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 on 24 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 1925, 1927 and 1929,[2] 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 grandson Arun Singh was a Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Titles [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

Ribbon bar, as it would look today.

This is list of the orders and medals awarded to Jagatjit Singh, in the same order as appears on the ribbon bar:[3]

British Decorations [ edit ]

Medals [ edit ]

Foreign Decorations [ edit ]

Marriages [ edit ]

Singh married firstly at Paprola, on 16 April 1886, Maharani Harbans Kaur Sahiba, daughter of Mian Ranjit Singh Gularia of Paprola (died 17 October 1941 in Mussoorie). They had one son.

Ranjit Singh Gularia of Paprola (died 17 October 1941 in Mussoorie). They had one son. Married secondly at Katoch, 1891, Rani Parvati Kaur Sahiba, daughter of a Sardar of Katoch (died 20 February 1944 in Kapurthala). They had one son.

Married thirdly, 1895, Rani Lakshmi Kaur Sahiba, a Princess of a Rajput family from Bashahr (died September 1959 in Kapurthala). They had one son.

Married fourthly, Rani Kanari Sahiba, daughter of the Dewan of Jubbal (died circa 1910). They had one son and one daughter.

Married fifthly at Paris, 28 January 1908 (later divorced), Rani Prem Kaur Sahiba [née Anita Delgado], (born 1890 in Málaga, Spain, died 7 July 1962 in Madrid, Spain). They had one son.

Married sixthly at Kapurthala, 1942, Rani Tara Devi Sahiba [née Eugenia Marie Grossupova]; she was an actress, and the daughter of a Czech count and Nina Marie Grossupova. She committed suicide by jumping off the Qutub Minar in Delhi on 9 December 1946 in Delhi. They had no issue.

In media [ edit ]

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.

See also [ edit ]