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2023-08-24T04:58:35Z

Created page with '{{Infobox royalty | consort = yes | name = Raj Kaur | image = | image_size = | succession = | title = | caption = | successor...'

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{{for|the Indian archer|Raj Kaur (archer)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort = yes
| name = Raj Kaur
| image =
| image_size =
| succession = Sardarni of [[Sukerchakia Misl]]
| title = [[Rajmata]] of [[Sikh Empire]] <br> Mai Malwain Sahiba
| pre-type2 = Monarch
| predecessor2 = [[Ranjit Singh]]
| succession2 = [[Regent]] of the [[Sukerchakia Misl]]
| reign = 1774- 1792
| successor = [[Mehtab Kaur]] <br> [[Datar Kaur]]
| caption = Maha Singh and Raj Kaur, who is holding an infant Ranjit Singh, paying homage to an Udasi saint
| predecessor = [[Desan Kaur]]
| spouse = [[Maha Singh]] (m. 1774)
| house = [[Phulkian]] (by birth) <br> [[Sukerchakia]] (by marriage)
| father = Raja Gajpat Singh Sidhu
| mother = Rani Gajpat Kaur
| birth_date = {{circa}} 1758
| birth_place = [[Badrukhan]], [[Phulkian Misl]], [[Sikh Confederacy]] (present-day [[Punjab]], [[India]]
| death_date = 1803
| death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Sikh Empire]] (present-day [[Punjab]], [[Pakistan]]
| issue = [[Ranjit Singh]]
| religion = [[Sikhism]]
}}

'''Rani Raj Kaur''' was the wife of [[Maha Singh]], the leader of the [[Sukerchakia Misl]] and the mother of Maharaja [[Ranjit Singh]], the founder of the [[Sikh Empire]]. She was affectionately known as ''Mai Malwain'' (Malwa Mother) after her marriage. She is also referred to as '''Sardarni Raj Kaur''' and was daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh Sidhu of [[Jind State|Jind]].<ref>{{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=978-0720613230|page=69}}</ref>

==Family and marriage==
[[File:Miniature painting of Raja Gajpat Singh, founder of Jind State.jpg|thumb|Miniature painting of Raja Gajpat Singh, founder of Jind State and father of Raj Kaur]]
Raj Kaur was the daughter of [[Raja]] Gajpat Singh Sidhu, a scion of the [[Phulkian Misl]] of [[Jind]].<ref name=Mehta2005>{{cite book|last1=Mehta|first1=J. L.|title=Advanced study in the history of modern India, 1707-1813|date=2005|publisher=New Dawn Press, Inc.|location=Slough|isbn=9781932705546|page=681}}</ref> She was married in 1774 (at the age of fifteen) to the 17-year-old Maha Singh,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Hari Ram|title=History of the Sikhs: The Sikh lion of Lahore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799-1839|date=1991|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|page=5|isbn=9788121505154|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwFDAAAAYAAJ&q=mai+malwain+|language=en}}</ref> the heir of [[Charat Singh]], the founder and leader of the [[Sukerchakia Misl]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mahajan|first1=Vidya Dhar|author1-link=Vidya Dhar Mahajan|title=Muslim Rule in India|date=1965|publisher=S. Chand|page=241|edition=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sLo9AAAAMAAJ&q=charat+singh+founder|language=en}}</ref> The marriage was beneficial for Maha Singh as it strengthened his position amongst the [[Sikh]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jauhar|first1=Raj Pal Singh ; foreword by Bhupinder Singh|title=The Sikhs : their journey of five hundred years|date=2003|publisher=Bhavana Books & Prints|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788186505465|page=134}}</ref>

Six years after their marriage, Raj Kaur gave birth to Maha Singh's only son on 2 November 1780. He was named Buddh Singh at birth, but was later renamed Ranjit Singh. The birth of a son was celebrated with alms-giving, feeding of the poor, and giving rich offerings to temples and shrines.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Duggal|first1=Kartar Singh|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788170174103|page=49}}</ref> Maha Singh did not have time to devote to his son's upbringing, nor did the conventions of the time give opportunity to Raj Kaur, confined as she was to the seclusion of the ''[[zenana]]'' (a practice which the Sikh ruling classes had taken from the [[Muslim]]s) to see much of her son after he was old enough to be on his own.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Khushwant|title=Ranjit Singh|date=2008|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=9780143065432|pages=4, 270|language=en}}</ref>

==Regent to Ranjit Singh==
During the siege of [[Sodhra]], which was being occupied by the [[Bhangi Misl]], Maha Singh contracted [[dysentery]] and died in April 1790. Ranjit Singh was 9-years-old at the time of his father's death in 1790. Raj Kaur became Ranjit's regent during his minority and managed the affairs of the Sukerchakia Misl.<ref name="Mehta2005" /> She was assisted by Dewan Lakhpat Rai (the Dewan of her late husband) who is reputed to have acted with ability and enthusiasm.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Panjab Past and Present|journal=22|date=1 January 1988|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rw5DAAAAYAAJ&q=mai+malwain+maha+singh|accessdate=9 May 2017|publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University.|language=en}}</ref> The teenage Ranjit Singh took hardly any interest in the affairs of the state, making 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>

Ranjit had been betrothed (in Maha Singh's lifetime) to [[Mehtab Kaur]], the only daughter of [[Sada Kaur]] and granddaughter of [[Jai Singh Kanhaiya]], the chief of the powerful [[Kanhaiya Misl]]. Raj Kaur 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, for his muklawa to Mehtab Kaur in 1796, the marriage took place in 1789.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Atwal|first=Priya|date=2020-11-01|title=Royals and Rebels|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197548318.001.0001|doi=10.1093/oso/9780197548318.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-754831-8 }}</ref> 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"/>

Raj Kaur also oversaw Ranjit's nuptials with [[Datar Kaur|Raj Kaur Nakai]], daughter of Sardar Ran Singh Nakai in 1792.<ref>{{Citation|last1=von Hugel|first1=Karl Alexander|title=Dedication|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139198622.016|work=Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab|pages=429–430|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=2021-12-22|last2=Jervis|first2=T. B.|year=2012 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139198622.016 |isbn=9781108046497 }}</ref> They were betrothed when she was just an infant and he was merely 4 years old. The alliance was fixed by Maha Singh and Ran Singh Nakai's widow, [[Karmo Kaur|Sardarni Karmo Kaur]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Siṅgha|first=Bhagata|url=http://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheSikhMisals|title=History Of The Sikh Misals|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University.|year=1993|location=Patiala|pages=161–166|language=English}}</ref> His second marriage brought him a strategic military alliance just like his first wedding.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Khushwant |last=Singh |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/799280171|title=Ranjit Singh : Maharajah of the Punjab|date=1985|publisher=Orient Longman|oclc=799280171}}</ref> Raj Kaur Nakai was renamed Datar Kaur, was affectionately spoken of as Mai Nakain and remained his most loved and respected queen.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vaḥīduddīn|first=Faqīr Sayyid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaQGAQAAIAAJ&q=renamed+datar+kaur|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|date=1965|publisher=Lion Art Press|pages=58|language=en}}</ref> This wife of Ranjit Singh was also the favorite of Mai Malwain and in 1801 she bore [[Kharak Singh]], the first grandchild of Mai Malwain.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Suri|first1=Sohan |last2=Lal|first2=Lala|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/977344536|title=An outstanding original source of Panjab history : Umdat-ut-tawarikh, daftar 4, parts i-iii ; Chronicles of reign of Maharaja Kharak Singh, Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, Maharaja Sher Singh and Maharaja Dalip Sing, 1839-1845 A.M.|publisher=Punjab Itihas Prakashan, $1972|oclc=977344536}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*Raj Kaur was a portrayed by Tasreen in the TV series titled ''[[Maharaja Ranjit Singh (TV series)|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]'' which aired on [[DD National]]. The series was produced by [[Raj Babbar]].
*Raj Kaur was portrayed by [[Sneha Wagh]] in [[Life OK]]'s historical drama ''[[Sher-e-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Want to try my hand at direction: Sneha Wagh|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/want-to-try-my-hand-at-direction-sneha-wagh/articleshow/57801156.cms|date=March 24, 2017|accessdate=11 May 2017|work=The Times of India}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Maha Singh]]
*[[Ranjit Singh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Sikh Empire}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Women of the Sikh Empire]]
[[Category:1758 births]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]

Raj Kaur - Revision history

AvijitDas2003: Created page with '{{Infobox royalty | consort = yes | name = Raj Kaur | image = | image_size = | succession = | title = | caption = | successor...'