Maharani Jindan Kaur – The Last Queen of the Punjab

History's Heroes

BBC

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 824 Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

1849. The youngest queen of Sikh Emperor Ranjit Sing, Maharani Jindan was locked up in at Chunar fort, hundreds of miles from home. She was small, beautiful and powerful, and crucially she was the mother of 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh. She had to be kept away from her kingdom in Punjab, and her young son, by order of the British East India company. But nothing would keep her from her son.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	An early start here. It's time to kick off.
0:10.0	Your day. Morning!
0:11.9	What a line-up.
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0:16.1	The crowd is loving this.
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0:20.2	From morning chaos to match day commentary.
0:23.6	And everything in between.
0:25.0	BBC sounds packed with personality.
0:29.4	1849.
0:31.3	The Chuna Fort, Uttar Pradesh, India.
0:35.3	This is not a gigantic fort.
0:37.7	It's not a very nice ford.
0:39.7	A lonely place on the bank of the river Ganges.
0:43.8	Inside was a prisoner.
0:47.1	This is a young woman, but she's weathered by now through the many things that she has seen.
0:53.4	Marani Jindhakaa Kor was the last queen of the Great Sikh Empire in Punjab.
0:58.3	She'd been imprisoned here for a year, 2,000 kilometers from her home in Lahore.
1:04.3	By order of the British East India Company, she was kept alone.
1:09.9	She will not have access to people coming in and out or the bustle of the town around her.
1:15.6	She is to be isolated.
	...

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