The ruler of Pakistan’s Punjab province is now a woman. Maryam Nawaz has got the honor of being elected as the first woman Chief Minister of any province of Pakistan.
If we review the political history of Punjab, the woman who ruled the throne of Lahore before her is Jund Kaur, who was the queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Maharani Jund Kaur, also known as Maharani Jundan, was born in Gujranwala. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in September 1843, when his son Dilip Singh was only five years old, he was made heir to the throne of Lahore.
Jund Kaur took charge of the affairs of the empire and remained the empress until March 1849, when the British took over. Sikh history books mention Maharani Chand Kaur before him who ruled for only 73 days from November 1840 to January 1841. She also holds the distinction of being the first independent empress of the Sikh kingdom.
Later another Sikh ruler Sher Singh arrested him after revolting from power. After Sher Singh himself was killed, the last mother-son reign of the Sikh kingdom began through Maharani Jund Kaur and five-year-old Dilip Singh.
After the British era, when it was partitioned in 1947, Punjab was also divided into two parts. After that, Rajinder Kaur Bhatal, the first female ruler in Indian Punjab, was elected as the Chief Minister in November 1996, but her tenure lasted only four months.
