Question

How Sada Kaur was related to Maharaja Ranjit Singh?
A. She was the mother of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
B. She was the daughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
C. She was the aunt of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
D. She was the mother-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Answer 1

Hint: Sada Kaur, the wife of Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya, was a visionary woman who played an important role in the expansion of the Sikh kingdom under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Her husband was killed by the father of Ranjit Singh, Maha Singh. Later on, she married her daughter to Ranjit Singh.

Complete answer:
After the death of her husband Gurbaksh Singh, Sada Kaur became the chief of Kanhaiya misl. She was an ambitious woman. Her advice to Ranjit Singh to take control of Lahore stating that whosoever controls Lahore, controls Pakistan, proved fruitful to Ranjit Singh. In 1799, Sada Kaur and Ranjit Singh attacked Lahore and Ranjit Singh became its king by 1801. In some other battles of Ranjit Singh (Amritsar, Kasur, Hazara, Attock) she was with him. However, when Ranjit Singh did his second marriage with Raj Kaur, Sada Kaur broke up with Ranjit Singh. She tried to rule her own state but Ranjit Singh restricted her.
So, the correct answer is Option D.

Note: Maharaja Ranjit Singh is also called the Lion of Punjab. During the Anglo-Sikh War, he was made to sign the Treaty of Amritsar that restricted his controlled territories to the eastern boundary of the river, Sutlej. However, before that, he had a Treaty of Friendship and Unity with the British. The other Treaty of Tripartite, Ranjit Singh was checked by the British for further expansion of his territories. After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh kingdom began to collapse.