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{{short description|Indian queen}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Queen_of_Maharaja_Ranjit_Singh,_'Moran_Sarkar'.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = A miniature painting of Moran.
| birth_date = 1781
| death_date = 1862 <ref name="dailytimes.com.pk">{{Cite web | url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/251361/mosque-of-moraan-tawaif-built-by-the-beloved-wife-of-maharaja-ranjeet-singh/ | title=Mosque of Moraan Tawaif — built by the beloved wife of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh - Daily Times Pakistan| date=9 June 2018}}</ref>
| burial_place = [[Miani Sahib Graveyard|Miani Sahib Graveyard, Lahore]]<ref name="dailytimes.com.pk">{{Cite web | url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/251361/mosque-of-moraan-tawaif-built-by-the-beloved-wife-of-maharaja-ranjeet-singh/ | title=Mosque of Moraan Tawaif — built by the beloved wife of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh - Daily Times Pakistan| date=9 June 2018}}</ref>
}}
'''Moran Sarkar''' ({{lang-pnb|{{nq|موراں سرکار}}}}) was a [[Punjabi Muslim]] who is said to have married [[Sandhawalia]] [[Jat]] [[sikh]] ruler [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] of [[Sikh Empire|Punjab]] in 1806.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uV7ajtWJJTgC&q=moran+sarkar+1806|title=The Sikh Review|date=1998|publisher=Sikh Cultural Centre|language=en}}</ref> She was a [[nautch]] girl before she became a queen. Maharaja Singh was supposedly punished by flogging by [[Akali Phula Singh]] for marrying her.<ref name="dawn.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1267298| title=HARKING BACK: Mai Moran and ever-changing face of Pappar Mandi | date=26 June 2016 | access-date=17 January 2020}}</ref> Mai Moran was sent to live in [[Pathankot district]], in 1811.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kapūra|first1=Prithīpāla Siṅgha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD9uAAAAMAAJ&q=moran+sarkar+pathankot|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Commemoration Volume on the Bicentenary of His Coronation, 1801-2001|last2=Singh|first2=Dharam|date=2001|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University|isbn=978-81-7380-728-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1orXAAAAMAAJ&q=He+also+states+that+Ranjit+Singh+got+tired+of+Moran+in+1809+and+two+years+later+sent+her+to+Pathankot+.|title=The Sikh Review|date=1993|publisher=Sikh Cultural Centre|language=en}}</ref>

==Life==
Mai Moran was born in a Muslim family in Makhan Windi, near [[Amritsar]]<ref name="dailytimes.com.pk">{{Cite web | url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/251361/mosque-of-moraan-tawaif-built-by-the-beloved-wife-of-maharaja-ranjeet-singh/ | title=Mosque of Moraan Tawaif — built by the beloved wife of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh - Daily Times Pakistan| date=9 June 2018}}</ref> She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as ''Maharani Sahiba''. She was a nautch girl. Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to meet her in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. She used to dance for him at the Baradari of Maharaja Ranjit Singh halfway between Amritsar and Lahore. The place was since called [[Pul Kanjri]] but now its name has been changed to 'Pul Moran'.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/memories-of-a-dancing-peacock/837545/1 | title=Memories of a Dancing Peacock - Indian Express| date=28 August 2011}}</ref> She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as ''Maharani Sahiba''.

She was considered to be very learned in arts and letters. She was known for her philanthropic<ref>{{cite news |title= Fame and infamy|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-life/article1086674.ece |newspaper= Business Line|access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref> acts and in bringing Maharaja's attention to many problems.

The Maharaja at Moran's request, built a mosque called as ''Masjid-e-Tawaifan'', which was renamed in 1998 as ''Mai Moran Masjid'' in Lahore.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title= Maharaja-Moran relationship in new light|url= http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080702/punjab1.htm|newspaper= Tribune India|access-date=27 January 2012}}</ref> This is located in Lahore's bazaar now called Pappar Mandi near Shah Almi Gate.<ref name="dawn.com"/>

[[File:The front of Moraan Mosque 2.jpg|thumb|٘٘٘٘Mai Moran Masjid in Lahore]]

[[File:Baradari_at_Pul_Moran.jpg|thumb|right|The dilapidated Baradari at Pul Moran on the [[India]] - [[Pakistan]] border]]

==Play==
Her life story with Maharaja Ranjit Singh was made into a play by [[Manveen Sandhu]] and directed by [[Kewal Dhaliwal]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080824/spectrum/main3.htm | title=The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Pul Kanjri|Pul Moran]]
* [[Sikh period in Lahore|Sikh Period in Lahore]]
* [[Dance bar]]
* [[Nautch]]
* [[Tawaif]]
* [[Prostitution in colonial India]]
* [[Prostitution in India]]

==External links==
* [https://goo.gl/maps/cNQCgyJXUY6XPUYv8 Link to Mai Moran Masjid on Google Maps]
* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Masjid_Moran_Sarkar,_Lahore More Pictures of Mai Moran Mosque in WikiCommons]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Indian queen consorts]]
[[Category:Indian courtesans]]
[[Category:Women of the Sikh Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Indian women philanthropists]]
[[Category:Mosques in Lahore]]
[[Category:1781 births]]
[[Category:1862 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century dancers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian philanthropists]]

Moran Sarkar - Revision history

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