->GillRomesLado: /* Family */ Although Punjabi Jat Sikh, she bore the Persian name "Mehtab" ..... But Mehtab was a common name at the time, Ranjit Singh had a 2 other wives named Mehtab plus Bhai Mehtab Singh. But if you think I have made a mistake please revert my edit. Thank you

2021-10-14T02:57:29Z

Family: Although Punjabi Jat Sikh, she bore the Persian name "Mehtab" ..... But Mehtab was a common name at the time, Ranjit Singh had a 2 other wives named Mehtab plus Bhai Mehtab Singh. But if you think I have made a mistake please revert my edit. Thank you

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{{Infobox royalty
| consort = yes
| name = Mehtab Kaur
| image = Chand Kaur.jpg
| image_size =
| succession = [[Maharani]] consort of the [[Sikh Empire]]
| title = Maharani of Sikh Empire <br>
Maharani Sahiba
| caption = Maharani Mehtab Kaur by Rattan Singh c.1810
| reign = {{circa}} 1801 – 1813
| spouse = [[Ranjit Singh]] (m. 1796)
| house = [[Kanhaiya Misl|Kanhaiya]] (by birth)<br/>[[Sukerchakia]] (by marriage)
| father = [[Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya]]
| mother = [[Sada Kaur]]
| birth_date = 1782
| birth_place = [[Batala]], [[Kanhaiya Misl]], [[Sikh Confederacy]]
(present-day [[Punjab]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death year and age|1813|1782}}
| death_place = [[Amritsar]], [[Sikh Empire]] (present-day [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], [[India]])
| issue = [[Ishar Singh (Sikh prince)|Ishar Singh]]<br>[[Sher Singh|Maharaja Sher Singh]]<br>[[Tara Singh (Sikh prince)|Tara Singh]]
| religion = [[Sikhism]]
}}

'''Maharani Mehtab Kaur''' ({{circa}} 1782 – 1813)<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Panjab Past and Present|date=1 January 1986|volume=20|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FU5AAAAIAAJ&q=mehtab+kaur+1782|access-date=3 May 2017|publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University.|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Institute of Sikh Studies">{{cite book|last1=Noor|first1=Harbans Singh|title=Connecting the dots in Sikh history|date=2004|publisher=Institute of Sikh Studies|location=Chandigarh|isbn=9788185815237|page=67}}</ref><ref name="Sikh">{{cite journal|title=The Sikh Courier International|date=1 January 1998|volume=38-42|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWNRAAAAYAAJ&q=ranjit+singh+first+wife|access-date=27 April 2017|publisher=Sikh Cultural Society of Great Britain|language=en}}</ref> was the first wife of Maharaja [[Ranjit Singh]],<ref name="Sikh" /><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Sikh Review|date=1 January 2005|volume=53|pages=45, 86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nXXAAAAMAAJ&q=mehtab|access-date=29 April 2017|publisher=Sikh Cultural Centre|language=en}}</ref> the founder of the [[Sikh Empire]]. She was the mother of Ranjit's reputed son, [[Sher Singh|Maharaja Sher Singh]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Punjab District Gazetteers|date=1 January 1905|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.531229/page/n247 226]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.531229|quote=mehtab kaur ranjit singh.|publisher=Compiled and published under the authority of the Punjab government|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Calcutta Review|date=1 January 1944|page=74|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOFMAAAAMAAJ&q=mehtab+kaur+|publisher=University of Calcutta.|language=en}}</ref> who briefly became the ruler of the Sikh Empire from 1841 until his death in 1843.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grewal|first1=J.S.|title=The new Cambridge history of India : II. 3 The sikhs of the Punjab|date=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge[England]|isbn=9780521637640|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/249 249]|edition=Rev. ed., 1st pbk.|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/249}}</ref>

Mehtab Kaur was the senior-most<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chhabra|first1=G.S.|title=Advanced study in the history of modern India|date=2004|publisher=Lotus Press|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788189093075|page=155|edition=[3rd ed.]}}</ref> of Ranjit Singh's wives and according to historian Jean-Marie Lafont, the only one to bear the title of [[Maharani]] (high queen) while his other wives bore the lesser title of [[Rani]] (queen).<ref name="Lafont 2002 251">{{harvnb|Lafont|2002|p=251}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lafont|2002|p=252}}</ref> After her death, the title was held by Ranjit's youngest widow [[Jind Kaur]], who served as regent of the Sikh Empire (after Sher Singh's death) from 1843 till 1846 and was the mother of Maharaja [[Duleep Singh]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lafont|2002|p=258}}</ref>

==Family==
Mehtab Kaur, the only child of [[Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya]] ([[Sandhu]]) and his wife [[Sada Kaur|Sada Kaur Dhaliwal]], was born in 1782.<ref name="Institute of Sikh Studies"/> Upon her birth she was named "[[Mahtab|Mehtab]]" (مهتاب) which means 'moonlight' or 'splendor of the moon' in [[Persian language|Persian]] due to her fair and clear complexion.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoJoDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA113&dq=mehtab+kaur&hl=en#v=onepage&q=mehtab%20kaur&f=false|title=Kohinoor: The Story of the WorldÕs Most Infamous Diamond|last2=Anand|first2=Anita|date=2016|publisher=Juggernaut Books|isbn=978-93-86228-08-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=John|title=A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English|date=1777|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=1905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj5pAAAAcAAJ&q=mehtab+moon|language=en}}</ref> Her father, Gurbaksh Singh, was the [[heir]] of [[Jai Singh Kanhaiya]] (a Sandhu Jat), the founder and chief of the [[Kanhaiya Misl]].<ref name=Singha>{{cite book|last1=Singha|first1=H.S.|title=The encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 entries)|date=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Publishers|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788170103011|page=137}}</ref>

The Kanhaiyas, who had replaced the [[Bhangi Misl|Bhangis]] as the most powerful ''[[misl]]'', disputed Ranjit Singh's father's ([[Maha Singh]]) right to plunder [[Jammu]], and in one of the many skirmishes between the two ''misl''s, Gurbaksh Singh was killed in battle against Maha Singh in February 1785.<ref name="Owen" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Garrett|first1=Joseph Davey Cunningham; edited by H.L.O.|title=A history of the Sikhs from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej|date=1994|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788120609501|page=175}}</ref>

Mehtab Kaur's mother, Rani Sada Kaur, an intelligent, high spirited and ambitious woman, used to lend support of the Kanhaiya ''misl'' to Ranjit Singh till 1821, when she developed differences with him and as a consequence lost her territory to him.<ref name="Singha" />

==Marriage==
Jai Singh disagreed to betroth his granddaughter, Mehtab Kaur, to Maha Singh's son, Ranjit Singh, but was persuaded by his widowed daughter-in-law, Sada Kaur to agree to the match.<ref>{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=3}}</ref> The Kanhaiya chief died shortly afterwards in 1789,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roy|first1=Kaushik|title=Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317321286|page=82|language=en}}</ref> leaving his estates to Sada Kaur who took over the leadership of the Kanhaiya Misl.<ref name="Owen">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Patwant|last2=Rai|first2=Jyoti M.|title=Empire of the Sikhs : the life and times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|date=2008|publisher=Peter Owen|location=London|isbn=9780720613230|pages=63, 169}}</ref>

As a teenager, Ranjit Singh took hardly any interest in the affairs of the state, making his mother, Raj Kaur, anxious for his future. She felt that marriage might bring him around to the responsibilities of life.<ref name="Singh 2008 6">{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=6}}</ref> She approached Sada Kaur to fix the nuptial date. Ranjit was fifteen years old when he left [[Gujranwala]] for [[Batala]], the chief town of the Kanhaiyas, to wed Mehtab Kaur in 1796. This alliance between the two important [[Sikh]] families was a major event for [[Punjab]]. All the leading Sikh chiefs were present at the wedding.<ref name="Singh 2008 6"/> Mehtab Kaur was very beautiful her looks made her seem mismatched for the rough Ranjit Singh.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoJoDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA113&dq=mehtab+kaur&hl=en|title=Kohinoor: The Story of the WorldÕs Most Infamous Diamond|last2=Anand|first2=Anita|date=2016|publisher=Juggernaut Books|isbn=978-93-86228-08-6|language=en}}</ref> Even if Mehtab Kaur could reconcile herself to her husband's looks, it must have been difficult for her to forget that her father was killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vaḥīduddīn|first=Faqīr Sayyid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaQGAQAAIAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=mehtab+kaur+the+real+ranjit+singh&q=mehtab+kaur+the+real+ranjit+singh&hl=en|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|date=1965|publisher=Lion Art Press|language=en}}</ref> Plus she was haughty and self-willed, a proud woman born to rich parents<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoJoDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA113&dq=mehtab+kaur&hl=en|title=Kohinoor: The Story of the WorldÕs Most Infamous Diamond|last2=Anand|first2=Anita|date=2016|publisher=Juggernaut Books|isbn=978-93-86228-08-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Sarbpreet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWUoygEACAAJ&newbks=0&hl=en|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|language=en}}</ref> while Ranjit Singh was a typically simple Punjabi man, rustic in his habits.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Duggal|first=Kartar Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA54&dq=ranjit+singh+was+simple&hl=en|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|language=en}}</ref> It was a marriage of convenience for both and they rarely stayed together.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Amini|first=Iradj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dymBAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PT118&dq=ranjit+singh+mehtab+kaur+marriage+of+convenience&hl=en|title=The Koh-i-noor Diamond|date=2013-06-01|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5194-035-7|language=en}}</ref>

After entering into a matrimonial alliance with the Kanhaiya Misl, Ranjit Singh wanted to consolidate his position further which could only be done by drawing some other ''misl'' to his side. He made suggestions to head of the [[Nakai Misl|Nakai]]s and early in 1798 took a second wife, who was the sister of the Nakai Sardar, with whom he was betrothed to for some time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Griffin|first1=Lepel|title=Ranjit Singh and the Sikh hindrance between our developing domain and Central Asia|date=2004|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788120619180|page=108|edition=AES Repr.}}</ref> The marriage turned out to be more successful than the first. His second wife bore his mother's name: Raj Kaur. She was renamed [[Datar Kaur]] and was warmly known as ''Mai Nakain'' and turned into Ranjit's most loved wife.<ref>{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=35}}</ref>

Ranjit's second marriage gave Mehtab Kaur an excuse to return to Batala and from there on she made only occasional appearances at her husband's home.<ref name="Singh 2008 8">{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=8}}</ref> It likewise soured Sada Kaur; however she accommodated herself to Ranjit's polygamous wander in light of the fact that she had set her heart on greater and better things and was resolved to see that for her own particular purpose and the purpose of her exclusive tyke (and her offspring in the event that she had any), Ranjit Singh do the arrangements that she had set for him.<ref name="Singh 2008 8"/>

===Issue===
[[File:Sher Singh.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Maharaja [[Sher Singh]] (r. 1841 - 1843)]]
Sada Kaur kept on trying to bring Ranjit Singh closer to her daughter and felt happy when Mehtab bore Ranjit his second son (and her first child) in 1804. Thanking God ([[Ishwar]]) the child was named [[Ishar Singh (Sikh prince)|Ishar Singh]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Noor|first1=Harbans Singh|title=Connecting the specks in Sikh history|date=2004|publisher=Institute of Sikh Studies|location=Chandigarh|isbn=9788185815237|page=70}}</ref> The prince died in infancy - at the age of one and a half years.<ref name="Lafont 2002 251"/> Mehtab Kaur was pregnant again in 1807 and gave birth to twin sons, [[Sher Singh]] and [[Tara Singh (Sikh prince)|Tara Singh]] in Batala.<ref>{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=300}}</ref> Ranjit was near [[Jawalamukhi]] when he received the news of their birth, he rushed to [[Amritsar]] to pay a thanksgiving visit to the [[Golden Temple]] there.<ref>{{harvnb|Lafont|2002|p=25}}</ref> The birth of his sons was celebrated greatly. There was cheering in the illustrious camp and when Ranjit returneda to [[Lahore]], he gave away vast entire-ties in philanthropy and the city was enlightened for a few nights.<ref>{{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=62}}</ref>

Historians differ over whether Sher Singh and Tara Singh were Ranjit Singh's biological sons. During March 1837, on the occasion of the marriage of Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh, Henry Edward Fane, the nephew and aide-de-camp to the [[Commander-in-Chief, India]], [[Henry Fane (British Army officer)|General Sir Henry Fane]], who spent several days in Ranjit Singh's company, reported that the Maharaja never thoroughly acknowledged Sher Singh.{{refn|"Though reported to be the Maha Rajah’s son, Shere Sing’s father has never thoroughly acknowledged him, though his mother always insisted on his being so."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rZFAAAAIAAJ&q=colburn+%22five+years+in+india%22&pg=PR1 |last=Fane |first=Henry Edward |year=1842 |title=Five Years in India, Volume 1, Chapter VII, page 120 |publisher=Henry Colburn }}</ref>}} The contemporary historian, [[Joseph Davey Cunningham]], who attended the 1838 conversations between Ranjita Singh and [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Aukland]], also recorded that the Maharaja had doubts.{{refn|"The Maharaja doubted: and perhaps he always gave credence to the report that Sher Singh was the son of a carpenter, and Tara Singh the child of a weaver, yet they continued to be brought up under the care of their reputed grandmother, as if their parentage had been admitted."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cunningham|first1=Joseph Davey|title=A History of the Sikhs|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.97559|date=1849|publisher=John Murray|location=London|page=186}}</ref>}}
However, [[Khushwant Singh]], writing in 1962, considered that the rumours regarding the parentage of Sher Singh and Tara Singh were inaccurate and had been spread by [[Kharak Singh]] and his mother, [[Datar Kaur]], in order to reduce the possibility of Ranjit Singh preferring Sher Singh, who was fast becoming his father's favourite.<ref name="Khushwant Singh 2008 278">{{harvnb|Khushwant Singh|2008|p=278}}</ref> Despite his doubts, Ranjit Singh gave Sher Singh commands in the army and conferred honours on him,<ref name=Hasrat>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Sher Singh, Maharaja |last1=Hasrat |first1=B.J. |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Editor-in-Chief Harbans Singh |publisher=Punjab University Patiala}}</ref> although Kharak Singh remained his favourite.<ref name="Khushwant Singh 2008 278"/> However, no honours were bestowed on Tara Singh and he was not permitted to appear in court.<ref>Fane, page 121</ref>

==Death==
After suffering from a failing health, Mehtab Kaur died in 1813. At the time of her death, Ranjit Singh was at [[Amritsar]], where the death of the former had taken place. Ranjit Singh did not go to the incineration and other condolatory functions. After a ton of claims and influences, [[Dewan Mokham Chand]] could take the Maharaja to Sada Kaur's ''derah'', where he played out a portion of the critical functions of condolence.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Panjab Past and Present|date=1 January 1986|volume=20|page=124|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FU5AAAAIAAJ&q=condolence|publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University.|language=en}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*Mehtab Kaur is potrayed in the TV series [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh (TV series)|Maharaja Ranjit Singh.]]
*A teenage Mehtab Kaur is portrayed by [[Tunisha Sharma]] in [[Life OK]]'s historical drama ''Sher-e-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sher-E-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6435136/?ref_=m_nm_knf_act_t1|access-date=29 April 2017|language=en|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sher Singh]]
*[[Kanhaiya Misl]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Khushwant|title=Ranjit Singh|date=2008|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0143065432}}
*{{cite book|last1=Lafont|first1=Jean-Marie|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh : Lord of the five rivers|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-0-19-566111-8|edition=2. impression}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Women of the Sikh Empire]]
[[Category:1782 births]]
[[Category:1813 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian queen consorts]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian people]]

Mehtab Kaur - Revision history

->GillRomesLado: /* Family */ Although Punjabi Jat Sikh, she bore the Persian name "Mehtab" ..... But Mehtab was a common name at the time, Ranjit Singh had a 2 other wives named Mehtab plus Bhai Mehtab Singh. But if you think I have made a mistake please revert my edit. Thank you