By Pran Nevile

Indiatoday : Oct 22, 2009

Bonhams at London auctions off rare art pieces as a matter of routine. But a neck piece under the hammer this month-six glittering emeralds framed in gold and fringed with seed-pearls-has sent a frisson of excitement down every Punjabi spine. Why? Take a close look at the inscription on the case: "From the Collection of the Court of Lahore formed by HH The Maharajah Runjeet Singh & lastly worn by Her Highness, The Late Maharanee Jeddan Kower." The legendary beauty, Rani Jindan (Maharani Jind Kaur Ranee Sahiba) inspires awe, even 146 years after her death. And a jewellery, reputedly worn by her, brings a whiff of those glory days of the Lahore Court, of heady tales of passion and power and the humane tale of a courageous queen who fought and lost.

The youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the mother of the last Sikh Maharaja of Punjab-Dulip Singh, was born in 1817. Stunningly beautiful and charming, she was endowed with extraordinarily alluring eyes (which even the British official dispatches of the time mention as "splendid orbs").

Her father, Manna Singh, a palace employee-aware of the Maharaja's weakness for beautiful women and his troupe of 100 dancing girls-had persistently pleaded him to accept his daughter as a wife. In 1835, Jind Kaur was symbolically married to an arrow and a sword, and joined the palace as the Maharaja's 17th queen.

Fact and fiction join hands on her personal life. Apparently, the Rani, bubbling with youth and driven by her sensuous nature (she was called 'Messalina of The Punjab' by Sir Henry Lawrence, the then British Resident) had entered into amorous relationships with handsome, young men of the palace-Raja Suchet Singh, brother of prime minister, Dhian Singh, and Rai Kesari Singh, a soldier from Jammu. She gave birth to a son in September 1837, named Dulip Singh-a name made famous at the time by a holy prophecy that a leader so named would make Sikh religion and rule universal-by Maharajah himself.

The Rani and her son lived in relative obscurity until the Maharaja's death in 1839. Punjab was in a state of utter chaos with anarchy, intrigues and murders. It was in 1943 that Rani Jindan reappeared on the scene and succeeded in establishing her son's claim to the throne, with the support of a powerful faction of Lahore durbar. And the Rani became de facto ruler of Punjab as his regent.

From 1845, the Rani along with her paramour and wazir, Rajah Lal Singh, tried to strengthen their position, by diverting the attention and energy of the Khalsa army from internal affairs on to the British, who were awaiting an opportunity to expand their hold on the state. This led to the first Anglo-Sikh war, when the Sikh army was defeated chiefly by the treachery of its own generals.

But it was Lal Singh and the Rani's double dealing, in passing on some secrets to the British, that led to the British annexation of Lahore. The treaty of Lahore (1846) recognised Dulip Singh as the Maharaja under the regency of Rani Jindan. But the Rani, adept at power politics, soon proved to be an obstacle in British imperial designs. This led to a supplementary treaty, by which the Rani was deposed and granted an annual pension of Rs 1.5 lakh.

The British, however, considered her presence in Lahore as an evil influence on the young Maharaja, a source of dissention amongst the Khalsa army and the civil authority.

She was also suspected of being involved in a conspiracy for the murder of the British Resident. The Rani was sent off on exile to Benaras, and finally to the Chunar Fort. Her annual pension was reduced to Rs 12,000 a year and she was given a stern warning to keep away from interfering in the affairs of the Punjab.

"She is worth more than all the soldiers of the state put together for any purpose of mischief," asserted governor general, Lord Dalhousie. Not to be put down, the Rani escaped from Chunar in 1949, disguising herself as a domestic help, and received asylum at Kathmandu, Nepal.

She spent nearly 10 years there, closely watched by the British Resident, in poor health and nearly blind. It is interesting to note that historians include her name amongst the distinguished women in India's Freedom struggle, on account of her historic communication during 1857, the First War of Independence, with the Maharaja of Kashmir, instigating him to initiate attack on the British. Way back in 1849, after the annexation of Punjab, the British had packed off young Dulip Singh to London, to be raised as an English gentleman.

He had also embraced Christianity. In 1861, however, after he met his mother in Calcutta, they allowed him to return to England with Rani Jindan. All her jewels, confiscated earlier, were returned and she was sanctioned an annual pension of £3,000. But controversy continued to dog the queen. While the London authorities, unhappy about her "native influence" on her son, wanted her to return to India, the Indian side wanted her to stay away from the country. A decision was still pending when the Rani breathed her last in the country of her greatest enemy, on August 1, 1863. Her ashes were finally immersed by Dulip Singh in the Narmada river.

History always tells the story of the victor, it is said. No wonder, the verdict of history found the queen- who posed a great threat to the mighty British empire, commanded armies even when deposed from the throne, was vilified by the British and ended her life in exile, penury and poor health-more sinned against than sinning. But the recent excitement at the sale of her jewellery this month tells the grip the fiesty Rani continues to retain over her people's memory and imagination even in the new millennium.

Diplomat and art historian, Pran Nevile, is the author of critically acclaimed books, Nautch Girls of India, Lahore: a sentimental journey, and others. He now lives in New Delhi.