Harnam Singh

Harnam Singh

Raja Sir Harnam Singh, KCIE (Punjabi: ਹਰਨਾਮ ਸਿੰਘ, हरनाम सिंह, ہرنام سنگھ ) (15 November 1851 - 20 May 1930) was the second son of Raja Sir Randhar Singh Bahadur, GCSI, Raja of Kapurthala and younger brother of Raja Karak Singh Bahadur, Raja of Kapurthala.

Kharak Singh succeeded to the Kapurthala throne and died without any issue. Naturally Harnam Singh should have succeeded him as his younger brother but due to the dirty politics in connivance with the bribed British resident and a corrupt Civil Surgeon who declared the Maharani to be pregnant when his( Kharak Singh) husband was on the death bed, an unrelated child was smuggled into the palace and became heir to the Kapurthala throne with the name of JAGATJIT SINGH. Thus Harnam Singh was deprived of the throne but as a corrective measure the British Govt made Harnam Singh a hereditary Raja, awarded a Knighthood, KCSI, gave administration of his Awadh properties for his lifetime, an move which was objected by Jagatjit Singh but in vain.

Although raised a Sikh from birth, Sir Harnam later became a pious Christian and missionary, eventually becoming President of the National Missionary Society of India.

In 1875, he married Rani Kaur Sahiba, and had eight children, seven sons and one daughter:

1. Raja Ragubhir Singh, OBE (3 May 1876-17 November 1932)
2. Kanwar Rajendra Singh (1877–1883)
3. Raja Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE, CStJ (17 May 1878-6 June 1959), who had issue (see article)
4. Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Kanwar Shamsher Singh, M.D., MRCS, LRCP (21 June 1879-?)
5. Captain Dr. Kanwar Indrajit Singh, MC, M.D., MRCP (27 December 1883-23 November 1914) (KIA)
6. Kanwar Sir Dalip Singh (2 June 1885-13 January 1971)
7. Kanwar Jasbir Singh, CIE (16 June 1887-15 October 1942), who had issue including:
   • Air Vice Marshal Kanwar Jaswant Singh, PVSM (1915–1963)
   • Lieutenant Kanwar Billy Arjan Singh (1917–2010)
8. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, DStJ (2 February 1889-10 February 1964)

Raja Harnam Singh held many dignities in his life. He was a member of the Legislative Council for the Punjab from 1900–1902, a Member of the Kapurthala Council of State and an honorary Fellow of Panjab University. He was appointed a CIE in 1885 and knighted with the KCIE in 1898. In 1907, Harnam Singh was given the personal title of Raja (roughly equivalent to the modern British life peerage) and was made a hereditary Raja in 1911, thus enabling him to found a separate branch of the Ahluwalia dynasty.

Harnam Singh died in 1930 at the age of 78, and was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, Raghubir Singh, who himself died two years later without issue. whereupon the title devolved upon his second surviving son, Raja Maharaj Singh. The line of Maharaj Singh maintains the title to this day.