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Raja Sir Harnam Singh Ahluwalia , KCIE (15 November 1851 – 20 May 1930) was a member of the Kapurthala royal family in the direct line founded by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.

He was the first president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians, which played an important role in the Indian independence movement, advocating for self-rule and opposing the partition of India. He was also a member of the Kapurthala Council of State and one of the founder trustees of the Tribune Newspaper. He also was one of the patrons of the New India Insurance company founded in 1906 in Calcutta under the Swaraj movement. It was later nationalised to become India's 4th largest Insurance Company National Insurance Company.

Biography

Harnam Singh was the second son of Raja Sir Randhir Singh Ahluwalia , GCSI, Raja of Kapurthala, and younger brother of Raja Karak Singh Bahadur. He left Kapurthala in 1878 after the premature death of his elder brother led to a struggle for the succession to the Kapurthala throne. Under the influence of his English Tutor Rev. Woodside and aided by a Bengali Missionary Golaknath Chatterji, Harnam Singh converted to Christianity thus renouncing his rights for good.

Raja Harnam Singh held many dignities in his life. He was a member of the Legislative Council for the Punjab from 1900 to 1902, a Member of the Kapurthala Council of State and an honorary Fellow of Panjab University. In 1902 he and his wife were in London to attend the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, as representatives of the Christian community in India.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1885 and knighted as a Knight Commander of the order (KCIE) in 1898. In 1907, Harnam Singh was given the personal title of Raja (roughly equivalent to the modern British life peerage), and he was made a hereditary Raja in 1911, thus enabling him to found a separate branch of the Ahluwalia dynasty. He was given the administration of his Awadh properties for his lifetime, a move which was objected by Jagatjit Singh but in vain.

Harnam Singh died in 1930 at the age of 78.

Family

In 1875, he married Rani Priscilla Kaur Sahiba (née Priscilla Golaknath) and had one daughter

1. Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur, DStJ (2 February 1889 – 9 February 1964)

Titles

• 1852–1885: Kanwar Harnam Singh
• 1885–1898: Kanwar Harnam Singh, Ahluwalia, CIE
• 1898–1900: Kanwar Sir Harnam Singh Bahadur, KCIE
• 1900–1907: The Hon Kanwar Sir Harnam Singh Bahadur, KCIE
• 1907–1930: The Hon Raja Shri Sir Harnam Singh, KCIE

Honours

• Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE – 1898) (CIE – 1885)
• Prince of Wales's Medal in silver – 1876
• KIH Silver Medal – 1877
• Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal – 1887
• King Edward VII Coronation Medal in silver – 1902
• Delhi Durbar Medal in silver – 1903
• Personal title of Raja – 1907
• Delhi Durbar Medal in silver – 1911
• Hereditary title of Raja – 1911

See also

• The Kapurthala Royal Collateral Families
• Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur
• Billy Arjan Singh
• Bikrama Singh
• Vishvjit Singh
• Pratap Singh

References

1. Thomas, Abraham Vazhayil (1974). Christians in Secular India. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 106–110. ISBN 978-0-8386-1021-3.
2. "Court News". The Times. No. 36935. London. 26 November 1902. p. 12.
3. Great Britain. India Office The India List and India Office List for 1905, p. 145, at Google Books

• Indian Christians
• Indian royalty
• 1851 births
• 1930 deaths
• Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
• People from Kapurthala
• Punjabi people
• Members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly
• Indian knights
• Converts to Christianity from Sikhism