Harnam Singh was the second son of Raja Sir
Randhir Singh Ahluwalia,
GCSI, Raja of
Kapurthala, and younger brother of Raja
Kharak Singh Ahluwalia. He left Kapurthala in 1878 after the premature death of his elder brother led to a struggle for the succession to the Kapurthala throne. Under the influence of his English Tutor Rev. Woodside and aided by a Bengali Missionary Golaknath Chatterji, Harnam Singh converted to Christianity thus renouncing his rights for good. Raja Harnam Singh held many dignities in his life. He was a member of the
Legislative Council for the Punjab from 1900 to 1902, a Member of the Kapurthala Council of State and an honorary Fellow of
Panjab University. In 1902 he and his wife were in London to attend the
Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, as representatives of the Christian community in India. He was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1885 and knighted as a Knight Commander of the order (KCIE) in 1898. In 1907, Harnam Singh was given the personal title of
Raja (roughly equivalent to the modern British
life peerage), and he was made a hereditary
Raja in 1911, thus enabling him to found a separate branch of the
Ahluwalia dynasty. He was given the administration of his Awadh properties for his lifetime, a move which was objected by
Jagatjit Singh but in vain. Harnam Singh died in 1930 at the age of 78, and was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, Raghubir Singh, who himself died two years later without issue. whereupon the title devolved upon his second surviving son,
Raja Maharaj Singh. The line of Maharaj Singh maintains the title to this day. ==Family==