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Sardarni Sada Kaur was
the daughter of Dasaundha Singh Gill,
was married to Gurbaksh Singh, son of
Jai Singh, leader of the Kanhaiya clan.
As the menace of Ahmad Shah Durrani's
incursions receded, conflicts broke
out among the Sikh misl chiefs. Mahan
Singh Sukkarchakia, helped by Jassa
Singh Ramgarhia and Sansar Chand Katoch,
attacked Jai Singh in 1785. A fierce
battle took place at Achal, about 6
KM south of Batala, which was the seat
of the Kanhaiyas. Jai Singh was defeated
and his son, Gurbaksh Singh, husband
of Sada Kaur, was killed. The bereaved,
yet farsighted, widowed Sada Kaur, persuaded
her father-in-law, Jai singh, to offer
the hand of her only daughter, Mahitab
Kaur, to Ranjit Singh, the five-year
old son of Mahan Singh Sukkarchakia.
The marriage came off in 1796. Sada
Kaur accompanied her daughter to Gujranwala
after the nuptials. She became one of
the members of the triune regency for
young Ranjit Singh who had succeeded
to the leadership of the Sukkarchakkias
upon the death of his father in 1792.
The other two members were Mai Raj kaur
(popularly known as Mai Malvain), mother
of Ranjit Singh, and Diwan Lakhpat Rai,
his minister. Mai Malvain and Lakhpat
Rai were removed from the scene by death,
the latter having been killed in an
expedition against the warlike Chatthas.
Sada kaur was now the only one of the
triumvirate left to guide and counsel
Ranjit Singh. Being by now head of the
Kanhaiya misl, she provided him with
material help as well. She helped him
to occupy Lahore defeating the Bhangi
chiefs, Mohar Singh, Sahib Singh and
Chet Singh, from whose misrule the citizens
had sought the Sukkarchakkia Sardar
to rescue them. Lahore fell to the joint
command of Ranjit Singh and Sada Kaur
on 7 July 1799. Supported by his mother-in-law,
Ranjit Singh made further acquisitions
and assumed the title of Maharaja on
11 April 1801. In the campaigns of Amritsar,
Chiniot, Kasur and Kangra as well as
in his expeditions against the turbulent
Pathans of Hazara and Attock, Sada Kaur
led the armies side by side with Ranjit
Singh. But bother were strong personalities
and mutual clashes began to occur. The
marriage of Sada Kaur's daughter to
Ranjit Singh did not prove a happy one.
Mahitab Kaur's first one Ishar Singh,
died in infancy. On his return from
the cis-Sutlej campaign in 1807, Ranjit
Singh was presented by Sada Kaur with
twin sons, Sher Singh and Tara Singh,
born to her daughter, Mahitab kaur.
But Ranjit Singh had already married
a second time and the son born to this
union was acknowledged as the heir apparent.
This soured relations between the mother-in-law
and the son-in-law. Sada Kaur now opened
secret negotiations with Sir Charles
Metcalfe and Sir David Ochterlony to
secure herself the status of an independent
Maharani. She further offended the Maharaja
by not attending the heir apparent's
marriage in 1812. She did not allow
even her grandsons, Sher Singh and Tara
Singh, to join the ceremonies. Ranjit
Singh started making inroads into the
Kanhaiya territory lying on the other
side of the River Beas.
The breaking point finally came when,
on Sher Singh's attaining majority,
Ranjit Singh insisted that Sada Kaur
hand over the administration of her
estates to him. Sada Kaur refused and
threatened to seek the protection of
the British in the cis-Sutlej territory
and hand over to them the town of Vadhni,
located to the south of Sutlej which
Ranjit Singh had conquered and transferred
to her in 1808. The maharaja cajoled
Sada Kaur into visiting Lahore, where
she was kept under strict surveillance.
Once she managed to escape in a covered
litter, but she was detected and brought
back. Here territory was, in the meantime
sequestered and the wealth of the Kanhaiyas
lying at Atalgarh(Mukerian) was confiscated.
Batala was granted as a jagir to Sher
Singh while the rest of Sada Kaur's
estates were placed under the governorship
of Sardar Desa Singh Majithia. Sada
Kaur died in confinement in 1832.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Copyright © Harbans Singh "The
encyclopedia of Sikhism. "
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