Yadavinder Singh's early life was moulded by his rank and environment. Son of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, one of the most prominent of India's 600-odd ruling princes, Yadavinder Singh was brought up in a luxurious atmosphere. At the suggestion of the local British resident, Bhupinder Singh sent his son, while still a young boy, to the Aitchison College at Lahore. There he received a solid all-round education, acquired valuable habits of inquiry and self-discipline, and distinguished himself on the cricket field. In 1930, after completing his education, he accompanied his father to the first Round Table Conference in London. He spent some time at the Punjab Police School, Phillaur, and acquired some training in revenue work back in Paliala. At his majority, in 1931, he was made Superintendent of Police for Patiala district, graduating two years later to the rank of Inspector-General. In 1933, he was appointed the Chancellor of Kim, alsa College, Amritsar, and he held this position for a number of years. Seconded in 1935 to a crack Sikh unit of the Indian army, he did valuable work helping in reconstruction after the terrible Quetta earthquake and earned a glowing tribute from the military authorities.

Yadavinder Singh's public activities were, however, overshadowed by his sporting achievements. Patiala had always been synonymous with Indian cricket boasting at Chail, the Maharaja's summer residence, the highest ground in the world. Encouraged to play the game by his father, who had captained India on the tour of England, Yadavinder Singh rapidly blossomed into a fine all-round player. He donned Indian colours in 1934 when he was selected to play against England. However, cricket was far from his only athletic accomplishment. Supple of limb and reaching almost 6'4" when fully grown, he had no difficulty adapting successfully to a variety of games : he climbed, ran, played hockey, was north Indian tennis champion, and led the Patiala polo team. In his devotion to sport, he had followed in the footsteps of his father.

In 1928, Bhupinder Singh had been elected founder-president of Indian Olympic Association, formed after India had won its first gold medal in the hockey competition at the IXth Olympiad in Amsterdam. On Bhupinder Singh's death in 1938, the members of the Association chose the son to replace the father. Yadavinder Singh continued as president until 1960, when he stepped down in favour of his brother, Bhalendra Singh.

During his 22-year term, he cemented India's connection with the international olympic movement, fostered the establishment of branches of the Association in several provinces and encouraged the formation of national federations for individual Olympic sports.

1938 was indeed a momentous year for the young prince. It was clouded, of course, by his father's death ; but on the brighter side it saw his election to the presidency of the Olympic Association. He became the ruler of a kingdom of 5,932 square miles having a population of nearly two million. In the year of his accession was also solemnized his marriage to Mohinder Kaur, daughter of a Patiala nobleman, Harchand Singh Jeji.

On the outbreak' of the World War in 1939, MaharajaYadavinder Singh founded the 'Khalsa Defence of India League. Sikh enlistment to the army was accelerated by the efforts of the Maharaja who himself went to the Italian theatre of war and to the Middle East and Malaya. His support of the War effort was rewarded in 1944 by an honorary appointment as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian army.

Viceroy Lord Wavell, who described Yadavinder Singh as "one of the best of the princes, really interested in managing his state on progressive lines," caused him to be appointed an aide-de-camp to the British King and supported his election as pro-chancellor of the Chamber of Princes in March 1946. The Maharaja became a leading figure in the politics of the Indian princes. When after the failure of the Cripps Mission in 1942, the British Government sent to India the Cabinet Mission under the leadership of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Maharaja of Patiala led a princes' delegation to the Mission. He was also a member of the negotiations committee of the princes which, under the Cabinet Mission Plan, was to negotiate with the representatives of British India the terms on which the states would accede to the Indian Union. Patiala was also one of the first princely states to decide on 13 March 1947 to participate in the Constituent Assembly and to send up its representatives as members. On 1 August. 1947, twenty-two rulers of states, with Maharaja Yadavinder Singh leading, signified their decision to accede to the Indian Union and others followed in quick succession. In May 1948 he gave his assent to the merger of Patiala with seven other Punjab states to constitute what came to be known as the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU).

When the decision to partition the Punjab was announced, Yadavinder Singh went to Viceroy Mountbatten and pleaded with him to fix the boundary on the basis of landed and religious property rather than population, thereby preserving the central Punjab as a Sikh homeland. Mountbatten refused, and the Radcliffe Commission opted for a line which left many Sikhs and Sikh shrines in Pakistan. Yadavinder Singh then took his case to Sardar Patel, urging that the rehabilitation of the Sikhs should be made a priority of government policy. Sikh refugees should be fully compensated for their losses, and community as a whole assured of its rightful place in the polity of India through the incorporation. of suitable provisions in the new constitution. In subsequent letters to the Sardar, he enjoined the government to open negotiations with Pakistan for the return of Sikh religious records and the preservation of untended gurdwaras and criticized curbs which New Delhi had placed on certain Sikh newspapers. At the same time the Maharaja maintained his direct links with the Panth through the patronage of schools and charities. Towards the end of 1947 He added the presidency of the Panthic Darbar, a quasi-political organization, to his many other activities.

In November 1956, in accordance with the recommendations of the States Reorganization Commission, PEPSU was merged with East Punjab and Yadavinder Singh, who had been Rajpramukh of the state since its inception, found himself for the first time in his adult life without a full-time occupation. But soon thereafter Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent him to New York as a member of the Indian delegation to the 11th session of the United Nations General Assembly. In 1958, Yadavinder Singh represented India in Paris at the 10th annual conference of UNESCO, and in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1969 he led the Indian team at meetings of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) - a task for which the horticulturally-knowledgeable Maharaja was well suited. In 1960, the government made him chairman of the newlycreated Indian Council of Sports, a body designed to oversee the whole sporting sphere and advise on the allocation of public money to sports teams and facilities. In 1965, the Lal Bahadur Shastri government appointed him to the prestigious post of Indian Ambassador in Rome, where he served until 1967.

The decade 1956-1966 was a relatively quiet and relaxed period in Yadavinder Singh's life, much of it spent abroad. As a diplomat he shunned public forums, preferring to exercise his considerale personal charm in private informal gatherings. In February 1967 elections were held for the Punjab legislature; Yadavinder Singh decided to stand as an independent candidate, and was voted in by a handsome majority. His short parliamentary career was over as he soon realized that he was unfit for the role of a professional politician. He continued, however, to involve himself closely in Sikh affairs, and in 1969 revived his role as intermediary with the Centre in an unsuccessful bid to head off Darshan Singh Pheruman's fast to death over the status of Chandigarh. Earlier he had presided over the Sikh Eductional Conference annual sessions held at Patiala (1949), Delhi (1952) and Indore (1961). He was also the chairman of the Punjabi University Commission which preceded the establishment in 1962 of Punjabi University at Patiala. He was chosen president of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation as well as of the Guru Nanak Foundation, the former set. up to honour the tercentenary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh (1967) and the latter the quincentenary of the birth of Guru Nanak (1969).

Throughout the late 1969's, Yadavinder Singh Continued his association with FAO and the Council of Sports, and in 1970 took on a new role as chairman of the Indian Horticulture Development Council. In 1971, Yadavinder Singh took up his second and last permanent diplomatic posting at the Hague in the Netherlands. Three years later, on 17 June 1974, he suffered a severe heart attack and died. He was 61 years of age. His body was flown to India and was cremated with full state honours on 21 June at Patiala in the family crematorium, the Shahi Samadhan.

With the passing away of Lt-General Maharaja Sir Yadavinder Singh of Patiala, the last symbol of Sikh sovereignty had vanished, as it were, a whole era of history stood annulled. A towering representative of what used to be the princely India, Maharaja Yadavinder Singh who combined the aura and manner of a bygone age with the values and aspirations of a fast-changing world had departed. Few Indian rulers had been brought up in greater splendour than he; fewer adjusted themselves with equal dignity to the ambience of free and socialistic India. He was uncommonly handsome person and most gentlemanly in manner. 6'4" tall, with his imposing turban and commanding bearing, he must have caused traffic jams in many of the world capitals. He was a great traveller. His multifarious genius would take a whole book fully to illustrate it. There were so many different sides to it- his administration, his statesmanship, diplomacy, politics, agriculture, horticulture, sport and painting. He acted with courage and far-sightedness at the time of transfer of power to India, and provided timely leadership to his brother-princes. His talents were freely utilized in Independent India and he served the country in many different capacities after ceasing to reign in Patiala. He led Indian delegations to the Food and Agriculture Organization meetings and served as the country's representative at UNO and UNESCO. He was President of the Indian Council of Sports and was Indian Ambassador, first, at Rome and, then, at the Hague. To the Indian Army, to farmers and to the Sikhs the world over Maharaja Yadavinder Singh was a source of continuing inspiration. For Sikhs, especially, his personality was an inestimable boon. He was a role model for them. Between the Government of India and the Sikhs he was a kind of bridge and assumed on several occasions the delicate task of resolving situations of tension. For instance, from his hands Sant Fateh Singh, the Akali leader, drank the glass of juice to break his fast unto death undertaken to press home to the Government the Sikhs' demand for a Punjabi-speaking state. Maharaja Yadavinder Singh was chairman of the Commission appointed by the Punjab Government preparatory to the establishment of the Punjabi University at Patiala. As President both of Guru Nanak Foundation and Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, he led Sikh celebrations for the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the 300th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. He was proud of his Sikh inheritance and valued more than anything else Guru Gobind Singh's pronouncements of blessing for the Patiala family: "Your house is mine own."

The world will scarcely see again a man of Maharaja Yadavinder Singh's stature, personal charm and propriety of manner. For, where and when will occur the same peculiar mixture of circumstances-that milieu of martial heritage, refinements of courtly culture, rigour of personal discipline cultivated under an alert and sagacious father such as Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was, natural gifts of intelligence and judgement and an enthralling personal presence, and Punjabi joie de vivre and good sense? The Maharaja had friends and admirers the world over. To many the sudden and untimely death of this gentle and gifted prince of the blood came as a personal shock.

At the Hague, the Maharaja was working on a book of memoirs which, unfortunately, was left unfinished. He gave several sittings, speaking into a tape-recorder and answering questions put by a Dutch writer. From the tape, a script was made. A few fragments from that unpublished manuscript are being reproduced here.

Speaks the Maharaja:
We Sikhs do not recognize caste. Yet, if I must mention mine. I come of the Sidhu sub-caste of the Jatts. Our word for sub-caste is got or gotra. We are possibly the largest number among Sikhs- must be about a million; maybe, even more-I am not sure. But I must first describe to you the origin of Sikhism which is my religion. We came into existence in 1469 when our First Master, Guru Nanak, came on to this earth. In Guru Nanak's simple, but dynamic teaching a new world religion took its birth- the religion of Sikhs. The word "Sikh" derives from the Sanskrit shishya, a learner or disciple. Guru Nanak preached the message of unity of God and brotherhood of man. He rejected caste and image-worship. He expressed himself against formalism and superstition.
It is Guru Gobind Singh who gave the finishing touch to the work started by Guru Nanak. He created the martial order of the Khalsa. He gave us this form- unshorn hair and beard. But this was one continuous teaching, oneministryfromGuruNanakto the tenth Guru. If Guru Gobind Singh made uswarriors, he was no less emphatic in impressing the principles of compassion, charity and faith.
That is how Sikh religion began in the hands of Guru Nanak; how it turned into a nation in the hands of Guru Gobind Singh and during more-than-a-half-century of fierce persecution after his death eventually succeeded establishing political sovereignty in the Punjab.
Now our Guru is Guru Granth Sahib. When our Guru Dasmesh Padshah, our Tenth Master, died, he said, "I am going." He died in Nanded in Hyderabad (now in Maharashtra)
and he knew, of course, that he was going to die having been stabbed by a Pathan. Then he passed the Guruship to the Holy Word as enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru Granth Sahib was compiled by Guru Arjan, the Fifth Guru. It was finalized by the Tenth Guru at Damdama Sahib which was in Patiala State. Guru Ram Das, the Fourth Guru, had the holy tank dug at Amritsar. His successor Guru Arjan invited the Muslim Sufi, MUM Mir, to lay the foundation of Harimandar, the Golden Temple of modern times.
Why? Because of the liberal tradition which is at the very root of Sikhism. Even our Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, contains hymns written by Muslim saints such as Shaikh Farid and Hindu bhaktas such as Namdev. Their words, as recorded in our Book, are as sacred to the Sikhs as the words of the Gurus.
Close to Anandpur is Kiratpur. Kiratpur is also sacred to the Sikhs. The town was founded by Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Guru. This was in the seventeenth century. The Guru lived here for several years. Now the Sikhs carry to Kiratpur the ashes of their dead collected on the third day of cremation. There they are thrown into the river Sutlej flowing close by. We have a 10-day mourning. During this period the whole of the Guru Granth Sahib is read through from beginning to end. This is, as you might know, a large volume-1430 pages. An akhand path or continuous reading is completed within 48 hours. In this uninterrupted reading a relay of granthis, or readers, take their turns on it. As the custom prescribes, there must not be a moment's gap in the reading nor a word missed or mispronounced.
During the days of mourning, friends and relations come to condole. The head of the bereaved family receives them. All sit on the ground on durries or carpets, covered with white sheets. When my father died, I and my brothers sat and received mourners. My wife received the ladies.
On the 10th day is held the prayer-service in front of the Gura Granth Sahib. Sacred hymns are recited and the concluding portions of the Guru Granth Sahib read out. The blessing of Akalpurakh, the Timeless One, is sought for the departed soul. To revert to your old question about what happens after death. Sikhism believes in transmigration. One is reborn according to one's deeds. But this cycle of birth and death can be annulled if one would understand God's Will; if one would identify oneself with it; if one would secure the Guru's grace.
Guru Gobind Singh used to write letters to Sikh communities or their readers in different parts of the country. My ancestors received one such letter. It is written in old Punjabi characters. It is signed by Guru Gobind Singh with the point of his arrow. That letter had come down to me- the Guru's Hukamnama which is preserved with all the reverence due to it.
Q. "Hukamndma" is a Persian word. Ans. Yes, it means an order. Guru Gobind Singh had written to my ancestors that they should come prepared. We have a sentiment in my family and a tradition. When a lady direct in my family is expecting, we get and put Guru Gobind Singh's sword under her pillow. The child born is meant to start off his life on earth with the blessings of the Guru. These are sentiments. We carry on with them. When I was born it must have happened that way; when my sons were born, when my daughters were born, it did happen like that. The Guru's sword under her pillow- this gives a sort of sustenance to the woman; tremendous sustenance, if you believe in it, if you believe in this power. Even on the birth of my grandchildren in direct line, it was like that. On both occasions we placed the sacred sword under my daughterin-law's head.
Q. Your daughter's children?
Ans. No; it does not go to the daughter. Daughters, when married, are governed by the customs and traditions of their own families. These customs, these practices have their sentimental value. These are matters of faith.
Baisakhi, the first day of the Indian month of Baisakh. In that year of 1699, Baisakhi fell on March 30. The Sikhs take Baisakhi, as the New Year and the birthday of the Khalsa. We exchange greeting cards on that occasiona typical western custom. My battalions, the Sikh battalions in the Indian Army, always send me greeting cards on Baisdkha.
Q. I must really say that Sikhs are the most outstanding people in India, and there is no comparison between the others and the Sikhs.
We are the least polluted religion. Older a religion farther it is from its source. Sikhism is a young religion that way- youngest, in fact, of the major religions of the world, Pollution is, of course, coming in. But how much? It is, as I said, a young religion; the latest religion, now 500 years old, it has its distinctive history which gives the Sikhs some of their peculiar characteristics.
Sikh women enjoy complete equality with men. Literacy among Sikh women is perhaps the highest in Indian communities. They are progressively going into the professions, especially medicine and teaching-even law. Sikh women can lead and conduct prayers and services in the Gurdwaras. In soldierly families, as husbands are out fighting, women hold the fort in their absence. They look after the household, the children and the farms. History tells of many brave Sikh women who fought in battles. My great-great-greatgrand aunt actually led our armies to defend Patiala. She was Bibi Sahib Kaur. She was the sister of Maharaja Sahib Singh. She fought the Marathas who had come up north and wanted to conquer the Punjab. When the Sikh troops discovered that their Maharani was herself fighting by their side, they threw everything into the action and repulsed the Marathas. That was the first reverse the advancing Marathas suffered. It happened just outside Patiala, very near my own farmBahadurgarh- which is about 5 miles from the walls of Patiala.
The English and the French first came as traders, so did the Portuguese. Also the Dutch. It is from Surat where the Dutch started off.

We were up north. The English took time reaching the Punjab. They came conquering the country by bits and parts. Eventually they set up their military cantonment at Ludhiana, on the left bank of the Sutlej. Maharaja Ranjit Singh then ruled the Punjab across the river. My great-great-great-grandfather, Maharaja Sahib Singh ruled in Patiala.

The foundation of Sikh sovereignty in the Punjab was laid by Banda Singh. He received the rites of the Khalsa at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh before the latter died. Accompained by a few of the Sikhs, Banda Singh came to the Punjab. He started conquering territory. He sacked Sirhind where two minor sons of Guru Gobind Singh had been bricked up alive in masonry under the order of the Mughal governor. Banda Singh showed Sikhs the way to power. He himself was captured and executed in Delhi with great torture. After him the Sikhs rose wherever they could in the Punjab. That is the time when four nations were contending for power. They were the Mughals, the Afghans, the Marathas and the Sikhs. The Sikhs triumphed in the Punjab. They also suffered much persecution. But they ultimately succeeded in establishing their sway. Twelve Sikh Sardars ruled the Punjab, each :n his own area. These were the twelve mists or chiefships. One of the important misls was the Phulkian- i.e. my ancestors.

After Ranjit Singh, the Lahore State began to decline. The English machinations came into full play. Sikh started fighting Sikh. That must happen. As we say, when the Sikhs have none to fight they must fight among themselves. Thanks to the Lord, Mother Jitoji-Guru Gobind Singh's wife-had
mixed sweet patashas with amrit being churned with a steel khanda. Otherwise, I do not know what the Sikhs would have done to themselves.

The British, however, recognized the Sikhs' spirit of courage and gallantry. Some kind of a mutual respect developed. The Sikhs took enthusiastically to western education introduced by the British. Likewise, they fully utilized the new facilities for farming created by the British. The latter had laid out a network of canals in the Punjab. This brought new prosperity to the provinceand to the Sikhs. The Sikhs became one of the most progressive communities in India. They also became politically very alive. They were in the forefront in India's fight for freedom. The first swadeshi (native) movement in the country was started by the Sikh sby the Kuka sect, to be more precise. Smadeshi was a word made very meaningful by Gandhiji. It meant use of indigenous things, things made in India, and boycott of foreign things, things made in England. Before Gandhiji, Kukas had done the same thing. They did not use mill-made cloth imported from England. They wore homespun khaddar instead. They shunned English lawcourts, English schools, and so on. They would not make use of the post offices set up by the British. They had their own relay system to carry mail from one place to another. The Sikhs organized a ghadr (rebellion) group in San Francisco in 1913. Baba Sohan Singh, a Sikh peasant from Bhakna, in Amritsar district, was the president. Then Akali and Babar Akalis spearheaded campaigns against the British. Sikhs were the backbone of the Indian National Congress iii the Punjab. The Indian National Army founded by General Mohan Singh during Word War II was mostly Sikh.
Q. If the British had been defeated, you would have treated them fairly.
Ans. True, that would be in character with Sikh tradition- Indian tradition, if you go, for instance, to Patiala, right on the Firozpur side, you will see plenty of these monuments. Somebody's monument is there, somebody's here; then there are a couple of monuments of the war. If you go over the bridge on the right hand side you will see Ferozeshah; and then you go 4 or 5 miles on the left, Mudki and other places, all marked.

Communal rioting started in Hazara district of North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan) and it gradually came down to Rawalpindi Jehlum, to Lahore, to Amritsar and eventually to Patiala. I passed through all that.

Q. What was the reason?
Ans. It was not the hatred between the Sikhs and the Muslims or between the Hindus and the Muslims. They had traditionally lived in comfort and peace, especially in Patiala. It was a different story when the politicians took over-politicians of the communal brand. The Muslim League, determined on creating a separate country for Muslims, started it. And the trouble spread all over. Thousands upon thousands were butchered-Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. When I heard of the mass killing of Hindus and Sikhs in Muslim dominated north-west districts, I said over the radio that the people thus threatened were welcome to Patiala. I made the announcement myself. I had said that I would look after them. They poured in an endless stream. Soon we had over 800,000 refugees in camps in the city of Patiala and its suburbs.
Q. How long did they stay there?
Ans. There was such a clamour among Hindus and Sikhs of the North-West to reach Patiala-to escape horror and torture. They came in swarms. They came jampacked in trains, huddled on train-roof, standing on footboards, clutching at the handlebars. They had lost everything they possessed. Some arrived forcibly shaven; some without their wives, their daughters-a human tragedy on an unimaginable scale. The word
"refugee" suddenly acquired such realitysuch poignancy. They had lost everything; they felt relieved to reach Patiala-at least safety. Each day we received 10-15-20 thousand people. How they were fed, I don't know. We did our best as a Governmentas individuals. For me, it was my personal concern, my personal responsibility. We did all we could to feed these vast columns of uprooted humanity, to give people work to do, to rehabilitate them.