Rani Sada Kaur ( Punjabi: ਸਦਾ ਕੌਰ; 1762 – 1832) was a Sikh leader. She served as the Chief of the

Kanhaiya Misl The Kanhaiya Misl was founded by the Sandhu Jats. Jai Singh Sandhu (son of Khushal Singh) of the village Kanha (district Lahore) was the founder of this ''Misl''; hence the misl came to known as Kanhaiya Misl; another founder leader of thi ...

from 1789 to 1821, following the death of her husband

Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya ( 1759 - 1785) was the eldest son and heir of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the chief of the Kanhaiya Misl. He was the father of Maharani Mehtab Kaur and thus, the father-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empir ...

, the heir to

Jai Singh Kanhaiya Jai Singh Kanhaiya (1712–1793) was the founder and leader of the Kanhaiya Misl until his death. His daughter-in-law, Sada Kaur succeeded him in the leadership of the '' misl''. Early life Jai Singh was born in the village of Kahna, 21 km ...

, the leader of the Kanhaiya Misl, and she is sometimes referred to as Sardarni Sada Kaur. Described as intelligent and ambitious, Rani Sada Kaur was instrumental in guiding a young Ranjit Singh to found the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

. She played an important role in the rise and consolidation of Sikh power in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Early life and marriage

Sada Kaur was born into a

Dhaliwal Dhaliwal may refer to; Villages in Punjab, India *Dhaliwal, Nakodar, Jalandhar district * Dhaliwal Bet, Kapurthala district * Dhaliwal Dona, Kapurthala district * Mand Dhaliwal, Kapurthala district Other uses *Dhaliwal (surname) Dhaliwal is a c ...

Jat Sikh Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdin ...

family in 1762 to Sardar Daswandha Singh Dhaliwal. She was married to the 7 year-old Gurbaksh Singh, the eldest son and heir of Jai Singh, the head of the

Sandhu Sandhu or Sindhu is a clan or family name found among the Punjabi Jatts in India and Pakistan. It is Punjab's second largest Jatt clan. The etymology is connected to the word ''Sindhu'', the native name for the Indus river. Notable people with ...

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 ...

ruler of Kanhaiya Misl. They were married in 1768 and had one child together, a daughter named

Mehtab Kaur Maharani Mehtab Kaur ( 1782 – 1813) was the first wife of Ranjit Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. She was the mother of Ranjit's reputed son, Sher Singh, Maharaja Sher Singh, who briefly became the ruler of the S ...

, who was born in 1782.

Leadership of the Kanhaiya Misl

Gurbaksh Singh died fighting in the Battle of Batala against the

Sukerchakia Misl The Sukerchakia Misl was one of 12 Sikh Misls in Punjab during the 18th century concentrated in Gujranwala and Hafizabad district in Western Punjab (in modern-Pakistan) and ruled from (1752–1801). Misl was founded by Chaudhary Charat Singh ...

, the

Ramgarhia Misl Ramgarhia Misl ( pnb, ਰਾਮਗੜ੍ਹੀਆ ਮਿਸਲ (Gurmukhi)) was a sovereign state (''misl'') in the Sikh confederacy of Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan. The misl's name is derived from ''Quila Ramgarh'', a place ne ...

as well as the Sansar Chand Katoch. In 1785, Sada Kaur, along with Jai Singh Kanhaiya, then got her daughter married to

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

, the

's chief's son, and they were married in 1786. In 1789, her father-in-law,

Jai Singh Kanheya Jai Singh Kanhaiya (1712–1793) was the founder and leader of the Kanhaiya Misl until his death. His daughter-in-law, Sada Kaur succeeded him in the leadership of the '' misl''. Early life Jai Singh was born in the village of Kahna, 21 km ...

, also died. Sada Kaur then assumed the leadership of the Kanhaiya Misl as well as the loyalty of its 8,000

cavalrymen Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating a ...

. After the death of his father,

Mahan Singh Maha Singh ( pa, ਮਹਾਂ ਸਿੰਘ, Mahaṅ Singh; 1760 – 15 April 1790 or 1756 – April 1792), also spelt as Mahan or Mahn Singh, was the second chief of the Sukerchakia Misl. He was the eldest son of Sardar Charat Singh and Sardar ...

, in 1792 Ranjit Singh was made the chief of the

and Sada Kaur became his regent. Sada Kaur used both Kanheya and Sukerchakia misals to push

Ranjit Ranjit can refer to: * Ranjit Singh (disambiguation) ** Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), First Maharaja of the Sikh Empire **Ranjit Singh of Bharatpur (1776–1805), ruler of the Bharatpur princely state in Rajasthan, India ** K. S. Ranjitsinhji (1872� ...

forward. The people of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

who were tired of the rule of Bhangi

misl The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

requested Sada Kaur and

to take over

. Sada Kaur advised Ranjit that whoever controls Lahore controls Punjab. On 7 July 1799 Ranjit Singh and Sada Kaur attacked Lahore with 25,000 troops. The people of Lahore opened the city gates for them. Ranjit entered the city through Lohari

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

and Sada Kaur entered through

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

gate. Sada Kaur made Ranjit Singh the king of Lahore in 1801. In the battles for

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

Chiniot Chiniot (Urdu and pa, ) is a city and the administrative headquarter of Chiniot District in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the river Chenab, it is the 28th largest city of Pakistan. It is also known for its intrica ...

Kasur Kasur (Urdu and pa, ; also Romanization of Urdu, romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The city serves as th ...

Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st larg ...

and Hazara she was with Ranjit Singh. In 1798 Ranjit Singh remarried. Sada Kaur did not approve of it, but choose to move beyond it as she had set her heart on greater and better things and was resolved to see that for her own particular purpose and the purpose of her exclusive tyke (and her offspring in the event that she had any), Ranjit Singh do the arrangements that she had set for him. She eventually broke with Ranjit. Then Sada Kaur thought of ruling her own state but Ranjit Singh restricted her movements. She retained the majority of her estates until 1820. Sada Kaur died in Lahore in 1832.

In popular culture

* Rani Sada Kaur is depicted by Ranveer Singh in his short nove
Warrior Queen Rani Sada Kaur (2021)
published by Khalis House Publishing. *Sada Kaur is portrayed by Neeta Mohindra in the

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television channel ...

series

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

* Sada Kaur is portrayed by

Sonia Singh Sonia Singh is an Indian television actress. She is known for her role as Dr. Keerti Mehra in Star One (Indian TV channel), Star One's ''Dill Mill Gayye'', Richa Thakral in ''Parichay (TV series), Parichay'', Sushma (Sush) in ''Bhabhi (TV serie ...

in Sher-e-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh on

Life OK Life OK was an Indian pay television channel owned by Star India. It was launched on 18 December 2011 replacing Star One. It also started airing in the United States on 1 March 2012, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 28 May of that same ...

References

External links

Sikh women: Sardarni Sada Kaur: Sikhphilosophy.net
* ttp://www.sikhnet.com/news/paaras-kaala-gurbanee-crushed-hate The Paaras Kaala Of GurbaNee crushed the hate: Sikhnet.combr>The Real Ranjit Singh: An Account based on the Archive of Fakir Family by H.S. Virk: Sikhphilosophy.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaur, Sada 1762 births 1832 deaths 18th-century women rulers 19th-century women rulers Female Sikh warriors Indian female royalty Indian Sikhs Indian women in war Punjabi people Women in 18th-century warfare 18th-century Indian women 18th-century Indian people 19th-century Indian women 19th-century Indian people