Kapurthala State

Kapurthala State, was a kingdom and later Princely state of the Punjab Province of India. Ruled by Ahluwalia Sikh rulers, spread across 510 sqmi. According to the 1901 census the state had a population of 314,341 and contained two towns and 167 villages. In 1930, Kapurthala became part of the Punjab States Agency and acceded to the Union of India in 1947.

In colonial India, Kapurthala State was known for its communal harmony, with its Sikh ruler Jagatjit Singh building the Moorish Mosque for his Muslim subjects. At the time of the Indian independence movement, the ruler of the Kapurthala State opposed the partition of India and advocated for a united, secular country.

Origins
The ruling dynasty of Kapurthala originated in the Ahluwalia misl.

After the Muslim conquest of Punjab, his descendants migrated to the Jaisalmer area, where they came to be known as Bhatti Rajput tribe. After Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Jaisalmer, some of the Bhatti tribe people's migrated to Tarn Taran district, and got assimilated with Jats. In the 17th century, they joined Guru Hargobind's army. Ganda Singh of this family raided Lahore, whose governor Dilawar Khan persuaded him to join the Lahore army, and assigned him the fief of Ahlu and some other villages. Ganda Singh's son Sadhu (or Sadho) Singh lived in Ahlu, because of which the family came to be known as Ahluwalia. Sadhu Singh and his four sons married into Kalal families, because of which the family came to be known as Ahluwalia. The descendants of Sadhu Singh son Gopal Singh (who was the grandfather of Jassa Singh) established the royal family of Kapurthala. The British administrator Lepel Griffin (1873) dismissed this account as spurious. The Sikh author Gian Singh, in his Twarikh Raj Khalsa (1894), wrote that the Ahluwalia family adopted the Kalal caste identity much before Sadhu Singh.

The Ahluwalia misl rose to prominence under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, who was the first person to use the name "Ahluwalia". Originally known as Jassa Singh Kalal, he styled himself as Ahluwalia after his ancestral village of Ahlu and belonged to the Kalal community. He is regarded as the founder of the Kapurthala State.

Even after other misls lost their territories to Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire, the emperor permitted the descendants of Jassa Singh to retain their estates. After the British took over the Sikh territories in 1846, Jassa Singh's descendants became the ruling family of the Kapurthala State.

Crown Princes

 * Tikka Raja Shatrujit Singh

Dewan / Ministers of Kapurthala State

 * Dewan Banna Mal Gautam (Manager Of Oudh Estates of Maharaja Kapurthala)
 * Dewan Mathra Dass (Private Secretary)
 * Dewan Ramjas Dhir


 * Dewan Acchru Mal Gautam (Revenue Minister) s/o Dewan Banna Mal
 * Dewan Durga Dass Gautam
 * Dewan Ambika Parshad Gautam (Accountant General)
 * Dewan Mohabbat Rai
 * Dewan Abdul Hamid (Prime Minister)
 * Dewan Shiv Narayan Randev (Chief Secretary Of Kapurthala State)
 * Sirdar Bhagat Ram Randev (Chief Judge)
 * Sirdar Dwarka Dass Randev, Bar At Law S/O Dewan Shiv Narayan Randev (Assistant Manager Oudh and Last Chief Justice Of Kapurthala State)


 * Dewan Hari Chand Chopra (Finance Minister)
 * Dewan Saudagar Mal
 * Dewan Badrinath
 * Dewan Surendranath
 * G.T Fisher (Chief Minister)
 * Dewan Sureshwar Dass (Home Minister)
 * Dewan Ajudhia Dass (Revenue Minister)
 * Sirdar Suchet Singh
 * Sirdar Kishan Singh
 * Dewan Raj Kumar Chopra (Chief Justice )
 * Dewan Jermany Dass
 * Dewan Kuljass Rai

Orders of chivalry
The Royal House of Kapurthala awards three orders of chivalry; these knighthoods include:
 * Nishan-i-Shahi, awarded in three classes (founded by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur in 1898)
 * Nishan-i-Iftikhar, awarded in three classes (founded by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur in 1914)
 * Nishan-i-Askari, awarded in three classes (founded by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur in 1927)

The decoration of the Nishan-i-Iftikhar includes the coat of arms of Kapurthala State.