He was an Indian prince who led an extravagant life with Britain's aristocracy, but ultimately died penniless and alone.

But a London auction house was left stunned after a Victorian bust of one of East Anglia's most famous historical figures went under the hammer for £1.7m - 68 times its estimate.

The rare and almost forgotten effigy of the Maharajah Duleep Singh, who lived at Elveden Hall, near Thetford, had been given a £25,000 to £35,000 price tag by prestigious auctioneers Bonhams.

But its New Bond Street auction house was left buzzing after the white marble bust of Britain's first Sikh settler passed the million mark.

Julian Roup, of Bonhams, said there was “unprecedented” interest in the statue of the Sikh hero, who was the last Maharajah of the Punjab and owner of the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond.

“It was one of those auctions where people were in disbelief and were holding their breaths. We had a lot of interest from the subcontinent and people were asking to be photographed standing alongside the historic figure, which shows the devotional aspect of this.”

“We were surprised when it went past the half a million mark. When the hammer fell, cheers broke out. It is one of the best prices we have had this year,” he said.

Indian heritage groups had written to Sikhs across the world, including Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to buy the 150-year-old bust for a museum in Amritsar.

But after a tug of war between nine bidders at the Bonhams Indian and Islamic sale, a UK private buyer spent £1.7m in a few minutes to keep the sought-after lot in Duleep Singh's adopted country.

The sculpture of the Maharajah wearing a turban, kaftan and pearl necklace, was made by renowned Royal Academician John Gibson, in Rome, between 1859 and 1860. It was valued at £5 in 1926 following the death of his second son Prince Frederick, who had kept the bust at his Blo Norton Hall home, near Diss.

It was sold again at Sotheby's in 1985 for £4,200, and had belonged to a London-based “lady of title” until yesterday.

The mystery former owner said after the auction: “I suppose what has happened here today shows that you cannot put a price on history.”

Maharajah Duleep Singh was born in 1838 and was son of the legendary Lion of the Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who carved out a kingdom, which is now split between India and Pakistan. At the age of 11, the young ruler of the Punjab was removed from his kingdom and the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond by the British East India Company after the Anglo Sikh Wars and exiled to Britain.

In his adult life, Duleep led the extravagant life of an Indian prince associating with the cream of Victorian society and enjoyed hunting parties with the Prince of Wales. He became a favourite of Queen Victoria, who described him as “extremely handsome with a graceful and dignified manner.”

In 1863 he bought Elveden Hall - now owned by Lord and Lady Iveagh of the Guinness family - and its 17,000 acre estate for £105,000 where he and his wife Bamba Muller brought up their six children. He died alone in Paris in 1893 after becoming involved in nationalist policies in India and was buried at Elveden church.

Hundreds of Sikhs still pay an annual pilgrimage to his tomb and his bronze statue at Butten Island, Thetford.