Jagatjit Singh

Sir Jagatjit Singh
Maharaja of Kapurthala
Reign	3 September 1877 – 15 August 1947
Coronation	24 November 1890
Predecessor	Kharak Singh (as Raja)
Successor	Monarchy abolished Paramjit Singh (titular)
Born	(1872-11-24)24 November 1872 Kapurthala, Kapurthala State, British India
Died	19 June 1949(1949-06-19) (aged 76) Bombay, Bombay State, India
Spouse	six wives
Issue	five sons and one daughter
Names Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
Dynasty	Ahluwalia dynasty
Father	Kharak Singh Sahib Bahadur
Mother	Anand Kaur Sahiba
Religion	Sikh

Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur GCSI GCIE GBE (24 November 1872 – 19 June 1949) was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala in the British Empire of India from 1877 until his death in 1949. He ascended the throne of Kapurthala state on 16 October 1877. He assumed full ruling powers on 24 November 1890 and then commenced a career as a world traveller and Francophile. He was born in Jat Sikh family. He received the title of Maharaja in 1911. He built palaces and gardens in the city of Kapurthala; his main palace Jagatjit Palace there was modelled on the Palace of Versailles.

He also built a gurudwara at Sultanpur Lodhi, sacred to Guru Nanak.

He served as the Indian Representative to the League of Nations General Assembly in Geneva in 1925, 1927, and 1929,^[1] attended the Round Table Conference in 1931 and was Lt Governor of the PEPSU at the time of his death in 1949, aged 76. He was cousin of Sardar Bhagat Singh, one of the few Indian Justices of High Court during the British Raj. His grandson Sukhjit Singh rose to the rank of Brigadier in the Indian Army. Another grandson Arun Singh was a Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Honours[]

HH Maharaja Jagatjit Singh in childhood

British[]

• Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) 1911 (KCSI: 1897)
• Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) 1 January 1921
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) 29 November 1927^[2]
• Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold 1897
• Delhi Durbar Medal in Gold 1903
• King George V Coronation Medal, with Delhi Durbar Clasp 1911
• King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935
• King George VI Coronation Medal 1937
• Indian Independence Medal 1947

Foreign[]

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, 1st Class of the Kingdom of Prussia 1911
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of the Kingdom of Egypt 1924
• Grand Cordon of the Sharifan Order of Alaoui of the Kingdom of Morocco 1924
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus of the Kingdom of Italy 1924
• Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Chile 1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru 1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Cross of Honour and Merit of Cuba 1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania 1926
• Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II of Empire of Ethiopia 1928
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Sava of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1928^[3]
• Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III of the Kingdom of Spain 1928
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory of Tunisia 1928
• Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia 1929
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Empire of Iran 1930
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion, 1st Class of Czechoslovakia 1934
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Agatha of San Marino 1935
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Sylvester of the Vatican 1935
• Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of France 1948 (Grand Officer: 1924)
• Grand Cross of the Hamidiya Order of Merit of the Rampur State 1926

Marriages[]

• Singh married firstly at Paprola, on 16 April 1886, Maharani Harbans Kaur Sahiba, daughter of Mian Ranjit Singh Guleria of Paprola (died 17 October 1941 in Mussoorie from heart failure). They had two sons.
  • Paramjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
  • Mahijit Singh Sahib Bahadur
• Married secondly at Katoch, 1891, Rani Parvati Kaur Sahiba, daughter of a Sardar of Katoch (died 20 February 1944 in Kapurthala). They had one son.
  • Amarjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
• Married thirdly at Bashahr, 1892, Rani Lakshmi Kaur Sahiba, a Princess of a Rajput family from Bashahr (died September 1959 in Kapurthala).
• Married fourthly at Jubbal, 1895, Rani Kanari Sahiba, daughter of the Dewan of Jubbal (died circa 1910). They had one son and one daughter.
  • Karamjit Singh Sahib Bahadur
  • Amrit Kaur Sahiba
• Married fifthly at Paris, 28 January 1908 (later divorced), Rani Prem Kaur Sahiba [née Anita Delgado], (born 1890 in Málaga, Spain, died 7 July 1962 in Madrid, Spain from heart failure). They had one son.
  • Ajit Singh Sahib Bahadur
• Married sixthly at Kapurthala, 1942, Rani Tara Devi Sahiba [née Eugenia Marie Grossupova]; she was an actress, and the daughter of a Czech count and Nina Marie Grossupova.

In media[]

• Probably as a reminiscence of his marriage with Anita Delgado, Don Pimpón, a character in the Spanish version of Sesame Street, claimed to have travelled the world extensively with "his friend the Maharaja of Kapurthala."
• He appeared in the American Horror Story: Freak Show episode Orphans in a flashback where he gives Elsa Mars custody of Mahadevi "Ma Petite" Patel.

See also[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jagatjit Singh.

• Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur, the first female Indian Cabinet Minister (his first cousin).
• Maharajkumarani Sita Devi Sahiba, pre-WWII fashion icon: wife of Maharajkumar Karam of Karputhala (his daughter-in-law).

Footnotes[]

External links[]

• The history of Kapurthala is the history of the Ahluwalia Dynasty