Question

Question 1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

“Maharani Jindan Kaur, the last wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is in news for the auction of some of her

jewellery at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London earlier this week.

“As the only surviving widow of Ranjit Singh, Jindan Kaur (1817-1863) led a spirited resistance to the

encroachment of the British into the Punjab, but was eventually forced to surrender. More than 600

pieces of her jewellery from the legendary treasury of Lahore were confiscated, and she was imprisoned

before escaping to Nepal in 1848,” notes Bonhams, in reference to the jewellery.

Who was this feisty queen who waged an unending struggle against the British?

She was the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh empire, whose boundaries

stretched from Kabul to Kashmir and the borders of Delhi. She was also the mother of Maharaja Duleep

Singh, the last ruler of the empire, who was raised by the British.

Born at Chachar in Gujranwala in 1817, Jind Kaur Aulakh was the youngest of three siblings. Her father

Manna Singh Aulakh was the overseer of the royal kennels. It is said that impressed with Manna Singh’s

description of his daughter’s beauty and intelligence, Maharaja Ranjit Singh married Jindan in 1835

when she was all of 18. She gave birth to Duleep Singh in 1838, a year before the death of the maharaja.

Duleep Singh was five years old when he was placed on the throne in 1843 after the death of two heirs

to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Since he was just a child, Maharani Jindan was made the regent. Not a rubber

stamp, she took an active interest in running the kingdom, introducing changes in the revenue system.

Dr. Ganda Singh in his work on the private correspondence relating to the Anglo-Sikh War has quoted

Lord Ellenbrough (Nov. 20 1843) as saying, “The mother of the boy Maharaja Duleep Singh seems to be

a woman of determined course, and she is the only person apparently at Lahore, who has courage.”

The British declared war on the Sikh empire in December 1845. After their victory in the first Anglo-Sikh

war, they retained Duleep Singh as the ruler but imprisoned Jind Kaur.

Prof Indu Banga, a Chandigarh-based historian who specialises in the history of Punjab, says the British

tried hard to vilify Jindan as she tried to rally forces against them, but “unlike many others, she did not

give in.”

The British campaign against her was vicious, describing her as a prostitute, seductress and the

‘Messalina of the Punjab’, a reference to the promiscuous third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius.

Jindan believed that if united, Indian rulers could oust the British. She was in touch with Bhai Maharaj

Singh, who tried to rebel against the British after the annexation of the Sikh empire. Banga says, “With

many historians counting the Anglo-Sikh battles as the first war of independence, Jindan has nowbecome a heroic figure.” William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have also written about Jindan in the

book, ‘Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond’, in 2016.

Describing her dramatic prison break on April 19, 1849, from Chunnar Fort in Uttar Pradesh, the book

says: “Dressed in beggars’ rags, she fled under cover of darkness, taunting her British captors as she

went.”

“Scattering money on the floor of her cell, Jindan scrawled a note for the guards to find: You put me in

a cage and locked me up. For all your locks and your sentries, I got out by magic… I had told you plainly

not to push me too hard – but don’t think I ran away. Understand well, that I escape by myself unaided…

don’t imagine I got out like a thief.’’”

i) Who was Maharani Jindan Kaur ?

ii) Why was she made the regent in 1843 ?

iii) How did the British try to vilify her?

iv) How did she escape from prison in 1849 ?

v) Find words from the passage that are antonyms (word opposite in meaning) of the

following words

a) cowardice

b) aided​

Answer 1

Answer:

1 last wife of ranjit singh

2bcs his husband was dead

3Jindan believed that if united, Indian rulers could oust the British. She was in touch with Bhai Maharaj

4Describing her dramatic prison break on April 19, 1849, from Chunnar Fort in Uttar Pradesh, the book

5

a. darna

b. a9dd