NAM.1961-10-9-5

Probably a portrait of Ayodeya Prasad, brother of Dina Nath, 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. Ayodeya Prasad was the brother of Raja Dina Nath. In 1820 he was given the paymastership of a brigade of the Sikh Army under the mercenary European officer, General Jean-Baptiste Ventura. When the General was on leave in Europe, Ayodeya Prasad commanded the whole force. Venture wrote of him, “I have never had cause to repent appointing him my deputy, for on my return from France, I have found the troops in as good condition as if I had been present myself.” In 1843, when Ventura left the Punjab for the last time, Ayodeya Prasad was appointed to the command of the Brigade and continued in that position until the end of the Sutlej Campaign in 1846. From that year until 1848, along with Captain James Abbott, he was a Commissioner responsible for drawing up the boundary line between the Lahore and Jammu territories. Ayodeya Prasad was well-respected by the British and from 1849 to 1851 he was appointed to take charge of the young Maharaja Duleep Singh, along with Dr John Login. In 1862 he was appointed Honorary Magistrate of the city of Lahore. Previously catalogued as a portrait of Joaderanwarth, recatalogued as possibly a portrait of Ayodeya Prasad, brother of Dina Nath, by the experts in the Brothers in Arms Project in 2015. Inscribed in pencil verso, ‘JOODEEANAUTH’.