NAM.1961-10-9-10

Raja Dina Nath (1795-1857), 1845 (c). Miniature portrait in watercolour on ivory, by a Company artist, Lahore, India, 1845 (c). Unframed. From a frame of seventeen Indian miniatures painted on ivory, one of which is missing. Dina Nath was a trusted advisor favoured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was head of military accounts and keeper of the privy seal from 1826, and was made Finance Minister in 1834. Following the death of the Maharaja Shere Singh, Raja Dina Nath managed to maintain his position at court by refusing to align himself with the Rani Chand Kaur or Shere Singh. He was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Lahore between the Sikhs and the British which ended the First Sikh War in 1846. On the British occupation of Lahore, Raja Dina Nath was appointed to the Council of Regency which assisted in the administration for the young Maharaja Duleep Singh. In 1847 he was rewarded with the title of Raja of Kalanaur. An able statesman, anxious to wield his power and influence, Raja Dina Nath managed to retain his property during the Second Sikh War of 1848-1849. Previously catalogued as a portrait of Deenah Nouth, recatalogued as a portrait of Dina Nath by the experts in the Brothers in Arms Project in 2015. Inscribed in pencil verso, ‘IDEENAH NOUTH’. The original captions says, ‘10. Dina Nath. Diwan or finance minister of the Sikhs.’