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Rare Maharaja Duleep Singh sketch
found
Amandeep Singh
 LONDON: A
previously unknown sketch of Maharaja Duleep Singh, shown as a
portly London gentleman in the 1880s, in sharp contrast to the
earlier iconic images of the young turbaned prince who had charmed
Queen Victoria and her family, was recently discovered at the
British Museum.
The sketch was
marked as ‘Dhulip Singh’ and dated around the 1880s. It was acquired
by the Museum in 1886, ironically the same year that Duleep Singh
wrote: “I beg forgiveness of you, Khalsa-Ji, for having forsaken the
faith of my ancestors for a foreign religion. It is my fond desire
to take the Pahul again on reaching
Bombay.”
In this drawing,
Duleep Singh is far from the Sikh appearance he must have briefly
acquired when he was re-initiated into Sikhi, his ancestral faith.
He wears a monocle and a top hat and walks with a cane.
By the time of
this sketch, the maharaja was embroiled in a vicious war of words
with the British government over his status in
England, and
more pointedly, at the state of his pension. He had massively
overspent his considerable pension and took to berating the civil
service for his financial disposition.
His search for
recompense took him to the great round Reading Room in
London’s
British Museum where he discovered the injustice of the Bhyrowal
Treaty that robbed him of his kingdom.
This was also
the time that his distant cousin, Thakur Singh Sandhanwalia, was
summoned to
England.
The mischievous
Thakur Singh brought with him the Sau Sakhis – a series of fake
prophecies attributed to the tenth Guru that included the alluring
statement: “When the Russian troops invade the country, agitation
will prevail in
London
and the British army will march to India. A Sikh martyr will be born
and will reign as far as
Calcutta.
Deep Singh will shine among the Khalsa and will drive his elephant
throughout the world.”
It was these
prophecies, originating from the Namdhari heresy of the 1850s, which
spurned Duleep Singh to begin his ill-fated journey eastward to plot
a coup to overthrow the British in
Punjab. It took
him to Russia and ultimately to a mysterious death in a
Paris
hotel room in 1893.
Amandeep Singh
Madra is the author of 'Warrior Saints' and works on Sikh heritage
conservation with the United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association.
Read more at www.punjabheritage.org
20 August, 2008
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