Today in Sikh History :18th February

18th February

==>Maharaja Dalip Singh was forcibly separated from his mother Maharani Jind Kaur and sent to Fatehgarh, (Farrrukhabad, district of Uttar Pradesh in India) by Lord Dalhousie. Lord Dalhousie appointed Dr. Login to be the companion to Dalip Singh. Within a few months of the Englishman’s tutelage Maharaja was converted from a Sikh to a Christian. A man named Bhajan Lal was assigned to teach him Bible and Christianity. It was here the Maharaja Dalip Singh for the first time communicated to Captain Campbell, his acting guardian, his desire to become Christian. Dr. Login was on leave at that time.

The purpose for the Maharaja’s conversion to Christianity was twofold:

1. Politically there was no better solution for the British as it showed that the Maharaja not only became a Christian, but also gave up his Punjabi life by becoming an English country-gentleman;
2. It removed him from his mother and subjects – the Punjabi people.

On March 8, 1853, Maharaja Dalip Singh was formally admitted into the Christian Church with water brought from Ganges nearby at his own private dwelling house. The service was conducted by the Rev. M.W. Jay, with Dr. John S. Login, Mrs. Login, Colonel Alexander and Mr. Guise signing the Baptism register as witnesses.

Note, Maharaja Dalip Singh reentered the Sikh faith in 1886. He received Khande Di Pahul (Amrit) on May 26, 1886 at Aden.

Later Maharaja Dalip Singh tried to regain his lost kingdom and declared himself as the "implacable foe of the British." Unfortunately he did not get much support from his countrymen and some of his letters were intercepted by the British intelligence. Even some Sikh political and religious organizations opposed his efforts.

Maharaja Dalip Singh died on October 23, 1893 in a hotel in Paris.

-Ref.
1. Maharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence, page 81. (Punjabi University)
2. The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab – Khushwant Singh, page 152