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Ripudaman Singh was an educated young Prince. He was nominated as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council by the British. This was the policy of Britain Government to appoint loyal Native Chiefs or their sons as members of Legislative Council. Due to this policy Ripudaman Singh was nominated, as he was the son of one of the eminent and most trusted Chiefs of the Punjab. It was expected that he would support the policies and measures of the British in the Council. But Ripudaman Singh came into confrontation with the British from the time of his succession after the death of Raja Hira Singh. Maharaja Ripudaman Singh contended that his succession was a matter of right and there should be no question of British sanction. Moreover, he wanted that the installation ceremony should be on traditional lines and should not differ from that performed at the time of his father’s investiture. He was exiled for opposing the British.
1. According to the accounts given by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Maharaja was neither deposed nor did he abdicate. He had incurred the serious displeasure of the British in various ways and was induced to leave his State. Ruchi Ram Sahni, Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, edited by Ganda Singh, p.197(Amritsar, 1965).
2. Harbans Singh, “Maharaja Ripudaman Singh –His involvement in Popular Causes”, The Punjab Past and Present, Vol. IV, Part-II, p.416, Oct.1970.
3. Munna Lal Syngal, The Patriot Prince, p.1(Delhi, 1961).
4. Proceedings of the Imperial Legislative Council, Vol. XLVI, 1907-08.
5. Truth About Nabha, published by the S.G.P.C., p.9(Amritsar, 1929).
6. Proceedings of the Imperial Legislative Council, Vol. XLV, 1906-07.
7. Proceedings of the Imperial Legislative Council, Vol. XLVII, 1908-09.
8. Proceedings of the Imperial Legislative Council, Vol. XVIII, 1909-10.
9. Gian Gian Singh, Ripudaman Parkash, Part-I, (Patiala, 191
10. Munna Lal Syngal, op. cit., p.15.
11. Akali-te-Pardesi, 14 July 1923, Report on Native Newspapers Punjab States, 1923; also Ripudaman Singh to C.H. Atkin 11 January 1913 cited in Harbans Singh, op. cit., p.419.
12. Maclagan, Chief Secretary to Punjab Government to Political Secretary to Government of India, 11th Nov. 1915. Foreign Department, Confidential A, Internal Branch, Section A, 1914, Nos.78-79; also Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.32.
13. Confidential Report on the Native States under the control of the Punjab Government for 1914-15, p.7.
14. Gurmukh Singh ‘Gurmukh’, Jallawatan Maharaja (Lahore, 1940), p.22.
15. Mahant Narain Das who had taken possession of the Nankana Sahib Gurudwara had become corrupt and covetous, and there were many instances of sin and sacrilege which were going on in that sacred place. The Sikhs raised their voice against all this. Lachhman Singh and men of his Jatha, when they went to pay homage to the Gurudwara, were fired upon by the men of Mahant who had the support of the Government. Many persons were killed in this so-called Nankana Tragedy, Teja Singh, The Gurudwara Reform Movement And the Sikh Awakening (Lahore, 1922), pp.212-50.
16. Gurmukh Singh ‘Gurmukh’, op. cit., pp.23-24.
17. Truth About Nabha, p.70.
18. Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.16.
19. Proceedings of the information meetings held in the Council Room at Viceregal Lodge on the 4th and 5th February, 1918. Ganda Singh, Some Confidential Papers of the Akali Movement (Amritsar, 1965), p.5.
20. Petition of State subjects to Viceroy and Governor-General of India. Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.7; also letter from Chief Secretary to Government Punjab, 27 August, 1923, Home-Political, 1924, File No.401, p.130.
21. Truth about Nabha, p.73.
22. Munna Lal Syngal, op. cit., p.65.
23. Barbara N. Ramusack, “Incident at Nabha”, Essays in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, The Punjab Past and Present (Patiala, 1976), p.435.
24. Jermani Das, Maharaja, p.147(Delhi, 1970).
25. Loyal Gazette, 9 September, 1917, Report on Native Newspapers, Punjab States, May 1916 –August 1918, p.735; also The Tribune, p.6, 2September 1917.
26. From A.B. Minchin, Agent to Governor-General Punjab States to J.P. Thompson, Political Secretary, Government of India, 15 January 1922,Home Political Secret, No.18, p.34, January 1922.
27. Home-Political, 1924, File No.401, p.238; also Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.24.
28. Resolution No.2561-628 dated 19 December 1922. Foreign Department, Political, Dec. 1922, Nos.6-43; also Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.26.
29. Patiala Nabha Enquiry Proceedings. Foreign Department, Political, Dec.1922, Nos.6-43. Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.26.
30. Nar Singh Rao to G.D. Ogilvie, April 21, 1923, Home-Political 1924, File No.401, p.1.
31. A.B. Minchin to J.P. Thompson, Government of India, 5 June, 1923.
32. Truth about Nabha, p.94; also Munna Lal Syngal, op. cit., p.124; also Harnam Singh, ‘Masat Panchi’, Twarikh-i-Nabha (Panjabi), p.15(Amritsar, 1925).
33. From Ripudaman Singh to Minchin, 9 June, 1923. Home-Political, 1924, File No.401, p.9.
34. From J.P. Thompson to A.B. Minchin, 7 June, 1923.
35. Telephone message from Col. Minchin to A.C. Macnabb, 2 July, 1923, Ibid., p.17; visit of Teja Singh and Didar Singh to Maharaja was also published in Akali-te-Pradesi of 11 and 12 July,1923.
36. From H.D. Craik, Chief Secretary to Government of Punjab, 3 July 1923, Home-Political, File No.401, p.18, 1924.
37. Harnam Singh ‘Masat Panchi’, op.cit., p.18; also Gurmukh Singh ‘Gurmukh’, op. cit., p.46.
38. The information of Teja Singh’s visit was sent by Nar Singh Rao to A.B. Minchin. Telephonic message from Minchin to Macnabb, 2 July, 1923, Home-Political, File No.401, p.17, 1924.
39. Minchin to Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, 5 July, 1923.
40. Press Communique, Foreign Department, Political, File No.628 (v)-P, p.1, 1923.
41. Report of the Special Commissioner on Dispute between Patiala and Nabha and the Findings of the Government of India, 7 July, 1923, Home-Political, File No.148-II, 1923.
42. Home-Political, File No.401, p.59, 1924.
43. See for example Khalsa Samachar, 12 July, 1923, p.376; Pratap, 13 July, 1923, pp.377-78; Bande-Mataram, 14 July, 1923, pp.378-79; Akali-te-Pardesi, 16 July, 1923, p.389; Babbar Sher, 15 July, 1923, p.390. Report on Native Newspapers, Punjab States, 1923.
44. Babbar Sher, 30 July, 1923, p.407; Akali-te-Pardesi, 4 August, 1923, p.431; Punjab Darpan, 10 August, 1923; Report on Native Newspapers, Punjab States, 1923.
45. Home-Political, File No.401, p.44, 1924.
46. S.G.P.C.’s Telegram to Viceroy, Amritsar 2 August, 1923, Ibid., p.111.
47. Ruchi Ram Sahni, op. cit., p.201.
48. The Tribune, September 19, 1923.
49. The Struggle for Reform of Religious Worship in Jaito, published by the S.G.P.C., p.2(Amritsar, 1924).
50. Zamindar, 16 September, 1923, Report on Native Newspapers, Punjab States, p.513, 1923.
51. Indian News Agency, Telegram No.26 (s) Simla, 15 September, 1923, Home-Political, File No.401, p.182, 1924.
52. The Tribune, 3 October, 1923; also Jawahar Lal Nehru, An Autobiography, pp.110-112(New Delhi, 1962).
53. Telegram from Pt. Moti Lal to Viceroy, 25 September, 1923, Home-Political, File No.401, p.200, 1924.
54. M.N. Mitra, op. cit., pp.112-112(a).
55. Ganda Singh, op. cit., p.51.
56. Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.14; also see Ganda Singh op. cit., pp.74-92.
57. Ganda Singh, op. cit., pp.102-103.
58. G.R. Sethi, Sikh Struggle for Gurudwara Reform, p.13(London, 1927).
59. Ganda Singh, op. cit., pp.172-74.
60. Mohinder Singh, The Akali Movement, pp.80-82(New Delhi, 1978).
61. Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.7.
62. Moti Lal Nehru to Viceroy Lord Lytton, 20 May, 1936; Maharaja to Lord Linlithgo, Crown Representative Record, Punjab States, Reel No.8.
63. Appeal of the Nabha State subjects to Viceroy,Nabha State Records, File No.10298 E (PSAP).
64. Gurmukh Singh ‘Gurmukh’, op. cit., p.68.
65. The Tribune, 18 January, 1976.
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