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 ...

Ripudaman Singh (4 March 1883 – 12 December 1942), later known as Sardar Gurcharan Singh, was the Maharaja of

Nabha State Nabha State, with its capital at Nabha, was one of the Phulkian princely states of Punjab during the British Raj in India. Nabha was ruled by Jat Sikhs of Sidhu clan. See also *Patiala and East Punjab States Union *Political integration of ...

from 1911 to 1928, when he was deposed by the British. He later became an Indian revolutionary.

Early life

Ripu Daman Singh was born on 4 March 1883 at Nabha, the only son and heir of

Hira Singh Nabha Hira Singh (18 December 1843 – 24 December 1911) was the ruler of Nabha State, one of the Phulkian states in the Punjab. Early life Hira Singh was born at Badrukhan, Jind, on 18 December 1843 , the second son of Sukha Singh (died 1852), fro ...

. From 1906 to 1908, he was a member of the

Imperial Legislative Council of India The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

, where he spoke on behalf of the Sikh interest and pioneered reformist legislation. He represented Nabha in 1911 at the

coronation of King George V The coronation of George V and his wife Mary as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and as Emperor and Empress of India, took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Thursday 22 June 1911. This was the second of fou ...

Maharaja

Upon his father's death in 1911, Ripudaman Singh ascended the ''gadi'' of Nabha; though recognised as Maharaja, he refused to be crowned by the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

as was then the norm for a senior ruling prince in India. Continuing his interest in legal affairs, he reformed the state judiciary and enacted numerous pieces of progressive legislation, including laws providing for female education and a progressive marriage act. He also established a legislature and an executive council to govern Nabha. A staunch Indian nationalist, Ripudaman Singh befriended

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author, freedom fighter, and politician. He played a vital role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of ...

and other prominent leaders of the ''swaraj'' movement. During the First World War, he refused to contribute Nabha state force contingents for the British Indian Army. As a result, he was arguably the only Indian ruler who did not receive any British war service-related honours. Shocked by the events of the

Amritsar Massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arre ...

of Jalianwala Bagh in 1919, he publicly opposed the British, clashing with his distant cousin

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

, who was a strong supporter of British rule in India. Ripudaman Singh was granted a local salute of 15-guns in 1921, but he would not stay in British favour for much longer. In 1923, he was forced to relinquish control of Nabha to a British administrator after he was suspected of kidnapping and attempted murder through poisoning.

Deposition

In 1923, Ripudaman Singh agreed to leave Nabha and to settle at Dehra Dun. For this he was granted a large allowance. However, he continued to intrigue and attempt to regain control of Nabha to some degree. In 1927, he went on pilgrimage to Sri Abichal Nagar Hazur Sahib and retook the Khalsa initiation rites, taking the name of Gurcharan Singh. The next year, he was formally deposed by the British for sedition and succeeded by his eldest son, Pratap Singh Nabha. He was stripped of his rank and titles and exiled to

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. Thereafter, he was known officially as Gurcharan Singh.

Death

Ripudaman Singh died at Kodaikanal on 12 December 1942, aged 59. He had been succeeded in 1928 by his eldest son, Pratap Singh Nabha.

Family

Ripudaman Singh married three times, twice to ladies of royal blood and once morganatically: *1. Jagdish Kaur (1884-20 February 1925). Married at Nabha in 1901. She had a daughter: ** Amar Kaur (8 October 1907-) *2. Sarojni Devi (1898-19?). Married at Nabha 10 October 1918 and had issue: **1.

Kharak Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Singh, who succeeded as Maharaja of Nabha **2. Kharak Singh (d. 1970 in Canada) **3. Gurbaksh Singh (d November 1963) Married in 1950 Chandra Prabha Kumari (11 November 1932 – 22 October 2012). He had one son and two daughters: *** Viveck Singh *** Krishna Kumari (1951–1994) *** Tuhina Kumari **4. Kamla Devi Sahiba **5. Vimla Devi Sahiba *a. Gurcharan Kaur (1904–1983). Married Gurcharan Kaur in 1923 and had issue: **1. Narinder Singh (1924-). A son and a daughter. **2. Fateh Singh (1935-). Two sons. **3. Jasmer Singh **4. Shamsher Singh **5. Vijay Kaur **6. Charanjeet Kaur. Two sons. **7. Nandhem Kaur

Titles

*1883-1911:

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanes ...

Tikka

Sahib Sahib or Saheb (; ) is an Arabic title meaning 'companion'. It was historically used for the first caliph Abu Bakr in the Quran. The title is still applied to the caliph by Sunni Muslims. As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several langua ...

Ripudaman Singh *1911-1927:

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerl ...

Farzand-i-Arjumand, Aqidat-Paiwand-i-Daulat-i-Angrezistan, Brar Bains Sarmour, Raja-i-Rajagan,

Shri Ripudaman Singh Malvinder Bahadur,

Nabha Nabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district in the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the capital of the former Nabha State. Nabha is also a sub-division city which comes under Patiala district. Geography Nabha ...

*1927-1928: His Highness Farzand-i-Arjumand, Aqidat-Paiwand-i-Daulat-i-Angrezistan, Brar Bains Sarmour, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Shri Gurcharan Singh Malvinder Bahadur, Maharaja of Nabha *1928-1942:

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

Gurcharan Singh

Honours

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(FRGS) *

Delhi Durbar Medal Delhi Durbar Medals were instituted by the British Raj, United Kingdom to commemorate the Delhi Durbar where the new Emperor of India was proclaimed, in 1903 for Edward VII, and in Delhi Durbar Medal (1911), 1911 for George V. On both occasions t ...

-1903 *

King George V Coronation Medal The King George V Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal instituted in 1911 to celebrate the coronation of King George V, that took place on 22 June 1911. Award It was the first British Royal commemorative medal to be awarded to people who w ...

w/Delhi Durbar Clasp-1911

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabha, Ripudaman Singh Indian Sikhs Indian revolutionaries Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society 1883 births 1942 deaths Maharajas of Nabha Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Dethroned monarchs