The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-02-14
KING OF NO KINGDOM.
THE ROMANTIC LIFE OF MAHARAJAH
DHULEEP SINGH.

-
Removed to England with an Allowance.
Tried to Stir Up the sikhs Again. but
Was Nipped and Forgiven by the Queen.
A decade ago Maharajah Dhuleep
Singh. who died in Paris recently.
wa a well known figure in London.
whose photograph was on sale in the
shop windows. He was born in 1888,
the son of Runjeet Singh. the lion Of
the Punjab. that doughty East Indian
sovereign who was the founder of the
Sikh kingdom and the cause of so much
trouble to England. There have been
two Sikh wars in the last half century
in which the relatives of Dhuleep
Singh figured. The first was in 1S45,
when a Sikh army of 80, 900 men in
vaded the queens Indian empire and
fought four pitched battles, the final
result being the retreat of the invaders
across the Sutlej and the surrender of
Lahore to the British. By the terms
of the peace Dhuleep Singh. the infant
o of Runjeet, was recognized as rajah.
The second Sikh var broke ont in
1S4s, but IT proved to be short lived.
the British forces .nder Lord Cough
succeeding in destl wing the Sikh army
and in annexing ! Injab to the queen 6
possessions. As . result of this way
young Dhuleep Singh received an allow
ance of $50, 900 rom his conquerors.
He, with his mother, moved to Eng
land. became u Christian. and on his
estate in Suffolk cultivated the habits
of an English gentlemen. He as an
intimate friend of tho Prince of Wales.
who used annually to spend part of the
shooting season at Dhuleep's country
home.
The maharajah's first wife was a lit
tie Syrian maid whom he met in Cairo
in 1864. when on his way back from
Bonn bay, where he had gone to take
back to its native soil the body of his
mother that it might be there cremated.
The maharanee died in 1887, and a cou-
pie of years later-in 1ss9-he married
in Paris Miss Ada Douglas Wetherill.
Dhuleep watched closely the advance
OF Russia int Asia. and when he
thought the proper time had come he
renowned Christianity and issued "a
IlditltrtO III tuF Dlhn tdllOu ftdllllII
the throne of his father. But his re-
nunciation of the creed of Bahia Nanuk
and his suspected illegitimatr birth:
was asserted by the Sik1s themselves
that he was the son u his mother
through an intrigue with one of the IA
jah's water carriers-had long since IS
tranged the feelings of the people. and
if it had been possible to create a Sikh
rebellion in the Land of the Five Rivers
there were other princes better able than
this maharaJah to lead such an enter
prise.
The British made short work of his
pretensions. He was travelling with
leisurely dignity on his great mission
in a p. a. o.. steamer, when at Alden he
was informed that a return passage had
been secured for him, and that he
would not be permitted to land in In
dia. A sikh rebellion would have beer
a serious matter for England. for never
were the British forces more evenly
fought than on the battlefields of Mool-
tan. Chillianwallah and Ghuznee.
There were at that time about 10
regiments of Sikhs in the Indian army,
acknowledged by British officers to be
the finest in the service. and IN most of
the Punjab regiments there was a very
large proportion of Sikh soldiers.
After his abortive attempt to stir up
the Sikhs into rebellion against British
rule. Dhuleep went taLRussia. thinking
to enlist the sympathy of the car in
his behalf. but his greeting was not
overwarm. So the king without a coun-
Try established himself in cosmopoli-
tan Paris, where he lived up to the
time of his death. Life on the CONT
nent seemed to unsettle somewhat the
domestic morals of this oriental Chris
haan. and an hereditary predisposition to
poiygamy asserted itself. The maha-
rajah recently expressed deep regret for
the course of hostility which he had
pursued toward England. and her maj
esty, by the advice of her ministers,
graciously pleased to accord her
pardon to him.
General Dick Taylor of Louisians
used to tell a story of an encounter with
Dhuleep. While he was staying in
1871 at Sandringham with the Prince
Of Wales, the m~aharajah was OF the
party. One morning Taylor arose early
and strolled put into the grounds to a
email simmer house in which there
. Hindoo idol brought back from
India BY the prince. As he came near
- Nv some one, who proved to be
DAuIssp. standing in front Of the idol
~sYecuting certain movements, evidently
ct worship. The truth probably 10
that singh never had abandoned the
opuo faith Of his fathers
The religion of the Sikhs was found
u by Nanuk, who died A. d. 1888.
and who left for the guidance Of his
follower an inspired volume bearing
- vssu uneuphonious title of the
.s0ruuth.- This book is held in great
severance and is carried every morning
- soiemn state t. the Golden Temple
q Ennortality at Amritsir, where 1t is
mn