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Punjab WikiPeopleRulers, chiefs and generals
Maharani Chand Kaur
Unknown · Wikimedia
Leader

Maharani Chand Kaur

ਮਹਾਰਾਣੀ ਚੰਦ ਕੌਰمہارانی چند کور

Widow of Kharak Singh and the only woman to rule the Sikh Empire, as regent for two months in 1840–41 before Sher Singh took Lahore.

Chand Kaur was born in 1802 at Fatehgarh, daughter of Jaimal Singh Kanhaiya, and married Kharak Singh. After the deaths of her husband and her son Nau Nihal Singh in November 1840, she claimed the throne.

She was proclaimed regent and Malika Muqaddasa, 'Queen Immaculate', with the support of the Sandhawalia chiefs, and ruled the Sikh Empire for about two months, the only woman to do so. But the army and the Dogra minister Dhian Singh favoured Sher Singh, another son of Ranjit Singh. In January 1841 Sher Singh besieged Lahore Fort, and she gave up her claim.

In June 1842 she was beaten to death by her own servants in the fort, allegedly on the orders of Sher Singh or the Dogras.

Places linked to Maharani Chand Kaur

Connected

Maharaja Kharak Singh
Maharaja Kharak Singh1801 – 1840

Ranjit Singh's eldest son and successor. Nominal commander at Multan in 1818, he was sidelined within months of his accession and died, possibly poisoned, in November 1840.

Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh
Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh1821 – 1840

Able grandson of Ranjit Singh who effectively ruled in his father's place. Returning from his father's cremation, he was struck by falling masonry from a Lahore gateway and died the same day.

Maharaja Sher Singh
Maharaja Sher Singh1807 – 1843

Son of Ranjit Singh who won the throne in 1841 with the army's support. He was shot by the Sandhawalia chiefs in September 1843, the same day his chief minister Dhian Singh was killed.

In the world's museums

2 objects
Painting of Maharani Chand Kaur of Lahore, Central Sikh Museum (Kendri Sikh Ajaibghar)Painting of Maharani Chand Kaur of Lahore, Central Sikh Museum (Kendri Sikh Ajaibghar)Central Sikh Museum, Amritsar · photo Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) ↗Maharani Chand KaurMaharani Chand KaurNational Army Museum, London · photo Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) ↗

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