Maharajah Duleep Singh in Paris

Between 1886 and until his death in 1893, the last sovereign ruler of the Sikh Empire, Maharajah Duleep Singh lived in Paris. Duleep Singh was the son of the 'Lion of Panjab', the formidable ruler, Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who founded the Sikh Empire. With the help of his mother-in-law, Sada Kaur, Ranjit Singh managed to consolidate the Sikh missals of Panjab under his rule in 1799. he was crowned two years later in 1801, at just the young age of 21. Ranjit Singh died on 27 June 1839. Duleep Singh had been born in 1838 to Rani Jind Kaur.This tour is the story of Duleep Singh, proclaimed Maharajah at just the age of 5 in 1843. This is the story of how the British, first of all through the East India Company, and then through the British Crown, dispossessed him of his kingdom, reduced him to first of all settling in the United Kingdom, and how they controlled his finances. He even converted to Christianity in 1854, at the young age of 16 years old, perhaps unaware of the influence exerted upon him. He converted back to Sikhism in 1886, and died a Sikh in Paris, the first known Sikh to live there, in almost self-imposed exile. One of his two daughters from his second marriage was even born in Paris. Both of his daughters from his second marriage to Ada Witherill lived and died in France, one in the city of Pau. His daughter-in-law, Lady Anne Blanche Alice Coventry, also known as the Princess Victor Duleep-Singh lived the majority of her life in France, and died in Paris in the 1950s.This is the story of all of the historical places where they lived, this is the story of the first-known Sikh in France. There are now some 30,000 Sikhs living mostly in Seine-Saint-Denis. The seven years of the Maharajah's life in Paris are relatively little known. So, walk on and discover! You can either follow the entire walk which would take a whole morning or afternoon, or you can skip certain places and pick up the tour wherever you like. You will also get information about how to take the Paris metro from one place to another if it's too far for you to walk but you still want to go to see the site. The audio guides are set up to be triggered as you enter the zone where the attraction is automatically. You can drop out and pick up the guide wherever you feel like it. Take your time, look at the old photographs, listen to the stories of the buildings and how they played a role in the life of the last Sikh Emperor. Find out what the newspapers at the time had to say, and how the Maharajah Duleep Singh was treated in Paris. Discover the hotels that he lived in, the streets that he ate in and the places he visited. Follow in his footsteps. Mauja-masatī karō, saira dā ānada māṇō atē mahārājā dalīpa sigha dē nakaśē-kadamāṁ'tē calō![Have fun, enjoy the excursion, and walk in the footsteps of Maharaja Dalip Singh]