Narinder Singh of Patiala
Maharaja of Patiala from 1845 to 1862
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Narinder Singh KSI (26 November 1824 – 13 November 1862), also spelt as Narendra Singh,[1] was the Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1845 to 1862. He was one of the first local rulers to receive the Order of the Star of India and was a member of the Indian Legislative Council during Lord Canning's Viceroyalty.[2] He is popularly regarded as one of the wisest rulers of Patiala, with him having a wide diversity of interests.[3]
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| Narinder Singh | |
|---|---|
| Maharaja of Patiala | |
Narinder Singh with attendants, photograph attributed to Oscar Malitte, c. 1860 | |
| Maharaja of Patiala | |
| Reign | 1845 – 1862 |
| Predecessor | Karam Singh |
| Successor | Mahendra Singh |
| Born | 26 November 1824 |
| Died | 13 November 1862 (aged 37) |
| Issue | Mahendra Singh Basant Kaur Bishan Kaur |
| Dynasty | Phulkian |
| Religion | Sikhism |
Biography
Singh's father was Maharaja Karam Singh of Patiala. He succeeded his father on 18 January 1846, aged twenty-three.[4] During his reign, the Moti Bagh Palace was constructed at a cost of five lakhs of rupees.[5]
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Singh assisted the East India Company, and his assistance were later acknowledged by the Governor-General of India, Lord Canning as being of incalculable value.[6]
He died of fever on 13 November 1862 at the age of thirty-nine. He was succeeded as Maharaja by his ten-year-old son, Mahendra Singh.[7] His daughter, Basant Kaur, married Bhagwant Singh, the Maharaj-Rana of Dholpur.[8] His other daughter, Bishan Kaur, married Jaswant Singh, the Maharaja of Bharatpur.[9]
Patron of the arts and science
Narinder Singh was a patron of the arts.[10] A Gurmukhi astrolabe was produced during his reign.[11] After his death, his style of art-patronage was continued by his successors and imitated by other Sikh states, such as Kapurthala, Nabha, Jind, and Faridkot.[10] Narinder Singh was able to successfully obtain manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib that had been looted by the Pahari Rajas during their invasion of Anandpur in 1704. Attempting to align Patiala with the Anandpur raj that had been founded by Guru Gobind Singh in the 1690s, especially the guru's Kavi Darbar tradition, Narinder Singh patronized the re-creation of Guru Gobind Singh's Mahabharata, which had consisted of eighteen main books like the original.[12]
Gallery
Maharajah Karam Singh of Patiala and his son Narinder Singh with a holy man
Maharajah Narinder Singh of Patiala (reg. 1845–62) on horseback
Maharajah Narinder Singh of Patiala on an elephant proceeding up the rampart of a palace
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