(March 8, 2025) It was November 18, 1910, and the streets of London were filled with the determined voices of 300 women marching towards Parliament. Their banners waved high, their footsteps echoed with purpose, and their chants demanded what had long been denied—justice and the right to vote. The police formed a barricade, ready to push back, to silence them. Among the crowd stood a figure unlike the rest—a brown woman in a sea of white. Her presence was as striking as the placards they carried. Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of an exiled king and goddaughter of Queen Victoria, stood firm at the frontline. She was not just another suffragette—she was a woman who had decided to stand against injustice, defying the empire that had wronged her family and countless others.
The moment was electric, but it was also dangerous. Policemen lashed out, dragging women to the ground, striking them with batons. Sophia did not waver. When the Prime Minister refused to listen, she took matters into her own hands—throwing herself before his car, demanding justice. The police arrested her along with 118 others. The event would be remembered as Black Friday, a turning point in the fight for women’s suffrage.
Sophia Duleep Singh
Historian and journalist Anita Anand, who documented Sophia’s life in her biography Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, noted, “Sophia was as close to a celebrity as you could get in November 1910 when she took part in Black Friday.” Sophia never sought fame—she fought for justice. Even today, her name is not widely known, but her impact still resonates. As the world continues to push for gender equality, her story serves as a powerful reminder of the women who stood up, spoke out, and changed history.
On International Women’s Day, her legacy reminds us that the fight for equality continues. As a suffragette, tax rebel, and advocate for justice, she stood against an empire, proving that change comes from those who dare to challenge the system. Her courage continues to inspire the struggles for equal rights, fair representation, and the power to demand change.
The Granddaughter of a King, the Daughter of an Exile
Sophia Duleep Singh was born in 1876, far from the golden palaces of Punjab, in the quiet estate of Elveden Hall, Suffolk. She was the fifth child of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh ruler of Punjab, whose kingdom had been seized by the British after the Second Anglo-Sikh War. As a child, her father had been exiled to England, his throne stolen, his royal jewels—including the Koh-i-Noor diamond—forcibly taken and placed in the British Crown.
Sophia grew up in wealth, but also in displacement. Her father, once the ruler of one of India’s most powerful kingdoms, died in exile, broken and bitter. The family was left in financial ruin, but their royal connections ensured that Queen Victoria took a particular interest in Sophia, bestowing upon her a grace-and-favour residence at Hampton Court Palace. While this kept her within the social circles of British aristocracy, it also left her between two worlds—neither fully accepted by the British elite nor connected to her Indian heritage.
A Radical Awakening in India
In 1907, everything changed. Sophia visited India for the first time, expecting to see the grandeur of her father’s lost kingdom. Instead, she saw a land struggling under British rule. As she traveled through Punjab, the land that should have been hers, she witnessed poverty and oppression everywhere. The reality of colonial rule was impossible to ignore.
During her visit, she met Lala Lajpat Rai, a key leader in India’s fight for independence, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a strong voice for self-rule. Their words stayed with her. This was more than just learning about politics—it was personal. She saw with her own eyes the struggles her father had fought against and the cost of losing that battle.
By April 1907, after six months in India, she returned to England transformed. She could no longer sit in comfort while millions suffered. She had to act. Anand describes this transformation as an irreversible turning point, writing that Sophia had been ‘seduced’ by the struggle for justice.” She adds, “From that point on, she was a woman who could not be silent.”
From Aristocrat to Activist
Sophia’s return to England marked a dramatic shift. She refused to stay silent and instead threw herself into activism. She joined Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the radical faction of the suffragette movement. Unlike other aristocratic women, who supported the cause from drawing rooms, Sophia took to the streets.
She was seen selling The Suffragette newspaper outside her own residence at Hampton Court Palace, a scandalous act that made headlines. She refused to pay taxes, declaring that without representation, she owed nothing to the British government. Authorities punished her by seizing her jewelry and putting it up for auction, but suffragettes outbid others and gave it back to her, turning it into an act of defiance.
Black Friday: A Defining Moment
Sophia’s most daring act came on November 18, 1910. When Prime Minister H.H. Asquith refused to meet the suffragettes, they took to the streets in protest. The result was brutal. Policemen attacked the women, injuring many, dragging them across the pavement. Sophia was arrested, but she did not back down. She later lodged a formal complaint against police brutality, drawing attention to the violence faced by women at the hands of the state.
Her protest did not end there. In 1911, she defied the census, refusing to fill out government forms as part of the suffragette movement’s resistance strategy. That same year, she was spotted throwing herself at the Prime Minister’s car, demanding an answer.
Rooted in Sikh Values
Sophia’s commitment to justice was shaped by her Sikh heritage, which teaches equality, standing up against injustice, and helping others. She lived by the Sikh principle of seva (selfless service) and carried the same sense of duty as her grandfather, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled Punjab with fairness. Instead of swords, she fought with defiance and determination, believing that no injustice should go unchallenged.
A Warrior in Many Battles
Sophia’s fight extended beyond women’s rights. During World War I, she turned her attention to Indian soldiers who fought for the British Army. While they served on the frontlines, they were denied basic dignity and rights. Sophia raised funds for wounded Indian soldiers, visited hospitals, and ensured their voices were heard.
She later joined Sarojini Naidu and Annie Besant in advocating for Indian women’s rights, bridging the struggle between Britain’s suffragettes and India’s freedom fighters. Even as she championed one cause, she never lost sight of the other.
Her Final Years and Legacy
Sophia Duleep Singh continued to support women’s rights and social causes well into her later years. She remained a dedicated member of the Suffragette Fellowship and continued advocating for equality. During World War II, she moved to a quieter life in Buckinghamshire, where she spent her final years.
She passed away in 1948, the same year that India gained independence, a cause she had supported from afar. Her ashes were taken to India by her sister Bamba, though the exact location of her final resting place remains unknown.
A Legacy That Demands Recognition
Sophia Duleep Singh’s story is one of courage, determination, and a relentless fight for justice. Unlike Emmeline Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett, who are well known for their roles in the suffrage movement, Sophia’s contributions are often overlooked. Yet, she was one of the few women of colour who stood at the forefront of British suffrage, using her position to fight for the rights of the oppressed and refusing to be silenced.
She never married, never had children, but she left behind something far more lasting—a legacy of courage.
On International Women’s Day, as the fight for equality continues, her name deserves to be spoken. Because the battle she fought? It is far from over.
