Muslims(56.49%)
Sikhs(23.35%)
Hindus(16.27%)
Others (3.89%)
Religious groups in Kapurthala State (British Punjab provinceera)
Religious
group 		1901[11] 1911[12][13] 1921[14] 1931[15] 1941[16]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 178,326 56.73% 152,117 56.73% 160,457 56.44% 179,251 56.59% 213,754 56.49%
Hinduism[a] 93,652 29.79% 61,426 22.91% 58,412 20.55% 64,319 20.31% 61,546 16.27%
Sikhism 42,101 13.39% 54,275 20.24% 64,074 22.54% 72,177 22.79% 88,350 23.35%
Jainism 226 0.07% 205 0.08% 228 0.08% 27 0.01% 380 0.1%
Christianity 39 0.01% 107 0.04% 1,100 0.39% 983 0.31% 1,667 0.44%
Zoroastrianism 4 0% 3 0% 4 0% 0 0% 6 0%
Buddhism 3 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Judaism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 12,677 3.35%
Total population 314,351 100% 268,133 100% 284,275 100% 316,757 100% 378,380 100%
Note:British Punjab provinceera district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historicPunjab Province regionduring the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Royal dynasty[edit]

List of rulers[edit]

No. Name

(Birth–Death)

Portrait Reign Ref.
Sardars
1 Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
(1718–1783) 		1777 – 20 October 1783 [17][18]
2 Bagh Singh Ahluwalia
(1747–1801) 		20 October 1783 – 10 July 1801 [citation needed]
Rajas
3 Fateh Singh Ahluwalia
(1784–1837) 		10 July 1801 – 20 October 1837 [19][20][21]
4 Nihal Singh
(1817–1852) 		20 October 1837 – 13 September 1852
5 Randhir Singh
(1831–1870) 		13 September 1852 – 12 March 1861 [18]
Raja-i Rajgan
– Randhir Singh
(1831–1870) 		12 March 1861 – 2 April 1870 [18]
6 Kharak Singh
(1850–1877) 		2 April 1870 – 3 September 1877
7 Jagatjit Singh
(1872–1949) 		3 September 1877 – 12 December 1911 [18]
Maharajas
– Jagatjit Singh
(1872–1949) 		12 December 1911 – 15 August 1947 [18]
Titular
– Jagatjit Singh
(1872–1949) 		15 August 1947 – 19 June 1949 [18]
8 Paramjit Singh
9 Sukhjit Singh

Crown Princes[edit]

  • Tikka Raja Shatrujit Singh[3]

Dewan / Ministers of Kapurthala State[edit]

  • Dewan Banna Mal Gautam (Manager Of Oudh Estates of Maharaja Kapurthala)
  • Dewan Mathra Dass (Private Secretary)
  • Dewan Ramjas Dhir
  • Dewan Acchru Mal Gautam (Revenue Minister) s/o Dewan Banna Mal
  • Dewan Durga Dass Gautam
  • Dewan Ambika Parshad Gautam (Accountant General)
  • Dewan Mohabbat Rai
  • Dewan Abdul Hamid (Prime Minister)
  • Dewan Shiv Narayan Randev (Chief Secretary Of Kapurthala State)
  • Sirdar Bhagat Ram Randev (Chief Judge)
  • Sirdar Dwarka Dass Randev, Bar At Law S/O Dewan Shiv Narayan Randev (Assistant Manager Oudh and Last Chief Justice Of Kapurthala State)
  • Dewan Hari Chand Chopra (Finance Minister)
  • Dewan Saudagar Mal
  • Dewan Badrinath
  • Dewan Surendranath
  • G.T Fisher (Chief Minister)
  • Dewan Sureshwar Dass (Home Minister)
  • Dewan Ajudhia Dass (Revenue Minister)
  • Sirdar Suchet Singh
  • Sirdar Kishan Singh
  • Dewan Raj Kumar Chopra (Chief Justice )
  • Dewan Jermany Dass
  • Dewan Kuljass Rai

Orders of chivalry[edit]

The Royal House of Kapurthala awards threeorders of chivalry;these knighthoods include:

  • Nishan-i-Shahi, awarded in three classes (founded byMaharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadurin 1898)
  • Nishan-i-Iftikhar, awarded in three classes (founded by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur in 1914)
  • Nishan-i-Askari, awarded in three classes (founded by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur in 1927)

The decoration of the Nishan-i-Iftikhar includes the coat of arms of Kapurthala State.[22]

Gallery[edit]

  • Qila Jallow Khana, Kapurthala State
    Qila Jallow Khana, Kapurthala State
  • Old Baradari at Shalimar Garden, Kapurthala State
    Old Baradari at Shalimar Garden, Kapurthala State
  • Photograph of the State Gurdwara of Kapurthala State during a thanksgiving service
    Photograph of the State Gurdwara of Kapurthala State during a thanksgiving service
  • Old court complex , Kapurthala State
    Old court complex, Kapurthala State
  • Photograph of Buggy Khana, Kapurthala State
    Photograph of Buggy Khana, Kapurthala State

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^1931-1941: IncludingAd-Dharmis

References[edit]

  1. ^Kapurthala stateThe Imperial Gazetteer of India,1909, v. 14, p. 408.
  2. ^Venkatesh, Karthik (16 January 2016)."Malerkotla, Where Tolerance is a Way of Life".The Wire.Retrieved3 November2020.
  3. ^ab"An undivided India?".NDTV.29 August 2009.Retrieved19 October2020.
  4. ^abGanda Singh (1990).Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.Punjabi University. pp. 1–4.
  5. ^M. L. Ahluwalia (1996).Land marks in Sikh history.Ashoka International. p. 37.
  6. ^Kaushik Roy (2015).Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia.Routledge. p. 88.ISBN9781317321279.
  7. ^Singhia, H.S. (2009).The encyclopedia of Sikhism.New Delhi: Hemkunt Press. p. 111.ISBN978-81-7010-301-1.
  8. ^Donald Anthony Low (1968).Soundings in Modern South Asian History.University of California Press. pp. 70–71.OCLC612533097.
  9. ^Sohan Singh Seetal (1981).The Sikh Misals and the Punjab States.Lahore Book Shop. p. 75.
  10. ^W. H. McLeod (2009).The A to Z of Sikhism.Scarecrow Press. p. 6.ISBN978-0-8108-6344-6.
  11. ^"Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province".1901. p. 34.JSTORsaoa.crl.25363739.Retrieved30 March2024.
  12. ^"Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables".1911. p. 27.JSTORsaoa.crl.25393788.Retrieved30 March2024.
  13. ^Kaul, Harikishan (1911)."Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II".p. 27.Retrieved30 March2024.
  14. ^"Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables".1921. p. 29.JSTORsaoa.crl.25430165.Retrieved30 March2024.
  15. ^"Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables".1931. p. 277.JSTORsaoa.crl.25793242.Retrieved30 March2024.
  16. ^"Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab".1941. p. 42.JSTORsaoa.crl.28215541.Retrieved30 March2024.
  17. ^"Kapurthala".Archived fromthe originalon 8 August 2018.Retrieved11 March2019.
  18. ^abcdef"KAPURTHALA".Royal Family of India.12 April 2013.Retrieved9 January2018.
  19. ^"History | Kapurthala Web Portal | India".Government of India.Retrieved25 December2020.
  20. ^A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.Cunningham, Joseph Davey, 1812-1851., Garrett, H. L. O. ed. (Herbert Leonard Offley), 1881-1941
  21. ^Griffin, Lepel Henry (1892).Ranjit Singh.Oxford: Clarendon press.
  22. ^Arora, A. C. (1982).British Policy Towards the Punjab States, 1858-1905.Export India Publications. p. 323.

External links[edit]

31°23′N75°23′E/ 31.383°N 75.383°E/31.383; 75.383

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