Maharani Mehtab Kaur
Maharani Mehtab Kaur ( 1782 – 1813) was the first wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. She was the mother Maharaja Sher Singh (1807-1843) and Kunwar Tara Singh (1807-1859).
Early Life
Mehtab Kaur was born to Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu of the Kanhaiya Misl and his wife Sada Kaur, a daughter of Daswandha Singh Dhaliwal. Her father was the heir apparent of her grandfather, Jai Singh Kanhaiya, a Sandhu Jat of the Kanhaiya Misl. Upon her birth she was named "Mehtab" (مهتاب) which means 'moonlight' or 'splendor of the moon' in Persian due to her fair and clear complexion.
Marriage
The Kanhaiyas, who had replaced the Bhangis as the most powerful misl, disputed Ranjit Singh's father's (Maha Singh) right to plunder Jammu, and in one of the many skirmishes between the two misls, Gurbaksh Singh was killed in battle against Maha Singh in February 1785. Rani Sada Kaur being a far sighted woman decided to betrothed her 2 year old daughter to the 4 year old son of Maha Singh, Ranjit Singh in 1786.This marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh misls, the muklawa happened in 1796. Sada Kaur was a mentor of Ranjit Singh. However, the marriage of Mehtab and Ranjit failed, as Mehtab Kaur never forgive the fact that her father had been killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father and she mainly lived with her mother after marriage. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married Maharani Datar Kaur of the Nakai Misl in 1797 and she turned into Ranjit's most beloved wife. Datar Kaur bore Ranjit Singh his first son and heir, Kharak Singh in 1801. This left Mehtab Kaur in a very difficult position as Datar was her junior. This also left Sada Kaur's plans to secure the future of her daughter and the Kanhaiya's in tatters. Mehtab Kaur had a son named Ishar Singh in 1804 who died in infancy in 1805. After separation from Ranjit Singh she became the mother of twins Sher Singh and Tara Singh in 1807.
Death
She died in 1813 at the age of 30, due to a prolonged illness when her sons were only 6. At the time of her death, Ranjit Singh was at Amritsar, and did not go to the incineration and other condolatory functions. After a ton of claims and influences, Dewan Mokham Chand Maharaja went to Sada Kaur's derah and played out a portion of the critical functions of condolence.
References
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