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Home » Books at SAFF 2009 » EMPIRE of the SIKHS: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh |
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Four Books to be Launched at SAFF 2009 |
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EMPIRE of the SIKHS: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
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| By Patwant Singh & Jyoti M. Rai |
 Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) has been largely written out of accounts of India's past by British historians. Yet he was one of the most powerful and charismatic figures in Indian history. He unified the warring chiefdoms of the Punjab into an extraordinary northern empire stretching the borders of Kabul and Tibet, built up a formidable army, kept the British in check to the south of his realm, and closed the Khyber Pass through which plunderers had for centuries poured into India. His role provided the north with a political and cultural landscape more integrated and relaxed than any to be found elsewhere in the subcontinent before or since.
Singh's consummate humanity was unique among empire-builders. He gave employment to defeated foes, honoured faiths other than his own, and included Hindus and Muslims among his ministers. He was a colourful character. Inspired by the principles of peaceful coexistence uniquely articulated by the Sikh Gurus and firm in upholding the rights of others, he was unabashed in exercising his own. His court was reknowned for its splendour; he had around twenty wives, kept a regiment of 'Amazons' and possessed a stable of thousands of horses. On ceremonial occasions he would wear the Koh-i-noor.
The authors of this first full-length biography in English make use of a variety of eye-witness accounts, from reports by Maratha spies at the Lahore Durbar to British parliamentary papers and travel accounts. The story ends with the controversial Anglo-Sikh Wars following Ranjit's death, which saw the fall of his empire in the hands of his successors whose internecine conflict was exploited by the British.
The 300th anniversary of the consecration of the Sikh holy scriptures with which the publication of this book coincides is a fitting moment for a long overdue appraisal of a figure who contributed so much to Sikh history and made Amritsar's Golden Temple one of the greatest religious pilgrimage sites in the world.
'Empire of the Sikhs tells a fascinating story of humanity in an age of inhumanity.'- Indarjit Singh
'This book breaks through the barriers between the Sikh world and beyond.' - Antony Wood
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| ABOUT THE AUTHORS |
Patwant Singh:
Patwant Singh has contributed to Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as an author. PATWANT SINGH, one of India's leading writers, is well known both in and outside India for his books and articles on India, international and cultural affairs and the environment. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Canada's Globe and Mail, the UK's Independent, and elsewhere. PATWANT SINGH lives in Delhi. His most recent books include Of Dreams and Demons: An Indian Memoir (1994), The Sikhs (1999), The World According to Washington: An Asian View (2004) and The Second Partition: Fault-Lines in India’s Democracy (2007).
Jyoti M. Roy:
Jyoti M. Roywas educated in London and New Delhi. She lived and worked in New York from 1980 to 2000, most of the time at the American Numismatic Society, assessing, cataloguing and researching its collection of South Asian coins. She possesses an important personal collection of Sikh coins with related rare books and documents. |
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