NAM.1960-07-197-2-1

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), 1839 (c). Miniature portrait in watercolour on ivory by an unknown Indian artist, Delhi, India, 1839 (c). Set in a gold, glazed frame as a brooch. The brooch engraved verso, ‘Portrait of/ Ranjit Sing [sic]/ Presented by him to/ Honoria Lawrence’. Associated with Maharajah Ranjit Singh (1780-1839). Associated with the Indian Army and the 1st Sikh War (1845-1846). Ranjit Singh survived smallpox in infancy but, as this portrait shows, he lost the use of his left eye. He was Governor of Lahore from 1799, but gradually extended his influence to create the Sikh Empire of the Punjab, which he ruled over as Maharaja from 1801 until 1839. Ranjit Singh’s reign was characterised by reform, modernisation and consolidation. Known as the ‘Lion of the Punjab’, he was the commander of a powerful army. He is also remembered as a skilled diplomat who united Sikh factions and maintained fairly good terms with the British for most of his reign. In 1806 he signed a treaty with the East India Company by which the British would retain the land south of the Sutlej River and he would control the land to its north. He employed European officers and foreign advisors who improved the training and organisation of his army and oversaw the manufacture of artillery, helping to create a formidable fighting force. Maharaja Ranjit Singh mounted a number of campaigns against the Afghans, driving them out of the Punjab. In 1813, he compelled Shah Shujah of Afghanistan, whilst his guest at Lahore, to give him the celebrated Koh-i-noor, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world. In 1839, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Kharak Singh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also the father of Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.

1st Afghan War (1838-1842), 1st Sikh War (1845-1846)