princely state · Indian princely states
Kapurthala State
Origins
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, leader of the Ahluwalia misl and a commander of the Dal Khalsa, briefly held Lahore in 1761 and took Kapurthala in the 1770s. His successor Fateh Singh Ahluwalia was an ally of Ranjit Singh.
Rule and society
Kapurthala sided with the British after the First Anglo-Sikh War and in 1857, gaining estates in Awadh. Jagatjit Singh (1877–1949) travelled widely, admired France and built the Jagatjit Palace modelled on Versailles. Unusually the Sikh ruler governed a majority-Muslim population, and the state was known for religious tolerance, including a Moorish-style mosque he funded.
Decline and legacy
Kapurthala acceded to India in 1947 amid Partition violence and in 1948 joined the Patiala and East Punjab States Union, which merged into Punjab in 1956.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Kapurthala State was a protectorate of Company rule in India1846 CE – 1858 CE
- Kapurthala State was a protectorate of British Raj1858 CE – 1947 CE
More states of Indian princely states →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kapurthala State. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kapurthala-state
- MLA
- “Kapurthala State.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kapurthala-state. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kapurthala State.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kapurthala-state.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kapurthala State’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kapurthala-state (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻