Bureau Report: At the time of independence in 1947, there were 7 princely states in Punjab where kings, maharajas ruled. Many of these kings were also branded as supporters of the British Empire. But Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha State was such a Maharaja who never bowed down to British rule. Not only these, he always helped the Sikhs out of fear. He has been a major contributor to the Akali movement since the existence of the Sromani Committee. Although he had to suffer a lot for this, the British removed him from the throne and separated the family, but he did not give up and guarded Sikhi till the last moment. Sikhs have never forgotten this spirit of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, Jaiton Morcha is the biggest example of this. On September 9, SGPC organized the Nabha Day centenary event. In the meantime, we will try to read the history of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, who teaches the lesson of guarding the truth by rising above the greed of the chair.
Nabha Rihasat is at a distance of about 26 km from Patiala. It is said that without the mention of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, the talk of Sikh state cannot be complete. Nabha Rehasat was one of the three principalities of Phulki Misal. While Patiala and Jind princely states were part of Phulki Misal.
History has lost that the Nabha princely state was different from the rest due to its stand against the British. Nabha was also called the capital of Phulki states. But the British government dethroned Maharaja Ripudaman Singh in 1923. Maharaja Ripudaman Singh was born on 4 March 1883. His father was Maharaja Hira Singh and mother’s name was Jasmer Kaur. The thought of doing something for the society in Ripudaman Singh came from his father. His father Maharaja Hira Singh had started the tradition of promoting the education of boys and girls at that time. He gave importance to education. Schools were opened in the state, scholarships were started to encourage children. No fee was charged from any student. Maharaja Hira Singh also opened schools for the study of agriculture, which were called Zamindari schools. Not only these, but for the education of the girls, they kept a female teacher in the school so that the girls could read and write without fear.
Maharaja Hari Singh passed away on 25 December 1911. After the death of his father, Maharaja Ripudaman Singh ascended the throne on 24 January 1912 at the age of 28. Ripudaman Singh did not choose the officials of the British government for his coronation, but took over the state according to the Sikh tradition. Ripudaman Singh’s first message to the British was that he would not follow the British rule. The new Maharaj of Nabhe was free-thinking, self-reliant and a supporter of social equality just like his father.
It is said that from 1906 to 1908, he was an additional member of the Council of the Governor General of India and opposed the Indian Press Bill along with prominent freedom fighters Madan Mohan Malaviya and Krisan Gopal Gokhale. Not only these, Maharaja Ripudaman Singh supported the Gurdwara reform movement being run by the Akalis. He supported the Guru Ka Bagh Morche and started wearing black turbans to show his anger against the policies of the British government and Nankana Sahib Sake.
In 1922 when the British government arrested 1700 Akalis. Maharaja Ripudaman Singh was also asked by the British government to arrest the Akalis but he did not do anything. The British got an opportunity to act against Maharaja Ripudaman Singh and 6 cases were registered against him. Three allegations were made against Maharaja Ripudaman Sigh in the Allahabad High Court. He did not do any work for the welfare of Nabha state. They did not listen to the sufferings of the people of the state. They were not loyal to British rule. After this, the British government forcibly removed Maharaja Ripudaman Singh on 9 July 1923 and sent him to Dehradun and handed over the Nabha princely state to his loyal British officer Johnston. The secretary of Maharaja Ripudaman was appointed as the administrator of the state.
Jaiton front for Ripudaman Singh
There was a lot of anger in the Akali Dal about the manner in which Maharaja Ripudaman Singh was removed from the throne. The Shiromani Committee convened a meeting in August 1923 and passed a resolution to avenge it with Santi.
On September 12, 1923, the Shiromani Committee decided that Nabha Day would be celebrated on September 9. Then Jaiton’s front started against the arrest of Raja Ripudaman Singh, the British government took strict action against it. On February 9, 1924, a batch of 500 Akalis left Sri Akal Takht Sahib for Jaiton.
Nabha manager Wilson Johnston blocked all roads leading to Gurudwara Gangsar Jaiton. When Akali started arriving, the British army started firing. Meanwhile, 21 Akali martyrs were martyred and 33 were seriously injured. However, the SGPC claimed that 70 to 150 Akali martyrs were martyred during the Jaiton Morcha.
Maharaja Ripudaman Singh was estranged from his family
The British not only removed Maharaja Ripudaman Singh from the throne but also removed the family. Pratap Singh, the heir to the throne, who was 8 years old, was sent to Britain by the British government. Not only these, Pratap Singh’s brothers and sisters were also removed from Sikhi. They were molded in the western shade. The same action was taken by the British with Dalip Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The son was taken away from Maharani Zinda.
At present Preeti Singh is the wife of the great grandson of Maharaja Pratap Singh in the palace of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, she lives with her son Abhiudai Singh. According to Preeti Singh, when the British took Pratap Singh with them, the next three generations could not become Sikhs. But now his son Abhiyuday is Kesadhari and he also has love for his heritage.
According to Preeti Singh, we are proud of our history and wonder how Maharaja Ripudaman Singh supported the Sikh community in difficult times by abandoning the love of money. People still call Preeti Singh as Rani Preeti Singh although she does not accept it. Preeti has studied law, she says that we will try our best to guard the thinking of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh and take his work forward.
The post The king of Punjab who sacrificed his throne for Sikh! appeared first on The Khalas Tv.
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