Maharani Jind Kaur was regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843 until 29 March 1847. After the Sikh Empire was dissolved on 29 March 1847 the Sikhs claimed her as the Maharani and successor of Maharaja Duleep Singh. However, on the same day the British took full control and refused to accept the claims.

Princess Bamba Sutherland was a member of the royal family that ruled the Sikh Empire in the Punjab. After a childhood in England, she settled in Lahore, the capitol of what had been her father's kingdom, where she was a suffragette and a passionate advocate of self rule and independence of India. She was a close and personal friend of Indian revolutionaries whom she hosted at her house in Lahore like Lala Lajpat Rai.