Jagatjit Singh

Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur GCSI GCIE GBE (24 November 1872 – 19 June 1949) was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala in the British Empire of India from 1877 until his death in 1949. He ascended the throne of Kapurthala state on 16 October 1877. He assumed full ruling powers in November 1890 and then commenced a career as a world traveller and Francophile. He received the title of Maharaja in 1911. He built palaces and gardens in the city of Kapurthala; his main palace Jagatjit Palace there was modelled on the Palace of Versailles.

He also built in the Kapurthala city's mosque and a handsome gurudwara at Sultanpur Lodhi, sacred to Guru Nanak.

He served as the Indian Representative to the League of Nations General Assembly in Geneva in 1926, 1927 and 1929,^[1] attended the Round Table Conference in 1931 and was Lt Governor of the PEPSU at the time of his death in 1949, aged 76. He was cousin of Sardar Bhagat Singh, one of the few Indian Justices of High Court during the British Raj. His son Arun Singh was a Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Titles

His full name was:

Major-General His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE.

During his life he acquired many other titles:

• 1872–1877: Tikka Raja Sri Jagatjit Singh
• 1877–1897: His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Raja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Raja of Kapurthala
• 1897–1911: His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Raja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Raja of Kapurthala, KCSI
• 1911–1918: His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI
• 1918–1921: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI
• 1921–1926: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE
• 1926–1927: Colonel His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE
• 1927–1943: Colonel His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE
• 1943–1948: Brigadier His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE
• 1948–1949: Major-General His Highness Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE

Honours

^[2]

Medals

• Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Gold Medal-1897
• Delhi Durbar Gold Medal-1903
• King George V Coronation Medal (w/Delhi Durbar Clasp)-1911
• King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-1935
• King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
• Indian Independence Medal-1947

Decorations

British

• Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI)-1911 (KCSI-1897)
• Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE)-1921
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) - 29 November 1927^[3]

Foreign

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Prussia), 1st Class-1911
• Grand Officer of the Legion d'Honneur of France-1924
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of the Kingdom of Egypt-1924
• Grand Cordon of the Sharifan Order of Alaoui of the Kingdom of Morocco-1924
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus of the Kingdom of Italy-1924
• Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Chile)-1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru-1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Cross of Honour and Merit of Cuba-1925
• Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II of Ethiopia-1928
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sava of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia-1928
• Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III of the Kingdom of Spain-1928
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory of Tunisia-1928
• Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia-1929
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Iran-1930
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion, 1st Class of Czechoslovakia-1934
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania-1935
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Agatha of San Marino-1935
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester of the Vatican-1935

Marriages

• Singh married firstly at Paprola, on 16 April 1886, Harbans Kaur, daughter of Ranjit Singh Gularia of Paprola (died 17 October 1941 in Mussoorie).
• Married secondly at Katoch, 1891, Parvati Kaur, daughter of a Sardar of Katoch (died 20 February 1944 in Kapurthala).
• Married thirdly, 1895, Lachmi Kaur, a Princess of a Rajput family from Bashahr (died September 1959 in Kapurthala).
• Married fourthly, Kanari, daughter of a Dewan of Jubbal (died circa 1910).
• Married fifthly at Paris, 28 January 1908 (later divorced), Prem Kaur [née Anita Delgado], (born 1890 in Málaga, Spain, died 7 July 1962 in Madrid, Spain).
• Married sixthly at Kapurthala, 1942, Tara Devi [née Eugenia Maria Grossupova], she was the daughter of a Czech count and Nina Maria Grossupova, an actress. She committed suicide by jumping off the Qutub Minar in Delhi on December 9, 1946 in Delhi.

In media

• Probably as a reminiscence of his marriage with Anita Delgado, Don Pimpón, a character in the Spanish version of Sesame Street, claimed to have travelled the world extensively with "his friend the Maharaja of Kapurthala."
• He appeared in the American Horror Story: Freak Show episode Orphans in a flashback where he gives Elsa Mars custody of Mahadevi "Ma Petite" Patel.

Footnotes

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jagatjit Singh.

• Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first female Indian Cabinet Minister.
• Ahluwalia
• Sita Devi of Kapurthala, pre-WWII fashion icon: wife of Maharajkumar Karam of Karputhala.