Rani Katochan

Rani Katochan (died 1839), also known as Guddan or Mahitab Devi, was a Pahari wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. She was the daughter of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.^[2] Her sister, Raj Banso, was also married to Ranjit Singh but killed-herself after Ranjit Singh compared her beauty to that of a dancing-girl, which the Rajput queen took as a great-offence.^[3]^[4]

Rani Katochan was said to have been personally devoted to her husband, so much so that she burnt herself on his funeral pyre in 1839.^[3]^[4] According to Sohan Lal Suri's account of Ranjit Singh's funeral, she placed the head of Ranjit Singh in her lap as the pyre burnt them whilst the other three queens and seven concubines performing sati sat in a circle around them.^[5] When news of Rani Katochan's sati reached her family back in Kangra, they were very pleased and decided to commission a painting in 1840 depicting the event.^[3]

References

^ Waheeduddin, Fakir Syed (2022). The Real Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ludhiana: Lahore Book Shop. ISBN 9789391419004.
^ Atwal, Priya (2020). Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9780197548318.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kang, Kanwarjit Singh (Jun 28, 2015). "'Sati' choice before Maharaja Ranjit's Ranis". The Tribune. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
^ ^a ^b Singh, Patwant; Rai, Jyoti M. (Aug 1, 2013). Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (2nd ed.). Peter Owen Publishers. ISBN 9780720615241. The two who deserve mention here, both of whom he married in 1828, are Mahtab Devi and Raj Banso, daughters of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra: the first because of her deep devotion to him and the second because she committed suicide when Ranjit Singh compared her exceptionally beautiful looks to those of a dancing girl - coming from a ruling family of Rajputs, Raj Banso took this slight to heart and overdosed on opium.
^ Khan, Nadhra Shahbaz N. (25 July 2016). "Posthumous Homage Paid to Maharaja Ranjit Singh". Sikh Research Journal. 1 (1): 33–42. doi:10.62307/srj.v1i1.123.

[1] Waheeduddin, Fakir Syed (2022). The Real Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ludhiana: Lahore Book Shop. ISBN 9789391419004.

[:6-2] Atwal, Priya (2020). Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9780197548318.

[:2-3] Kang, Kanwarjit Singh (Jun 28, 2015). "'Sati' choice before Maharaja Ranjit's Ranis". The Tribune. Retrieved 3 August 2025.

[:02-4] Singh, Patwant; Rai, Jyoti M. (Aug 1, 2013). Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (2nd ed.). Peter Owen Publishers. ISBN 9780720615241. The two who deserve mention here, both of whom he married in 1828, are Mahtab Devi and Raj Banso, daughters of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra: the first because of her deep devotion to him and the second because she committed suicide when Ranjit Singh compared her exceptionally beautiful looks to those of a dancing girl - coming from a ruling family of Rajputs, Raj Banso took this slight to heart and overdosed on opium.

[:3-5] Khan, Nadhra Shahbaz N. (25 July 2016). "Posthumous Homage Paid to Maharaja Ranjit Singh". Sikh Research Journal. 1 (1): 33–42. doi:10.62307/srj.v1i1.123.

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