Sher Singh

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Sher Singh
Maharaja of Punjab Maharaja of Lahore Sarkar-i-Wallah[1] Sarkar Khalsaji[1]
Painting of Maharaja Sher Singh wearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond (on his right bicep), by August Schoefft, ca.1841–42
Maharaja of Punjab, Kashmir and Jammu
Reign	18 January 1841 – 15 September 1843
Coronation	27 January 1841 Lahore Fort, Lahore
Predecessor	Nau Nihal Singh (as monarch until 1840) Chand Kaur (as regent in 1840–1841)
Successor	Duleep Singh
Prime minister	Dhian Singh Dogra
Born	4 December 1807 Batala, Sikh Empire (present-day Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India)
Died	15 September 1843(1843-09-15) (aged 35) Shah Bilaal gardens, Lahore, Sikh Empire (present-day Kot Khawaja Saeed, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan)
Consort	Prem Kaur Waraich (m.1822)
Spouses	Desa Kaur Nakai ​ ​ (m. 1819; died 1821)​ Bibi Pratap Kaur Jagat Singh Brar ​ ​ (m. 1825)​ Dakno Kaur Mai Sahiba ​ ​ (m. 1842)​
Issue	By Maharani Desa Kaur: * None By Maharani Prem Kaur: * Yuvraj Pratap Singh Bahadur By Maharani Pratap Kaur: * Kanwar Deva Singh Bahadur By Maharani Dakno Kaur: * Shahdeo Singh Bahadur
House	Sukerchakia
Father	Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab
Mother	Mehtab Kaur Kanhaiyā
Religion	Sikhism
Seal or stamp of approval

Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Elder of the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 following his assault on Lahore which ended the brief regency of Maharani Chand Kaur.^[2] He was assassinated on 15 September 1843 by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia.^[2]

Sher Singh was the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Maharani Mehtab Kaur, he had a younger twin brother Tara Singh (1807–1859).^[a]

In 1820, Maharaja Ranjit Singh granted him the privilege of being seated in the Darbar and bestowed civil and military honors on him. From 1831 to 1834 he acted as Governor of Kashmir and in 1834 he was a commander of the force that captured Peshawar from the Afghans.^[3]

Barelvi declared jihad against the Sikhs and established a camp in Balakot. Along with Shah Ismail Dehlvi and his tribesmen, in 1831, Sher Singh accompanied by Pratab Singh Attarwala and Akali Hanuman Singh arrived in Balakot. He invested Balakot on all sides. The Sikh slowly advanced narrowing the besieged area gradually. On reaching near the Sayyid residence, the Sikh drew out their swords, cut down the sayyid troops and shot down Sayyid Ahmed Khan. His head cut off for display, and about 500 followers of Sayyid were killed including Shah Ismail Dehlvi. The entire property of Sayyid fell into the hands of Sikhs. A sum of Rs. 50,000 along with a letter of appreciation was sent to Sher Singh promising an additional Jagir.^[4]

Sher Singh became the maharaja on 27 January 1841,^[3] after the sudden death of Nau Nihal Singh whose death was set in motion, some say purposely while returning from his father's cremation. He was the half-brother of Nau Nihal Singh's father, former Maharaja Kharak Singh.

Proclaimed Maharaja by his wazir (prime minister) Dhian Singh Dogra, he won the throne after a protracted siege of the Lahore Fort which was held by the royal family. Thousands died in the siege.

Sher Singh was a patron of the arts, with one of his court painters being Kehar Singh.^[5] The painter August Schoefft arrived in the Punjab and worked during his reign.^[5] Sher Singh was also a fan of wrestling and often would take wrestlers outside the walled city of Lahore to the tomb of Qasim Khan.^[5] One of these wrestlers were Sultan Muhammad, who later became a contractor under the British colonial administration.^[5]

Sher Singh was killed as he was asked to inspect a new shotgun brought by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia. Sandhawalia then pulled the trigger and then killed the wounded Sher Singh with his sword by cutting off his head.^[6] Ajit Singh Sandhawalia had served as Prime Minister first for Ranjit Singh then for Sher Singh's brother Kharak Singh then Karak Singh's son Nau Nihal each of whom had died shortly after taking office. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia then served as Prime Minister for Kharak Singh's widow Chand Kaur who served as regent. Ajit Singh Sandhawalia preferred having Chand Kaur as regent ruler as it allowed him more power. Chand Kaur had been removed as the expected heir her late son Nau Nihal's daughter in law was about to deliver died stillborn. Sher Singh only had time to utter, "what treachery." The Sandhawalias also murdered Dhian Singh. The Sandhawalias were thought to have also had designs on the empire.^{[citation needed]}

His palace is leased to Baring Union Christian College.^[7][8]

• Media related to Sher Singh at Wikimedia Commons
• Maharaja Sher Singh (1807 - 1843) Archived 11 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine