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1{2  "document_id": "lb_2wikimqa_70923ff731dcad518ecdcdc8b53e165e8515a96ecf8f23c7",3  "family": "public_2wikimqa",4  "split": "test",5  "text": "Passage 1:\nThomas Scott (diver)\nThomas Scott (1907 - date of death unknown) was an English diver.\n\nBoxing\nHe competed in the 10 metre platform at the 1930 British Empire Games for England.\n\nPersonal life\nHe was a police officer at the time of the 1930 Games.\nPassage 2:\nVictor Duleep Singh\nPrince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh (10 July 1866 – 7 June 1918) was the eldest son of Maharani Bamba Müller and Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of Lahore, and of the Sikh Empire, and the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.\n\nBiography\nVictor Duleep Singh was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he met Lady Anne Blanche Alice Coventry whom he would later marry. In 1887 he entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, with a special Cadetship and left it the following December to be commissioned as Lieutenant into the 1st (Royal) Dragoons. \n\nIn 1889 Singh was stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a member of the staff of General Sir John Ross, commander of British forces in British North America. In December, he was rumoured to be engaged to marry Jeanne Turnure, daughter of Lawrence Turnure, a New York City banker, after staying at the Turnure house in Newport, Rhode Island, the previous summer; the rumour was however denied by the banker. In February the following year, Singh took a three-month leave of absence from the army to meet his father in Paris, when rumours of unpaid creditors in Halifax became current for the first time. He continued to serve in the Royal Dragoons until he resigned his commission in 1898.On the death of his father, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, on 23 October 1893, Victor succeeded him as Head of the Royal House of the Punjab.On 4 January 1898, Prince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh married Lady Anne Coventry, a daughter of the 9th Earl of Coventry, who was eight years younger than himself. The marriage created a sensation: it was the first time an Indian prince had married an English noblewoman, and the marriage was made possible primarily due to the intervention of the Prince of Wales (subsequently King Edward VII). The wedding took place at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, London, where Queen Victoria was also represented. Although Queen Victoria gave the couple her blessing, she allegedly told Lady Anne to never have children with the Prince. The marriage remained childless.Singh was declared bankrupt on 4 September 1902, with debts totaling £117,900 (approximately £12.8 million in today's value), despite his £8,250 annual allowance and his wife's income of £2,500. The bankruptcy was attributed to bad investments and to gambling, something that plagued him for the rest of his life.He died, without legitimate issue, aged 51, on 7 June 1918, and was buried at the Anglican Cemetery above Monte Carlo. Beside him is the grave of his wife who died aged 82, on 2 July 1956.\n\nHonours\nNational dynastic honours\nHouse of Punjab: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Propitious Star of Punjab\n House of Punjab: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Ranjit Singh\n\nNational honours\nUnited Kingdom: Recipient of the King Edward VII Coronation Medal\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the King George V Coronation Medal\n\nAncestry\nPassage 3:\nFrederick Duleep Singh\nPrince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh, MVO, TD, FSA (23 January 1868 – 15 August 1926), also known as Prince Freddy, was a younger son of Sir Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.\n\nEarly life\nPrince Frederick was born in London as the third son (the second surviving after the oldest son died on the first day after his birth) of Sir Duleep Singh and Bamba Müller, the former Maharaja and Maharani Duleep of Lahore. \nHe was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read History (B.A. 1890; M.A. 1894). At Cambridge, he was a member of the Pitt Club.He was deeply interested in archaeology, contributing articles to various periodicals and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He wrote Portraits in Norfolk Houses (1929, two volumes) alongside Rev. Edmund Farrer, and with Farrer and his friend Charles Partridge compiled and published Portraits in Suffolk Houses. He was East Anglia representative of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and reported on about 50 historic building cases for it.\n\nCareer\nHe lived at Old Buckenham Hall and for 20 years, at Blo' Norton Hall near Thetford. He was a staunch monarchist, possibly due to his father's good relationship with Queen Victoria, even hanging a portrait of republican Oliver Cromwell upside-down in his lavatory at Blo' Norton. His collection of Jacobite and Stuart relics (and the Cromwell painting) were presented to Inverness Museum. He gave to the town of Thetford the timber-framed Ancient House (now a museum) together with his collection of portraits.\n\nMilitary\nPrince Frederick served with Yeomanry regiments from 1893 to 1919.\n\nAppointed Second Lieutenant: – Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry – 12 August 1893.\nPromoted Lieutenant: 21 July 1894.\nPromoted Captain: 19 August 1898.In July 1901, Prince Frederick transferred to the Norfolk Yeomanry from the Suffolk Yeomanry and was promoted to the rank of major. He resigned his commission in 1909 but rejoined the Norfolk Yeomanry in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and was on active service in France for two years and with the General Staff.\n\nHonours\nPunjabi\nHouse of Punjab: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Propitious Star of Punjab\n House of Punjab: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Ranjit Singh\n\nBritish\nUnited Kingdom: Member of the Royal Victorian Order, 1901\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the Territorial Medal\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the 1914 Star Medal\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the Victory Medal\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the King Edward VII Coronation Medal\n United Kingdom: Recipient of the King George V Coronation Medal\n\nAncestry\nPassage 4:\nEtan Boritzer\nEtan Boritzer (born 1950) is an American writer of children’s literature who is best known for his book What is God? first published in 1989. His best selling What is? illustrated children's book series on character education and difficult subjects for children is a popular teaching guide for parents, teachers and child-life professionals.Boritzer gained national critical acclaim after What is God? was published in 1989 although the book has caused controversy from religious fundamentalists for its universalist views. The other current books in the What is? series include: What is Love?, What is Death?, What is Beautiful?, What is Funny?, What is Right?, What is Peace?, What is Money?, What is Dreaming?, What is a Friend?, What is True?, What is a Family?, and What is a Feeling? The series is now also translated into 15 languages.\nBoritzer was first published in 1963 at the age of 13 when he wrote an essay in his English class at Wade Junior High School in the Bronx, New York on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His essay was included in a special anthology by New York City public school children compiled and published by the New York City Department of Education.\nBoritzer now lives in Venice, California and maintains his publishing office there also. He has helped numerous other authors to get published through How to Get Your Book Published! programs. Boritzer is also a yoga teacher who teaches regular classes locally and guest-teaches nationally. He is also recognized nationally as an erudite speaker on The Teachings of the Buddha.\nPassage 5:\nRanjit Singh\nRanjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or \"Lion of Punjab\", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died, he fought several wars to expel the Afghans in his teenage years and was proclaimed as the \"Maharaja of Punjab\" at age 21. His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839.Prior to his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls (confederacies), twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim. Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took over other local kingdoms to create the Sikh Empire. He repeatedly defeated invasions by outside armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British.Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernisation, investment into infrastructure and general prosperity. His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Europeans. His legacy includes a period of Sikh cultural and artistic renaissance, including the rebuilding of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurudwaras, including Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship. Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Kharak Singh.\n\nEarly years\nRanjit Singh was born in a Jat Sikh family on 13 November 1780 to Maha Singh and Raj Kaur in Gujranwala, Punjab region (present-day Punjab, Pakistan). His mother Raj Kaur was the daughter of Jat Sikh Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind. Upon his birth, he was named Buddh Singh after his ancestor who was first in line to take Amrit Sanchaar. The child's name was changed to Ranjit (literally, \"victor in battle\") Singh (\"lion\") by his father to commemorate his army's victory over the Chattha chieftain Pir Muhammad.\n\nRanjit Singh contracted smallpox as an infant, which resulted in the loss of sight in his left eye and a pockmarked face. He was short in stature, never schooled, and did not learn to read or write anything beyond the Gurmukhi alphabet. However, he was trained at home in horse riding, musketry and other martial arts.At age 12, his father died. He then inherited his father's Sukerchakia Misl estates and was raised by his mother Raj Kaur, who, along with Lakhpat Rai, also managed the estates. The first attempt on his life was made when he was 13, by Hashmat Khan, but Ranjit Singh prevailed and killed the assailant instead. At age 18, his mother died and Lakhpat Rai was assassinated, and thereon he was helped by his mother-in-law from his first marriage.\n\nPersonal life\nWives\nIn 1789, Ranjit Singh married his first wife Mehtab Kaur, the muklawa happened in 1796. She was the only daughter of Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya and his wife Sada Kaur, and the granddaughter of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the founder of the Kanhaiya Misl. This marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh misls, wherein Mehtab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh in 1786. However, the marriage failed, with Mehtab Kaur never forgiving the fact that her father had been killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father and she mainly lived with her mother after marriage. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married Datar Kaur of the Nakai Misl in 1797 and she turned into Ranjit's most beloved wife. Mehtab Kaur had three sons, Ishar Singh who was born in 1804 and twins Sher Singh and Tara Singh born in 1807. According to historian Jean-Marie Lafont, she was the only one to bear the title of Maharani. She died in 1813, after suffering from a failing health.\nHis second marriage was to, Datar Kaur (Born Raj Kaur) the youngest child and only daughter of Ran Singh Nakai, the third ruler of the Nakai Misl and his wife Karmo Kaur. They were betrothed in childhood by Datar Kaur's eldest brother, Sardar Bhagwan Singh, who briefly became the chief of the Nakai Misl, and Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh. They were married in 1797; this marriage was a happy one. Ranjit Singh always treated Raj Kaur with love and respect. Since Raj Kaur was also the name of Ranjit Singh's mother, she was renamed Datar Kaur. In 1801, she gave birth to their son and heir apparent, Kharak Singh. Datar Kaur bore Ranjit Singh two other sons, Rattan Singh and Fateh Singh. Like his first marriage, the second marriage also brought him strategic military alliance. She was exceptionally intelligent and assisted him in affairs of the State. During the expedition to Multan in 1818, she was given command alongside her son, Kharak Singh. Throughout her life she remained Ranjit Singh's favorite  and for no other did he have greater respect for than Datar Kaur, who he affectionately called Mai Nakain.  Even though she was his second wife she became his principal wife and chief consort. During a hunting trip with Ranjit Singh, she fell ill and died on 20 June 1838.\nRatan Kaur and Daya Kaur were wives of Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat (a misl north of Lahore, not to be confused the state of Gujarat). After Sahib Singh's death, Ranjit Singh took them under his protection in 1811 by marrying them via the rite of chādar andāzī, in which a cloth sheet was unfurled over each of their heads. The same with Roop Kaur, Gulab Kaur, Saman Kaur, and Lakshmi Kaur,  looked after Duleep Singh when his mother Jind Kaur was exiled. Ratan Kaur had a son Multana Singh in 1819, and Daya Kaur had two sons Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh in 1821.Jind Kaur, the final spouse of Ranjit Singh. Her father, Manna Singh Aulakh, extolled her virtues to Ranjit Singh, who was concerned about the frail health of his only heir Kharak Singh. The Maharaja married her in 1835 by 'sending his arrow and sword to her village'. On 6 September 1838 she gave birth to Duleep Singh, who became the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.His other wives included, Mehtab Devi of Kangara also called Guddan or Katochan and Raj Banso, daughters of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.\nHe was also married to Rani Har Devi of Atalgarh, Rani Aso Sircar and Rani Jag Deo According to the diaries, that Duleep Singh kept towards the end of his life, that these women presented the Maharaja with four daughters. Dr. Priya Atwal notes that the daughters could be adopted. Ranjit Singh was also married to Jind Bani or Jind Kulan, daughter of Muhammad Pathan from Mankera and Gul Bano, daughter of Malik Akhtar from Amritsar.\nRanjit Singh married many times, in various ceremonies, and had twenty wives. Sir Lepel Griffin, however, provides a list of just sixteen wives and their pension list. Most of his marriages were performed through chādar andāz. Some scholars note that the information on Ranjit Singh's marriages is unclear, and there is evidence that he had many concubines. Dr. Priya Atwal presents an official list of Ranjit Singh's thirty wives. The women married through chādar andāzī were noted as concubines and were known as the lesser title of Rani (queen). While Mehtab Kaur and Datar Kaur officially bore the title of Maharani (high queen), Datar Kaur officially became the Maharani after the death of Mehtab Kaur in 1813. Throughout her life was referred to as Sarkar Rani. After her death, the title was held by Ranjit's youngest widow Jind Kaur. According to Khushwant Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal Le Voltaire, his son Dalip (Duleep) Singh remarked, \"I am the son of one of my father's forty-six wives.\" Dr. Priya Atwal notes that Ranjit Singh and his heirs entered a total of 46 marriages. But Ranjit Singh was known not be a \"rash sensualist\" and commanded unusual respect in the eyes of others. Faqir Sayyid Vaḥiduddin states: \"If there was one thing in which Ranjit Singh failed to excel or even equal the average monarch of oriental history, it was the size of his harem.\" George Keene noted, \"In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken of a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman\".\n\nPunishment by the Akal Takht\nIn 1802, Ranjit Singh married Moran Sarkar, a Muslim nautch girl. This action, and other non-Sikh activities of the Maharaja, upset orthodox Sikhs, including the Nihangs, whose leader Akali Phula Singh was the Jathedar of the Akal Takht. When Ranjit Singh visited Amritsar, he was called outside the Akal Takht, where he was made to apologise for his mistakes. Akali Phula Singh took Ranjit Singh to a tamarind tree in front of the Akal Takht and prepared to punish him by flogging. Then Akali Phula Singh asked the nearby Sikh pilgrims whether they approved of Ranjit Singh's apology. The pilgrims responded with Sat Sri Akal and Ranjit Singh was released and forgiven. An alternative holds that Ranjit went to visit Moran on his arrival in Amritsar before paying his respects at Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara, which upset orthodox Sikhs and hence was punished by Akali Phula Singh. Iqbal Qaiser and Manveen Sandhu make alternative accounts on the relationship between Moran and the Maharaja; the former stating they never married, while the latter state that they married. Court chronicler, Sohan Lal Suri makes no mention Moran's marriage to the Maharaja or coins being struck in her name. Bibi Moran spent the rest of life in Pathankot. Duleep Singh makes a list of his father's queens which also does not mention Bibi Moran.\n\nIssue\nKharak Singh (22 February 1801 – 5 November 1840) was the eldest and the favorite of Ranjit Singh from his second and favorite wife, Datar Kaur. He succeeded his father as the Maharaja.\nIshar Singh son of his first wife, Mehtab Kaur. This prince died in infancy in 1805.\nRattan Singh (1805–1845) was born to Maharani Datar Kaur. He was granted the Jagatpur Bajaj estate as his jagir.\nSher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was elder of the twins of Mehtab Kaur. He briefly became the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.\nTara Singh (4 December 1807 – 1859) younger of the twins born of Mehtab Kaur.\nMultana Singh (1819–1846) son of Ratan Kaur.\nKashmira Singh (1821–1844) son of Daya Kaur.\nPashaura Singh (1821–1845) younger son of Daya Kaur.\nDuleep Singh (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Ranji Singh's youngest son, the only child of Jind Kaur.According to the pedigree table and Duleep Singh's diaries that he kept towards the end of his life mention another son Fateh Singh was born to Mai Nakain, who died in infancy. According to Henry Edward only Datar Kaur and Jind Kaur's sons are Ranjit Singh's biological sons.It is said that Ishar Singh was not the biological son of Mehtab Kaur and Ranjit Singh, but only procured by Mehtab Kaur and presented to Ranjit Singh who accepted him as his son. Tara Singh and Sher Singh had similar rumors, it is said that Sher Singh was the son of a chintz weaver, Nahala and Tara Singh was the son of Manki, a servant in the household of Sada Kaur. Henry Edward Fane, the nephew and aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, India, General Sir Henry Fane, who spent several days in Ranjit Singh's company, reported,\n\"Though reported to be the Maharaja's son, Sher Singh's father has never thoroughly acknowledged him, though his mother always insisted on his being so. A brother of Sher, Tara Singh by the same mother, has been even worse treated than himself, not being permitted to appear at court, and no office given him, either of profit or honour.\" Five Years in India, Volume 1\nHenry Edward Fane, London, 1842Multana Singh, Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh were sons of the two widows of Sahib Singh, Daya Kaur and Ratan Kaur, that Ranjit Singh took under his protection and married. These sons, are said to be, not biologically born to the queens and only procured and later presented to and accepted by Ranjit Singh as his sons.\n\nEstablishment of the Sikh Empire\nHistorical context\nAfter the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal Empire fell apart and declined in its ability to tax or govern most of the Indian subcontinent. In the northwestern region, particularly the Punjab, the creation of the Khalsa community of Sikh warriors by Guru Gobind Singh accelerated the decay and fragmentation of the Mughal power in the region. Raiding Afghans attacked the Indus river valleys but met resistance from both organised armies of the Khalsa Sikhs as well as irregular Khalsa militias based in villages. The Sikhs had appointed their own zamindars, replacing the previous Muslim revenue collectors, which provided resources to feed and strengthen the warriors aligned with Sikh interests. Meanwhile, colonial traders and the East India Company had begun operations in India on its eastern and western coasts.By the second half of the 18th century, the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent (now Pakistan and parts of north India) were a collection of fourteen small warring regions. Of the fourteen, twelve were Sikh-controlled misls (confederacies), one named Kasur (near Lahore) was Muslim controlled, and one in the southeast was led by an Englishman named George Thomas. This region constituted the fertile and productive valleys of the five rivers – Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Bias and Sutlej. The Sikh misls were all under the control of the Khalsa fraternity of Sikh warriors, but they were not united and constantly warred with each other over revenue collection, disagreements, and local priorities; however, in the event of external invasion such as from the Muslim armies of Ahmed Shah Abdali from Afghanistan, they would usually unite.Towards the end of 18th century, the five most powerful misls were those of Sukkarchakkia, Kanhayas, Nakkais, Ahluwalias and Bhangi Sikhs. Ranjit Singh belonged to the first, and through marriage had a reliable alliance with Kanhayas and Nakkais. Among the smaller misls, some such as the Phulkias misl had switched loyalties in the late 18th century and supported the Afghan army invasion against their Khalsa brethren. The Kasur region, ruled by Muslim, always supported the Afghan invasion forces and joined them in plundering Sikh misls during the war.\n\nMilitary campaigns\nRise to fame, early conquests\nRanjit Singh's fame grew in 1797, at age 17, when the Afghan Muslim ruler Shah Zaman, of the Ahmad Shah Abdali dynasty, attempted to annex Panjab region into his control through his general Shahanchi Khan and 12,000 soldiers. The battle was fought in the territory that fell in Ranjit Singh controlled misl, whose regional knowledge and warrior expertise helped resist the invading army. This victory gained him recognition. In 1798, the Afghan ruler sent in another army, which Ranjit Singh did not resist. He let them enter Lahore, then encircled them with his army, blocked off all food and supplies, burnt all crops and food sources that could have supported the Afghan army. Much of the Afghan army retreated back to Afghanistan.In 1799, Raja Ranjit Singh's army of 25,000 Khalsa, supported by another 25,000 Khalsa led by his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur of Kanhaiya misl, in a joint operation attacked the region controlled by Bhangi Sikhs centered around Lahore. The rulers escaped, marking Lahore as the first major conquest of Ranjit Singh. The Sufi Muslim and Hindu population of Lahore welcomed the rule of Ranjit Singh. In 1800, the ruler of Jammu region ceded control of his region to Ranjit Singh.In 1801, Ranjit Singh proclaimed himself as the \"Maharaja of Punjab\", and agreed to a formal investiture ceremony, which was carried out by Baba Sahib Singh Bedi – a descendant of Guru Nanak. On the day of his coronation, prayers were performed across mosques, temples and gurudwaras in his territories for his long life. Ranjit Singh called his rule as \"Sarkar Khalsa\", and his court as \"Darbar Khalsa\". He ordered new coins to be issued in the name of Guru Nanak named the \"NanakShahi\" (\"of the Emperor Nanak\").\n\nExpansion\nIn 1802, Ranjit Singh, aged 22, took Amritsar from the Bhangi Sikh misl, paid homage at the Harmandir Sahib temple, which had previously been attacked and desecrated by the invading Afghan army, and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold.\n\nOn 1 January 1806, Ranjit Singh signed a treaty with the British officials of the East India Company, in which he agreed that his Sikh forces would not attempt to expand south of the Sutlej river, and the Company agreed that it would not attempt to militarily cross the Sutlej river into the Sikh territory.In 1807, Ranjit Singh's forces attacked the Muslim ruled Kasur and, after a month of fierce fighting in the Battle of Kasur defeated the Afghan chief Qutb-ud-Din, thus expanding his empire northwest towards Afghanistan. He took Multan in 1818, and the whole Bari Doab came under his rule with that conquest. In 1819, he successfully defeated the Afghan Sunni Muslim rulers and annexed Srinagar and Kashmir, stretching his rule into the north and the Jhelum valley, beyond the foothills of the Himalayas.The most significant encounters between the Sikhs in the command of the Maharaja and the Afghans were in 1813, 1823, 1834 and in 1837. In 1813, Ranjit Singh's general Dewan Mokham Chand led the Sikh forces against the Afghan forces of Shah Mahmud led by Fateh Khan Barakzai. The Afghans lost their stronghold at Attock in that battle.\nIn 1813–14, Ranjit Singh's first attempt to expand into Kashmir was foiled by Afghan forces led by Azim Khan, due to a heavy downpour, the spread of cholera, and poor food supply to his troops.In 1818, Darbar's forces led by Kharak Singh and Misr Dewan Chand occupied Multan, killing Muzaffar Khan and defeating his forces, leading to the end of Afghan influence in the Punjab.In July 1818, an army from the Punjab defeated Jabbar Khan, a younger brother of governor of Kashmir Azim Khan, and acquired Kashmir, along with a yearly revenue of Rs seventy lacs. Dewan Moti Ram was appointed governor of Kashmir.\n\nIn 1823, Yusufzai Pashtuns fought the army of Ranjit Sing north of the Kabul River.In 1834, Mohammed Azim Khan once again marched towards Peshawar with an army of 25,000 Khattak and Yasufzai tribesmen in the name of jihad, to fight against infidels. The Maharaja defeated the forces. Yar Mohammad was pardoned and was reinvested as governor of Peshawar with an annual revenue of Rs one lac ten thousand to Lahore Darbar.In 1837, the Battle of Jamrud, became the last confrontation between the Sikhs led by him and the Afghans, which displayed the extent of the western boundaries of the Sikh Empire.On 25 November 1838, the two most powerful armies on the Indian subcontinent assembled in a grand review at Ferozepore as Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of the Punjab brought out the Dal Khalsa to march alongside the sepoy troops of the East India Company and the British troops in India. In 1838, he agreed to a treaty with the British viceroy Lord Auckland to restore Shah Shoja to the Afghan throne in Kabul. In pursuance of this agreement, the British army of the Indus entered Afghanistan from the south, while Ranjit Singh's troops went through the Khyber Pass and took part in the victory parade in Kabul.\n\nGeography of the Sikh Empire\nThe Sikh Empire, also known as the Sikh Raj and Sarkar-a-Khalsa, was in the Punjab region, the name of which means \"the land of the five rivers\". The five rivers are the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum, all of which are tributaries of the river Indus.The geographical reach of the Sikh Empire under Singh included all lands north of Sutlej river, and south of the high valleys of the northwestern Himalayas. The major towns at time included Srinagar, Attock, Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Gujrat, Sialkot, Kangra, Amritsar, Lahore and Multan.Muslims formed around 70%, Hindus formed around 24%, and Sikhs formed around 6–7% of the total population living in Singh's empire: 2694\n\nGovernance\nRanjit Singh allowed men from different religions and races to serve in his army and his government in various positions of authority. His army included a few Europeans, such as the Frenchman Jean-François Allard, though Singh maintained a policy of refraining from recruiting Britons into his service, aware of British designs on the Indian subcontinent. Despite his recruitment policies, he did maintain a diplomatic channel with the British; in 1828, he sent gifts to George IV and in 1831, he sent a mission to Simla to confer with the British Governor General, William Bentinck; while in 1838, he cooperated with them in removing the hostile Islamic Emir in Afghanistan.\n\nReligious policies\nAs consistent with many Punjabis of that time, Ranjit Singh was a secular king and followed the Sikh path. His policies were based on respect for all communities, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim. A devoted Sikh, Ranjit Singh restored and built historic Sikh Gurdwaras – most famously, the Harmandir Sahib, and used to celebrate his victories by offering thanks at the Harmandir. He also joined the Hindus in their temples out of respect for their sentiments. The veneration of cows was promoted and cow slaughter was punishable by death under his rule. He ordered his soldiers to neither loot nor molest civilians.He built several gurdwaras, Hindu temples and even mosques, and one in particular was Mai Moran Masjid, built on the behest of his beloved Muslim wife, Moran Sarkar. The Sikhs led by Singh never razed places of worship to the ground belonging to the enemy. However, he did convert Muslim mosques into other uses. For example, Ranjit Singh's army desecrated Lahore's Badshahi Mosque and converted it into an ammunition store, and horse stables. Lahore's Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) was converted into \"Moti Mandir\" (Pearl Temple) by the Sikh army, and Sonehri Mosque were converted into a Sikh Gurdwara, but upon the request of Sufi Fakir (Satar Shah Bukhari), Ranjit Singh restored the latter back to a mosque. Lahore's Begum Shahi Mosque was also used as a gunpowder factory, earning it the nickname Barudkhana Wali Masjid, or \"Gunpowder Mosque.\"Singh's sovereignty was accepted by Afghan and Punjabi Muslims, who fought under his banner against the Afghan forces of Nadir Shah and later of Azim Khan. His court was ecumenical in composition: his prime minister, Dhian Singh, was a Hindu (Dogra); his foreign minister, Fakir Azizuddin, was a Muslim; and his finance minister, Dina Nath, was also a Hindu (Brahmin). Artillery commanders such as Mian Ghausa were also Muslims. There were no forced conversions in his time. His wives Bibi Mohran, Gilbahar Begum retained their faith and so did his Hindu wives. He also employed and surrounded himself with astrologers and soothsayers in his court.Ranjit Singh had also abolished the gurmata and provided significant patronage to the Udasi and Nirmala sect, leading to their prominence and control of Sikh religious affairs.\n\nAdministration\nKhalsa Army\nThe army under Ranjit Singh was not limited to the Sikh community. The soldiers and troop officers included Sikhs, but also included Hindus, Muslims and Europeans. Hindu Brahmins and people of all creeds and castes served his army, while the composition in his government also reflected a religious diversity. His army included Polish, Russian, Spanish, Prussian and French officers. In 1835, as his relationship with the British warmed up, he hired a British officer named Foulkes.However, the Khalsa army of Ranjit Singh reflected regional population, and as he grew his army, he dramatically increased the Rajputs and the Sikhs who became the predominant members of his army. In the Doaba region his army was composed of the Jat Sikhs, in Jammu and northern Indian hills it was Hindu Rajputs, while relatively more Muslims served his army in the Jhelum river area closer to Afghanistan than other major Panjab rivers.\n\nReforms\nRanjit Singh changed and improved the training and organisation of his army. He reorganised responsibility and set performance standards in logistical efficiency in troop deployment, manoeuvre, and marksmanship. He reformed the staffing to emphasise steady fire over cavalry and guerrilla warfare, improved the equipment and methods of war. The military system of Ranjit Singh combined the best of both old and new ideas. He strengthened the infantry and the artillery. He paid the members of the standing army from treasury, instead of the Mughal method of paying an army with local feudal levies.While Ranjit Singh introduced reforms in terms of training and equipment of his military, he failed to reform the old Jagirs (Ijra) system of Mughal middlemen. The Jagirs system of state revenue collection involved certain individuals with political connections or inheritance promising a tribute (nazarana) to the ruler and thereby gaining administrative control over certain villages, with the right to force collect customs, excise and land tax at inconsistent and subjective rates from the peasants and merchants; they would keep a part of collected revenue and deliver the promised tribute value to the state. These Jagirs maintained independent armed militia to extort taxes from the peasants and merchants, and the militia prone to violence. This system of inconsistent taxation with arbitrary extortion by militia, continued the Mughal tradition of ill treatment of peasants and merchants throughout the Sikh Empire, and is evidenced by the complaints filed to Ranjit Singh by East India Company officials attempting to trade within different parts of the Sikh Empire.According to historical records, states Sunit Singh, Ranjit Singh's reforms focused on military that would allow new conquests, but not towards taxation system to end abuse, nor about introducing uniform laws in his state or improving internal trade and empowering the peasants and merchants. This failure to reform the Jagirs-based taxation system and economy, in part led to a succession power struggle and a series of threats, internal divisions among Sikhs, major assassinations and coups in the Sikh Empire in the years immediately after the death of Ranjit Singh; an easy annexation of the remains of the Sikh Empire into British India followed, with the colonial officials offering the Jagirs better terms and the right to keep the system intact.\n\nInfrastructure investments\nRanjit Singh ensured that Panjab manufactured and was self-sufficient in all weapons, equipment and munitions his army needed. His government invested in infrastructure in the 1800s and thereafter, established raw materials mines, cannon foundries, gunpowder and arm factories. Some of these operations were owned by the state, others operated by private Sikh operatives.However, Ranjit Singh did not make major investments in other infrastructure such as irrigation canals to improve the productivity of land and roads. The prosperity in his Empire, in contrast to the Mughal-Sikh wars era, largely came from the improvement in the security situation, reduction in violence, reopened trade routes and greater freedom to conduct commerce.\n\nMuslim accounts\nThe mid 19th-century Muslim historians, such as Shahamat Ali who experienced the Sikh Empire first hand, presented a different view on Ranjit Singh's Empire and governance. According to Ali, Ranjit Singh's government was despotic, and he was a mean monarch in contrast to the Mughals. The initial momentum for the Empire building in these accounts is stated to be Ranjit Singh led Khalsa army's \"insatiable appetite for plunder\", their desire for \"fresh cities to pillage\", and eliminating the Mughal era \"revenue intercepting intermediaries between the peasant-cultivator and the treasury\".According to Ishtiaq Ahmed, Ranjit Singh's rule led to further persecution of Muslims in Kashmir, expanding the previously selective persecution of Shia Muslims and Hindus by Afghan Sunni Muslim rulers between 1752 and 1819 before Kashmir became part of his Sikh Empire. Bikramjit Hasrat describes Ranjit Singh as a \"benevolent despot\".\nThe Muslim accounts of Ranjit Singh's rule were questioned by Sikh historians of the same era. For example, Ratan Singh Bhangu in 1841 wrote that these accounts were not accurate, and according to Anne Murphy, he remarked, \"when would a Musalman praise the Sikhs?\" In contrast, the colonial era British military officer Hugh Pearse in 1898 criticised Ranjit Singh's rule, as one founded on \"violence, treachery and blood\". Sohan Seetal disagrees with this account and states that Ranjit Singh had encouraged his army to respond with a \"tit for tat\" against the enemy, violence for violence, blood for blood, plunder for plunder.\n\nDecline\nSingh made his empire and the Sikhs a strong political force, for which he is deeply admired and revered in Sikhism. After his death, empire failed to establish a lasting structure for Sikh government or stable succession, and the Sikh Empire began to decline. The British and Sikh Empire fought two Anglo-Sikh wars with the second ending the reign of Sikh Empire. Sikhism itself did not decline.Clive Dewey has argued that the decline of the empire after Singh's death owes much to the jagir-based economic and taxation system which he inherited from the Mughals and retained. After his death, a fight to control the tax spoils emerged, leading to a power struggle among the nobles and his family from different wives. This struggle ended with a rapid series of palace coups and assassinations of his descendants, and eventually the annexation of the Sikh Empire by the British.\n\nDeath and legacy\nDeath\nIn the 1830s, Ranjit Singh suffered from numerous health complications as well as a stroke, which some historical records attribute to alcoholism and a failing liver. According to the chronicles of Ranjit Singh's court historians and the Europeans who visited him, Ranjit Singh took to alcohol and opium, habits that intensified in the later decades of his life. However, he neither smoked nor ate beef, and required all officials in his court, regardless of their religion, to adhere to these restrictions as part of their employment contract.  He died in his sleep on 27 June 1839. Four of his Hindu wives- Mehtab Devi (Guddan Sahiba), daughter of Raja Sansar Chand, Rani Har Devi, the daughter of Chaudhri Ram, a Saleria rajput, Rani Raj Devi, daughter of Padma Rajput and Rani Rajno Kanwar, daughter of Sand Bhari along with seven Hindu concubines with royal titles committed sati by voluntarily placing themselves onto his funeral pyre as an act of devotion.Singh is remembered for uniting Sikhs and founding the prosperous Sikh Empire. He is also remembered for his conquests and building a well-trained, self-sufficient Khalsa army to protect the empire. He amassed considerable wealth, including gaining the possession of the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Shuja Shah Durrani of Afghanistan, which he left to Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha in 1839.\n\nGurdwaras\nPerhaps Singh's most lasting legacy was the restoration and expansion of the Harmandir Sahib, the most revered Gurudwara of the Sikhs, which is now known popularly as the \"Golden Temple\". Much of the present decoration at the Harmandir Sahib, in the form of gilding and marblework, was introduced under the patronage of Singh, who also sponsored protective walls and water supply system to strengthen security and operations related to the temple. He also directed construction of two of the most sacred Sikh temples, being the birthplace and place of assassination of Guru Gobind Singh – Takht Sri Patna Sahib and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, respectively – whom he much admired. The nine-storey tower of Gurdwara Baba Atal was constructed during his reign.\n\nMemorials and museums\nSamadhi of Ranjit Singh in Lahore, Pakistan, marks the place where Singh was cremated, and four of his queens and seven concubines committed sati.\nOn 20 August 2003, a 22-foot-tall bronze statue of Singh was installed in the Parliament of India.\nA museum at Ram Bagh Palace in Amritsar contains objects related to Singh, including arms and armour, paintings, coins, manuscripts, and jewellery. Singh had spent much time at the palace in which it is situated, where a garden was laid out in 1818.\nOn 27 June 2019, a nine-feet bronze statue of Singh was unveiled at the Haveli Maharani Jindan, Lahore Fort at his 180th death anniversary. It has been vandalised several times since, specifically by members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.\n\nCrafts\nIn 1783, Ranjit Singh established a crafts colony of Thatheras near Amritsar and encouraged skilled metal crafters from Kashmir to settle in Jandiala Guru. In the year 2014, this traditional craft of making brass and copper products got enlisted on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The Government of Punjab is now working under Project Virasat to revive this craft.\n\nAwards\nIn 2020, Ranjit Singh was named as \"Greatest Leader of All Time\" in a poll conducted by 'BBC World Histories Magazine'.\n\nIn popular culture\nMaharaja Ranjit Singh, a documentary film directed by Prem Prakash covers his rise to power and his reign. It was produced by the Government of India's Films Division.\nIn 2010, a TV series titled Maharaja Ranjit Singh aired on DD National based on his life which was produced by Raj Babbar's Babbar Films Private Limited. He was portrayed by Ejlal Ali Khan\nMaharaja: The Story of Ranjit Singh (2010) is an Indian Punjabi-language animated film directed by Amarjit Virdi.\nA teenage Ranjit was portrayed by Damanpreet Singh in the 2017 TV series titled Sher-e-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It aired on Life OK produced by Contiloe Entertainment.\n\nSee also\nBaradari of Ranjit Singh\nHistory of Punjab\nCharat Singh\nHari Singh Nalwa\nList of generals of Ranjit Singh\nKoh-i-Noor\nBattle of Balakot\n\nNotes\nPassage 6:\nDuleep Singh\nMaharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the \"Black Prince of Perthshire\", was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son, the only child of Maharani Jind Kaur.He was placed in power in September 1843, at the age of five, with his mother ruling on his behalf, and after their defeat in the Anglo-Sikh War, under a British Resident. He was subsequently deposed by the British Crown, and thereafter exiled to Britain at age 15 where he was befriended by Queen Victoria, who is reported to have written of the Punjabi Maharaja: \"Those eyes and those teeth are too beautiful\". The Queen was godmother to several of his children. He died at 55, living most of his final years in the United Kingdom.His mother had effectively ruled when he was very young and he managed to meet her again on 16 January 1861, in Calcutta and return with her to the United Kingdom. During the last two years of her life, his mother told the Maharaja about his Sikh heritage and the Empire which once had been his to rule. In June 1861, he was one of the first 25 Knights in the Order of the Star of India.\n\nEarly years\nAfter the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, Duleep Singh lived quietly with his mother, Jind Kaur Aulakh, at Jammu ruled by Gulab Singh, under the protection of the Vizier, Raja Dhian Singh. He and his mother were recalled to Lahore in 1843 after the assassinations of Maharaja Sher Singh and Dhian Singh, and on 16 September, at the age of five, Duleep Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, with Maharani Jind Kaur as Regent.\nOn 13 December 1845 the British East India Company declared war on the Sikhs and, after winning the First Anglo-Sikh War, retained the Maharaja as nominal ruler, but replaced the Maharani by a Council of Regency and later imprisoned and exiled her. Over thirteen years passed before Duleep Singh was permitted to see his mother again.\nAfter the close of the Second Anglo-Sikh War and the subsequent annexation of the Punjab on 29 March 1849, he was deposed at the age of ten and was put into the care of Dr John Login and sent from Lahore to Fatehgarh on 21 December 1849, with tight restrictions on who he was allowed to meet. No Indians, except trusted servants, could meet him in private. As a matter of British policy, he was to be culturally anglicised in every possible aspect. His health was reportedly poor and he was often sent to the hill station of Landour near Mussoorie in the Lower Himalaya for convalescence, at the time about 4 days' journey. He would remain for weeks at a time in Landour at a grand hilltop building called The Castle, which had been lavishly furnished to accommodate him.\n\nConversion to Christianity\nIn 1853, under the tutelage of his long-time retainer Bhajan Lal (himself a Christian convert), he converted to Christianity at Fatehgarh with the approval of the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. His conversion remains controversial, and it occurred before he turned 15. He later had serious doubts and regrets regarding this decision and reconverted to Sikhism in 1886.He was also heavily and continuously exposed to Christian texts under the tutelage of the devout Sir John Spencer Login. His two closest childhood friends were both English Anglican missionaries. In May 1854 he was sent into exile in Britain.\n\nLife in exile\nLondon\nDuleep Singh arrived in England in late 1854 and was introduced to the British court. Queen Victoria showered affection upon the turbaned Maharaja, as did the Prince Consort. Duleep Singh was initially lodged at Claridge's Hotel in London before the East India Company took over a house in Wimbledon and then eventually another house in Roehampton which became his home for three years. He was also invited by the Queen to stay with the Royal Family at Osborne, where she sketched him playing with her children and Prince Albert photographed him, while the court artist, Winterhalter, made his portrait.He eventually got bored with Roehampton and expressed a wish to go back to India but it was suggested by the East India Company Board he take a tour of the European continent which he did with Sir John Spencer Login and Lady Login. He was a member of the Photographic Society, later the Royal Photographic Society, from 1855 until his death.\n\nCastle Menzies\nOn his return from Continental Europe in 1855 he was given an annual pension of £25,000 a year (approximately £2,500,000 in today's value) provided he \"remain obedient to the British Government,\" and was officially under ward of Sir John Spencer Login and Lady Login, who leased Castle Menzies in Perthshire, Scotland, for him. He spent the rest of his teens there, but at 19 he demanded to be in charge of his household. Eventually, he was given this and an increase in his annual pension.\nIn 1859 Lt Col James Oliphant was installed as Equerry to the Maharaja at the recommendation of Sir John Login. Oliphant was to be a possible replacement should anything happen to the Maharaja's most trusted friend Sir John Login (who did indeed die four years later in 1863).In the 1860s, Singh moved from Castle Menzies to Grandtully Castle.\n\nMulgrave Castle\nFrom 1858 to 1862 Duleep Singh rented Mulgrave Castle, near Whitby.\n\nSir Samuel White Baker\nWhile Sir Samuel White Baker was visiting the Duke of Atholl on his shooting estate in Scotland, he befriended Maharaja Duleep Singh. In 1858–1859, the two partnered an extensive hunting trip in central Europe and the Balkans, via Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. On the last part of the voyage, Baker and the Maharajah hired a wooden boat in Budapest, which was eventually abandoned on the frozen Danube. The two continued into Vidin where, to amuse the Maharajah, Baker went to the Vidin slave market. There, Baker fell in love with a white slave girl, destined for the Ottoman Pasha of Vidin. Baker was outbid by the Pasha but bribed the girl's attendants. The two ran away in a carriage together and eventually, as Florence Baker, she became Baker's lover and wife and accompanied him everywhere he journeyed.\n\nReunion with his mother\nWhen he was 18, Singh wrote to his mother in Kathmandu, suggesting that she should join him in Great Britain, but his letter was intercepted by the British authorities in India and did not reach her. He then sent a courier, Pundit Nehemiah Goreh, who was also intercepted and forbidden to contact the Maharani. Duleep Singh then decided to go himself. Under cover of a letter from Login he wrote to the British Resident in Kathmandu, who reported that the Maharani had 'much changed, was blind and had lost much of the energy which formerly characterised her.' The British government decided she was no longer a threat and she was allowed to join her son on 16 January 1861 at Spence's Hotel in Calcutta and return with him to England.\n\nAuchlyne and Aberfeldy\nIn 1858 the lease of Castle Menzies expired and Duleep Singh rented the house at Auchlyne from the Earl of Breadalbane. He was known for a lavish lifestyle, shooting parties, and a love of dressing in Highland costume and soon had the nickname \"the Black Prince of Perthshire\". (At the same time, he was known to have gradually developed a sense of regret for his circumstances in exile, including some inner turmoil about his conversion to Christianity and his forced departure from the Punjab). His mother stayed in Perthshire with him for a short time, before he rented the Grandtully Estate, near Aberfeldy. Following the death of his mother and Sir John Login in 1863, he returned to England.\n\nElveden Estate\nMaharaja Duleep Singh (as he became in June 1861) bought (or the India Office purchased for him) a 17,000 acres (69 km2) country estate at Elveden on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, close to Thetford, in 1863. He enjoyed living in Elveden Hall and the surrounding area and restored the church, cottages, and school. He transformed the run-down estate into an efficient game preserve and it was here that he gained his reputation as the fourth best shot in England.The house was remodelled into a quasi-oriental palace where he lived the life of a British aristocrat. Maharaja Duleep Singh was accused of running up large expenses and the estate was sold after his death to pay his debts. Today, Elveden is owned by The 4th Earl of Iveagh, the head of the Anglo-Irish Guinness family of brewing fame; it remains an operating farm and private hunting estate.\n\nRe-initiated into Sikhism\nIn 1864, Duleep Singh married Bamba Müller in Cairo and established his family home at Elveden Hall in Suffolk. He eventually became disaffected and embittered with the British, and he reverted to Sikhism.\nWhile in exile, he sought to learn more about Sikhism and was eager to return to India. Though previous efforts were thwarted by his handlers, he re-established contact with his cousin Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who on 28 September 1884 left Amritsar for England along with his sons Narinder Singh and Gurdit Singh and a Sikh granthi (priest), Pratap Singh Giani. He also brought a list of properties held by Sir Duleep Singh in India. All this renewed his connection with Sikhism.The British Government decided in 1886 against his return to India or his re-embracing Sikhism. Despite protests from the India Office, he set sail for 'home' on 30 March 1886. However, he was intercepted and arrested in Aden, then part of Aden Settlement, where the writ of the Viceroy of India began. He could not be stopped from an informal re-conversion ceremony in Aden, far less grand and symbolic than it would have been in India, done by emissaries sent by Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who was earlier planning the Pahaul ceremony at Bombay. Sir Duleep was forced to return to Europe.\n\nDeath\nMaharaja Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893 at the age of 55, having seen India after the age of fifteen during only two brief, tightly controlled visits in 1860 (to bring his mother to England) and in 1863 (to cremate his mother's body).\nMaharaja Duleep Singh's wish for his body to be returned to India was not honoured, in fear of unrest, given the symbolic value the funeral of the son of the Lion of the Punjab might have caused and the growing resentment of British rule. His body was brought back to be buried according to Christian rites, under the supervision of the India Office, in Elveden Church beside the grave of his wife Maharani Bamba, and his son Prince Edward Albert Duleep Singh. The graves are located on the west side of the Church.\n\nA life-size bronze statue of the Maharaja, showing him on a horse, was unveiled by the then Prince of Wales in 1999 at Butten Island in Thetford, a town which benefited from his and his sons' generosity.In an auction at Bonhams, London, on 19 April 2007, the 74 cm high white marble portrait bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh by Victorian sculptor John Gibson, R.A., in Rome in 1859 fetched £1.7 million (£1.5 million plus premium and tax).A film titled Maharaja Duleep Singh: A Monument Of Injustice, was made in 2007, directed by P.S. Narula.\n\nHeraldry\nThe Maharaja and his family used a coat of arms which was drawn up by Prince Albert, despite not being registered at the College of Arms. It contained a coronet, lions, and a shield with a cross, along with the motto \"Prodesse quam conspicii\" (\"to do good rather than be conspicuous\").\n\nFamily\nSir Duleep Singh married twice, first to Bamba Müller in 1864, and then to Ada Douglas Wetherill (1869-1930) in 1889. He had eight children in total.\nHe had seven children from his marriage to Bamba. Their first child and male heir died aged one day in 1865. The others were:\n\nPrince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh (10 Jan 1866-7 Jun 1918)\nPrince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh (23 Jan 1868-15 Aug 1926)\nPrincess Bamba Sofia Jindan Duleep Singh (29 Sep 1869-10 Mar 1957)\nPrincess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh (27 Oct 1871-8 Nov 1942)\nPrincess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 Aug 1876-22 Aug 1948)\nPrince Albert Edward Alexander Duleep Singh (1879-1 May 1893)He also had two children from his marriage to Wetherill:\n\nPrincess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh (26 Dec 1887-10 Apr 1941)\nPrincess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh (25 Oct 1889-14 Sep 1926)All the eight children died without legitimate issue, ending the direct line of the Sikh Royalty.There is a memorial at Eton College in England to Princes Victor and Frederick, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh's two sons who studied at Eton in the 1870s.\n\nMaharani Bamba Müller\nMaharani Bamba Müller was an Arabic-speaking, part-Ethiopian, part-German woman, whose father was a German banker and whose mother was an Abyssinian Coptic Christian slave. She and Sir Duleep met in Cairo in 1863 on his return from scattering his mother's ashes in India; they were married in Alexandria, Egypt, on 7 June 1864. The Maharani died in London on 18 September 1887.\n\nAda Douglas Wetherill\nAda Douglas Wetherill (born 15 January 1869 in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of a civil engineer) had been Duleep's mistress before he decided to return to India with his family, and upon being stopped in Aden by the British authorities he abandoned his family and moved to Paris, where she joined him. They married in Paris on 28 April 1889. She stayed with him through his years in Paris and also travelled with him to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he failed to persuade the Czar of the benefits of invading India through the north and reinstalling him as ruler. She died in Sussex on 6 August 1930.\nQueen Victoria and Maharaja Duleep Singh reconciled their differences before he died. Out of loyalty to Maharani Bamba, the Queen refused to receive Ada, whom she suspected had been involved with the Maharaja before Maharani Bamba's death in 1887.\n\nMiscellany\nIn 1854, Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the  Theosophical Society, met her Master Morya in England, who was in her words, \"in the company of a dethroned native prince\". This \"native prince\" according to general consent was Sir Duleep Singh.\nHe was a member of the Freemasons and was admitted into the lodge in 1861.On 21 October 1893, the day before Sir Duleep Singh's death, Prince Victor Duleep Singh, the eldest son of Sir Duleep Singh, had visions of his father looking at him through a picture frame.\nDuleep Singh remembered his servant James Cawood who died in 1865 with a gravestone in Killin cemetery, Killin, Scotland.A 2017 film, The Black Prince, by the Indian-born film director Kavi Raz told the story of Duleep and his relationship with Queen Victoria.\nMaharaja Duleep Singh's character is featured in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Syndicate game. He is featured as a young Duleep Singh, which based on his real-life struggle as an exiled ruler in Victorian London.\n\nFurther reading\nSikh History in 10 Volumes, by Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. Published by Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2009–2012.\nSir John Login And Duleep Singh, by Lady Lena Login. W. H. Allen & Co., London. 1890.\nMaharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence, by Dhuleep Singh, Ganda Singh. Published by Punjabi University, 1977.\nSikh Portraits by European Artists,, by Aijazuddin, F.S. Sotheby Parke Bernet, London and Oxford U. Press, Karachi and New Delhi, 1979.\nThe Duleep Singh's: The Photograph Album of Queen Victoria's Maharajah, by Peter Bance (Bhupinder Singh Bance). Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-3488-3\nThe Maharajah's Box: An Imperial Story of Conspiracy, Love and a Guru's Prophecy, by Campbell, Christy. HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-653078-8 The Maharaja's Box\nQueen Victoria's Maharajah, Duleep Singh, 1838–93, by Michael Alexander and Sushila Anand. 1980. ISBN 978-1-84212-232-7\nDuleep Singh: The Maharaja of Punjab and the Raj, by Rishi Ranjan Chakrabarty. Published by D.S. Samara, 1988. ISBN 0-9514957-0-4.\nMaharaja Duleep Singh: The Last Sovereign Ruler of the Punjab, by Prithipal Singh Kapur. Published by Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, Dharam Parchar Committee, 1995.\nMaharaja Duleep Singh, Fighter for Freedom, by Baldev Singh Baddan. Published by National Book Shop, 1998. ISBN 81-7116-210-X.\n Maharaja Daleep Singh, by Balihar Singh Randhawa. Sikh Literary & Cultural Stall, 1998. ISBN 1-900860-01-5.\nThe Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Government: A Narrative, by Surjit Singh Jeet. Published by Guru Nanak Dev University, 1999.\nThe Annexation of the Punjaub, and the Maharajah Duleep Singh, by Thomas Evans Bell. Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. ISBN 0-543-92432-7.\nMaharaja Dalip Singh Cheated Out, by Avtar Singh Gill. Jaswant Printers. 2007\nThe Exile, by Navtej Sarna. Penguin, 2008. ISBN 978-0-670-08208-7.\nSovereign, Squire & Rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the heirs of a Lost Kingdom, by Peter Bance, Coronet House Publishing, London, 2009\nThe Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar, by Capt. Amarinder Singh, ISBN 978-8174367792\nPassage 7:\nTheodred II (Bishop of Elmham)\nTheodred II was a medieval Bishop of Elmham.\nThe date of Theodred's consecration unknown, but the date of his death was sometime between 995 and 997.\nPassage 8:\nBill Smith (footballer, born 1897)\nWilliam Thomas Smith (9 April 1897 – after 1924) was an English professional footballer.\n\nCareer\nDuring his amateur career, Smith played in 17 finals, and captained the Third Army team in Germany when he was stationed in Koblenz after the armistice during the First World War. He started his professional career with Hull City in 1921. After making no appearances for the club, he joined Leadgate Park. He joined Durham City in 1921, making 33 league appearances in the club's first season in the Football League.He joined York City in the Midland League in July 1922, where he scored the club's first goal in that competition. He made 75 appearances for the club in the Midland League and five appearances in the FA Cup before joining Stockport County in 1925, where he made no league appearances.\nPassage 9:\nBamba Müller\nMaharani Bamba, Lady Singh (Bamba Müller; 6 July 1848 – 18 September 1887). Brought up by Christian missionaries, she married Maharaja Duleep Singh and became Maharani Bamba, wife of the last Maharaja of Lahore. Her transformation from illegitimate girl, born to a German father and Abyssinian (Ethiopian) mother, living in a Cairo mission to a Maharani living a life of luxury with the \"Black Prince of Perthshire\" has been compared to the \"Cinderella\" story.\n\nBiography\nBamba Müller was the daughter of Ludwig Müller, a German merchant banker with the company Todd Müller and Co., by his mistress of Abyssinian descent called Sofia. The name Bamba was Arabic for pink. Her father already had a wife and he therefore placed his illegitimate daughter in the care of missionaries in Cairo. Her father had requested and paid for her education, and remained in contact with the missionaries. Müller became an enthusiastic and charismatic member of the Christian community and was the only female in a select group of communicants at the American Presbyterian Mission school in Cairo.\n\nThe prince\nDuleep Singh was the last ruler of the Sikh Empire, being dethroned by the East India Company after the Second Anglo-Sikh War. In 1863, Singh was being supervised in Britain where he was a friend of Queen Victoria and kept a large social circle. He was known as the \"Black Prince of Perthshire\" around his home in Scotland. Singh was given money by the East India Company administration on condition that he complied with the demands of the British government. Duleep had been taken to Britain when a child and raised as a Christian. This was after he had been persuaded to agree to the annexation of the Punjab by the East India Company. The treaty also included handing the Koh-i-Nor diamond as well, which became part of the Crown Jewels. Singh was separated from his mother, Maharani Jindan Kaur. His mother remained in India, although eventually she was allowed to rejoin her son in England. Duleep collected her after special permission was given. Duleep was allowed by the East India Company to visit India for the second time to bury his mother after she died in Britain, although the body remained at Kensal Green Cemetery for nearly a year whilst this was negotiated upon. His mother's ashes were not allowed to be buried in Lahore (the main city of the Punjab), but had to be placed in a memorial in Bombay instead.\n\nThe proposal\nOn his return from Bombay Duleep passed through Cairo and visited the missionaries there on 10 February 1864. He visited again a few days later and was taken around the girls' school, where he first met Bamba Müller, who was an instructor. She was the only girl there who had committed herself to a Christian life. On each visit Duleep made presents to the mission of several hundreds of pounds.\nDuleep Singh wrote to the teachers at the missionary school at the end of the month in the hope that they would recommend a wife for him as he was to live in Britain and he wanted a Christian wife of Eastern origin. Queen Victoria had told Duleep that he should marry an Indian princess who had been educated in England, but he desired a girl with less sophistication. The final proposal had to be done via an intermediary as Duleep did not speak Arabic, Müller's only language.  The missionaries discussed this proposal with Müller. She was unsure whether to accept the proposal offered via the missionaries. Her first ambition was to rise to teach children in a missionary school. Her father was consulted but he left the choice to his daughter. Müller eventually made her decision after praying for guidance. She decided that the marriage was God's call for her to widen her ambitions. Singh made a substantial contribution of one thousand pounds to the school and married Müller on 7 June 1864 in the British Consulate in Alexandria, Egypt. The ceremony was described as brief, with few witnesses. Both of them wore European dress though Duleep wore a turban. Bamba wore simple jewellery including pearls. She had a short sleeved, moire, antique dress, orange blossoms in her hair, and a veil. The Prince made his vows in English, whilst Bamba spoke in Arabic.\n\nFamily and death\nThe couple had three sons and three daughters whom they brought up at Elveden Hall in Suffolk, England. Her six children were: Victor Albert Jay (1866–1918), Frederick Victor (1868–1926), Bamba Sophia Jindan  (1869–1957), Catherina Hilda (1871–1942), Sophia Alexandra (1876–1948), and Albert Edward Alexander (1879–1893).\nVictor and Frederick both joined the British Army whilst Frederick became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. One of her daughters, Bamba Sophia Jindan, returned to Lahore as the wife of a Dr Sutherland. She was known as Princess Bamba Sutherland.\nIn 1886 her husband resolved to return to India. On his way there he was arrested in Aden and forced to return to Europe. Bamba died on 18 September 1887 and was buried  at Elveden. The cause of death was reported as \"comprehensive renal failure brought on by an acute case of diabetes, made worse by her drinking (of alcohol)\".Bamba's husband went on to marry again in 1889 to Ada Douglas Wetherill and had two more children.\nHer son Albert Edward Alexander Duleep Singh died aged thirteen in Hastings on 1 May 1893 and was buried next to his mother. When Bamba's husband died, his body was brought back to England and buried with his wife and son at Elveden.",6  "char_len": 64692,7  "document_hash": "5260bcaaf22008657b3f1fe0d4f1a0fc36930eee9025f9ded68aab3f7b4c0127",8  "questions": [9    {10      "question_id": "q00",11      "qtype": "2wikimqa",12      "question": "What is the date of death of Duleep Singh's father?"13    }14  ]15}
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