From the authors of Warrior Saints and Sicques, Tigers or Thieves comes a new online exhibition that explores the fascinating Anglo-Sikh relationship over 150 years - a relationship that has touched and shaped the lives of millions. Through illustrations and detailed captions, the key events and people concerned are presented in eight sections, from the rise of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore in 1801 to the settling of the Sikh Diaspora in Britain in the twentieth century. Sometimes as friends, other times as foes, the Sikhs and the British have had one of the most rich and intriguing of partnerships.

Sikhs are no strangers to Britain. Indeed, they are justly proud of a shared heritage which pays homage to their role as great participators in the development and prosperity of Britain, a contribution which they are committed to continue into its future. Of the 21 million Sikhs worldwide, almost two million live outside of India. They are scattered in most of the western countries, Europe, the Far East and East African countries but with the biggest concentration, almost 350,000, in Britain.

Although Sikhs form only 2 percent of the Indian population, Sikhs in Britain represent almost a third the Indian migrant communities. Sikhs came to the United Kingdom as part of the general influx of Commonwealth migrants: West Indians from the Caribbean Islands, Bengalis from Bangladesh, Kashmiri and Punjabi Muslims from Pakistan, Gujaratis and Sikhs from India. The largest influx started in the late 1950s and peaked in the 1960s, but the relationship between the Sikhs and the British has established itself over the last two centuries.

The United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association (www.ukpha.org) is proud to present this exhibition which we hope will work towards UKPHA’s wider goal of challenging stereotypes and promoting diversity and cohesion. This exhibition is to be serialised through Punjab Heritage News before being launched formally in September 2007.

The exhibition is arranged across eight sections with 24 informative illustrated panels in total. Each week, Punjab Heritage News will present part of the exhibition, starting with the opening piece of the 'Court of Lahore' section.

Section 1 : The Court of Lahore (1801-1845) Ranjit Singh
A contemporary of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), the one-eyed Lion of Punjab (1780-1839) rose with amazing rapidity from being one of the youngest and least powerful of the Sikh chieftains to becoming the outright ruler of Punjab in 1801 at just 21 years of age.

Early on in his political career, Ranjit Singh signed two treaties with the British who were also expanding their Indian territories under their trading arm, the Honourable East India Company. In 1806, the first treaty established the Satluj River as the southern border of his ever-increasing kingdom with that of British India. Three years later, the treaty of Amritsar was signed, which formally recognised peace and friendship with the British.

British visitors to Lahore universally admired Ranjit Singh’s qualities and power. Many of the recorded observations speak of the Splendour of his carefully developed Khalsa army, his keen piercing mind, his simple manners, and his never having killed in cold-blood unlike so many other rulers of the day.

Ranjit Singh was able to rise above the communal prejudices of his times and treated all his subjects on an equal footing. Competent persons from all faiths—Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian—occupied high positions in the court and army of the Maharaja. He was able to do what no other Indian ruler had done before by making the common Punjabi realise that being a Punjabi was, in many ways, more important than being just a Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Christian.

This engraving, which shows the Maharaja on horseback with attendant and a suite of horsemen, was based on a painting by Alfred Dedreux (1810-60), a French artist well known for his equestrian paintings. Ranjit Singh’s Italian officer, General Ventura (1794-1858) commissioned the painting while he was on leave in France. It was gifted in 1838 to King Louis-Philippe (1773-1850) and now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

We invite interested parties to exhibit and tour this exciting new resource in their local communities. The exhibition will be available free of charge as a professional, print-ready pdf file.
We are grateful to the institutions and private collections from which the images have been sourced. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Community Development Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund for their support in bringing this project to fruition. 

About UKPHA 
The UK Punjab Heritage Association (“UKPHA”) is a non-profit voluntary organisation based in Greater London. The Association was founded in 2001 to foster the appreciation of the Punjabi heritage in Britain and encourage the preservation of endangered items of the Punjabi material heritage.