Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh
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.
Nau Nihal Singh was born in 1821, the son of Kharak Singh and Chand Kaur, and was the favourite grandson of Ranjit Singh, who saw in him an able successor. He served in campaigns on the frontier and showed both energy and intelligence.
After his father became Maharaja in 1839, the young prince effectively took power with the support of the Dogra minister Dhian Singh, sidelining his father. He was determined to restore the kingdom's strength and was suspicious of the British.
On 5 November 1840, returning from his father's cremation, he passed under a gateway of the Hazuri Bagh in Lahore, and a stone or beam fell on him. He died of his injuries the same day. Many believed the Dogras had arranged the accident. Two Maharajas had died within a day, and the kingdom began to fall apart.
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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.
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.
Nau Nihal Singh
Nau Nihal Singh