Kapurthala State, was a kingdom and later Princely state of the Punjab Province of India. Ruled by Ahluwalia Sikh rulers, spread across 510 square miles (1,300 km). 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. According to this account, Krishna's descendant Gaj built the fort of Gajni, and lost his life in a battle against a joint Roman-Khorasani army. His son Salibahan established the city of Sialkot, and started the Shak era after defeating the Shaks in 78 CE.

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.

Demographics

Religious groups in Kapurthala State (British Punjab province era)

Religious group	1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	178,326	56.73%	152,117	56.73%	160,457	56.44%	179,251	56.59%	213,754	56.49%
Hinduism	93,652	29.79%	61,426	22.91%	58,412	20.55%	64,319	20.31%	61,546	16.27%
Sikhism	42,101	13.39%	54,275	20.24%	64,074	22.54%	72,177	22.79%	88,350	23.35%
Jainism	226	0.07%	205	0.08%	228	0.08%	27	0.01%	380	0.1%
Christianity	39	0.01%	107	0.04%	1,100	0.39%	983	0.31%	1,667	0.44%
Zoroastrianism	4	0%	3	0%	4	0%	0	0%	6	0%
Buddhism	3	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Judaism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	12,677	3.35%
Total population	314,351	100%	268,133	100%	284,275	100%	316,757	100%	378,380	100%
Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Royal dynasty

List of rulers

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign	Ref.
Sardars
1	Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1718–1783)		1777 – 20 October 1783
2	Bagh Singh Ahluwalia (1747–1801)		20 October 1783 – 10 July 1801
Rajas
3	Fateh Singh Ahluwalia (1784–1837)		10 July 1801 – 20 October 1837
4	Nihal Singh (1817–1852)		20 October 1837 – 13 September 1852
5	Randhir Singh (1831–1870)		13 September 1852 – 12 March 1861
Raja-i Rajgan
–	Randhir Singh (1831–1870)		12 March 1861 – 2 April 1870
6	Kharak Singh (1850–1877)		2 April 1870 – 3 September 1877
7	Jagatjit Singh (1872–1949)		3 September 1877 – 12 December 1911
Maharajas
–	Jagatjit Singh (1872–1949)		12 December 1911 – 15 August 1947
Titular
–	Jagatjit Singh (1872–1949)		15 August 1947 – 19 June 1949
8	Paramjit Singh
9	Sukhjit Singh

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.

Gallery

• 
  Qila Jallow Khana, Kapurthala State
• 
  Old Baradari at Shalimar Garden, Kapurthala State
• 
  Photograph of the State Gurdwara of Kapurthala State during a thanksgiving service
• 
  Old court complex , Kapurthala State
• 
  Photograph of Buggy Khana, Kapurthala State

See also

• Anita Delgado
• Political integration of India