| Maharaja Dalip
Singh reached Fatehgadh, Uttar Pardesh, India.
==>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:
- 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;
- 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 |
