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Maharaja Duleep Singh, GCSI (6 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), also known as Dalip Singh〔There are questions about the spelling of his name. Among the alternatives are Dhulip, Dulip, Dhalip, Dhuleep and Dalip, but he used Duleep when writing it himself although Dalip was the correct wording for the Punjabi name. Official British letters and documents sometimes refer to him as Dalip the Ultimate.〕 and later in life nicknamed the Black Prince of Perthshire,〔(Dalip Singh ) – website Britannica.com〕 was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son, the only child of Maharani Jind Kaur. After the assassinations of four of his predecessors, he came to power in September 1843, at the age of five. For a while his mother ruled, as Regent, but in December 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, she was replaced by a British Resident and imprisoned. Mother and son were not allowed to meet again for thirteen and a half years. In April 1849 ten-year-old Duleep was put in the care of Dr John Login. He was exiled to Britain at age 15 and was befriended and much admired by Queen Victoria, who is reported to have written of the Punjabi Maharaja: "Those eyes and those teeth are too beautiful".〔(Eton, the Raj and modern India ); By Alastair Lawson; 9 March 2005; BBC News.〕 The Queen was godmother to several of his children.〔 In 1856 he tried to contact his mother, but his letter and emissaries were intercepted by the British in India, and didn't reach her. However, he persisted and, with help from Login, was allowed to meet her on 16 January 1861 at Spence's Hotel in Calcutta and return with her to the United Kingdom.〔E Dalhousie Login, ''Lady Login's Recollections, Chapter 14'', Smith Elder, 1916〕 During the last two years of her life, his mother told the Maharaja about his Sikh heritage and the Empire which once had been his to rule. ==Early years== After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, Duleep Singh lived quietly with his mother, Jind Kaur, at Jammu, under the protection of the vizier, Raja Dhian Singh. He and his mother were recalled to Lahore in 1843 after the assassinations of Maharaja Sher Singh and Dhian Singh, and on 16 September, at the age of five, Duleep Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, with Maharani Jind Kaur as Regent. On 13 December 1845 the British declared war on the Sikhs and, after winning the First Anglo-Sikh War, retained the Maharaja as nominal ruler, but replaced the Maharani by a Council of Regency and later imprisoned and exiled her. Over thirteen years passed before Duleep Singh was permitted to see his mother again. After the close of the Second Anglo-Sikh War and the subsequent annexation of the Punjab on 29 March 1849,〔(The tragic life of Maharaja Dalip Singh ) By Reeta Sharma, ''The Tribune, February 20, 1999〕 he was deposed at the age of ten〔(Duleep Singh ) www.collectbritain.co.uk.〕 and was put into the care of Dr John Login and sent from Lahore to Fatehgarh on 21 December 1849, with tight restrictions on who he was allowed to meet. No Indians, except trusted servants, could meet him in private. As a matter of British policy, he was to be anglicised in every possible respect. His health was reportedly poor and he was often sent to the hill station of Landour near Mussoorie in the Lower Himalaya for convalescence, at the time about 4 days' journey. He would remain for weeks at a time in Landour at a grand hilltop building called The Castle, which had been lavishly furnished to accommodate him. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Duleep Singh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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