Patiala State was a self-governing

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

of the

British Empire in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, and one of the

Phulkian States The Phulkian (or Phoolkian) Maharajas were Jat-Sikh rulers and aristocrats in the Punjab region of India. They governed the states of Faridkot, Jind, Nabha, Malaudh and Patiala, allying themselves with the British Raj as per the Cis-Sutlej ...

, that acceded to the Union of India upon Indian independence and

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. Patiala Kingdom/State was founded by

Sidhu Sidhu () is a Punjabi Jat clan found in Punjab.Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

. Early proposals of a Sikh nation of ‘Sikhistan’ led by Maharaja of Patiala were published by Dr VS Bhatti in 1940 for a “Khalistan led by the Maharaja of Patiala with the aid of a cabinet consisting of representative federating units.”. These would consist of the central districts of Punjab province then directly administered by the British, including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Ambala, Ferozpur, Amritsar and Lahore; the 'princely states' of the Cis-Sutlej, including Patiala, Nabha, Faridkot and Malerkolta; and the 'Shimla Group' of states. After partition of India in 1947, The Liberator, a Sikh publication advocated for Khalistan which would include

East Punjab East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province between ...

merged with PEPSU led by Maharaja of Patiala as it’s Monarch.

Etymology

The state's name came from the name of its principal city and capital,

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

, which itself comes from the roots ''patti'' and ''ala''. The word ''patti'' means "strip of land" in Punjabi, and '''ala''' comes from the name of the founder of the city and Patiala state,

Ala Singh Ala Singh Sidhu-Brar (1691–1765) was the first king of the princely state of Patiala. He was born in 1691 at Phul, in present-day Bathinda district of the Punjab, in Jat sikh family to Chaudhary Ram Singh of Phulkian Misl. His father had six c ...

, thus meaning ‘the land of Ala Singh’ 1946 Political Subdivisions of India by National Geographic

Brief history

In 1763, the Sikh confederation captured the fortress of Sirhind

Rulers

The rulers of Patiala bore the title '

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

-e Rajgan' from 1810 onward.

Maharajas

*29 Mar 1761 – 22 August 1765:

(b. 1691 – d. 1765) *22 Aug 1765 – 1767:Amar Singh (b. 1748 – d. 1781)

Raja-e Rajgan

*1767 – 5 February 1781: Amar Singh (s.a.) *Feb 1781 – 1810: Sahib Singh (b. 1774 – d. 1813)

Maharaja-e Rajgan

*1810 – 26 March 1813: Sahib Singh (s. a.) *26 Mar 1813 – 23 December 1845: Karam Singh (b. 1797 – d. 1845) **26 Mar 1813 – 1823: Maharani Aus Kaur (f) – Regent (b. 1772 – d. af.1823) *23 Dec 1845 – 13 November 1862: Narendra Singh (b. 1823 – d. 1862) (from 25 June 1861 Sir Narendra Singh) *13 Nov 1862 – 14 April 1876: Mahendra Singh (b. 1852 – d. 1876) (from 28 May 1870 Sir Mahendra Singh) **13 Nov 1862 – 26 February 1870: Jagdish Singh (Regent, chairman of regency council) *14 Apr 1876 – 9 November 1900: Rajinder Singh (b. 1872 – d. 1900) (from 21 May 1898 Sir Rajendra Singh) **14 April 1876 – Oct 1890: Sir Deva Singh (Regent) (b. 1834 – d. 1890) (chairman of regency council) *9 November 1900 – 23 March 1938: Bhupinder Singh (b. 1891 – d. 1938) (from 12 December 1911 Sir Bhupindra Singh) **9 November 1900 – 3 November 1910: Sardar Gurmukh Singh – (Regent, chairman of regency council) *23 Mar 1938 – 15 August 1947:

Yadavindra Singh Maharaja Sir Yadavindra Singh () was the 9th and last ruling Maharaja of Patiala from 1938 to 1971. He was also an Indian cricketer who played in one Test in 1934. Early life and family Born at Patiala City in Patiala State, within the ...

(b. 1913 – d. 1974) (from 1 January 1942 Sir Yadavindra Singh)

Gallery

File:Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia on left and Amar Singh of Patiala.jpg, Sardar

Jassa Singh Ramgarhia Jassa Singh Ramgarhia (1723–1803) was a prominent Sikh leader during the period of the Sikh Confederacy. He was the founder of the Ramgarhia Misl, Early life Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was born into a Sikh family with surname Bhambra in 172 ...

on left and Amar Singh of Patiala on right, late 18th century File:MotiBaghPalace.jpg,

Moti Bagh Palace Moti Bagh Palace is a palace in Patiala, also known as Pearl Garden Palace. The word "Moti" means "pearl", and "Bagh" means "garden". The Palace was built by Maharaja Narinder Singh, the great-grandfather of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, in 1847, a ...

, Patiala. File:PATIALA,QILLA MUBARAK.jpg, The main gate of the Qila Mubarak File:Bhupendra Singh Patiala.jpg,

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, (12 October 1891 – 23 March 1938) was an Indian royal and cricket player. He was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1900 to 1938. Biography Bhupinder Singh was born at ...

of Patiala File:Mahendra Singh of Patiala.jpg, Maharaja Mahendra Singh of Patiala File:Portrait of Sir Rajinder Singh Maharaja of Patiala.jpg,

Maharaja Rajinder Singh Maharaja Sir Rajinder Singh (25 May 1872 – 8 November 1900) was a Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1876 to 1900. In 1897, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Star of India for his bravery, by the colonial government. Descr ...

of Patiala File:A panel of seven portraits of rulers of Patiala State.jpg, A panel of seven portraits of rulers of Patiala State

References

2.https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_046.gif