June

Maharaja Dhuleep Singh was the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who established the the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab and last ruler of the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab which was annexed by the British in 1849. The terms upon which seven year old Dhuleep Singh had been required to surrender all right, title, and claim to the sovereignty of Punjab were as follows: "that the property of the State should be confiscated to the Honorable East India Company; that the gem called the Koh-i-Noor should be surrendered to the Queen of England; and that his Highness [Dhuleep Singh] should receive an annual pension of four lacs [four hundred thousand] rupees, for the support of himself and his relatives, conditionally on remaining obedient to the British Government and residing at such place as the Governor General of India might select."

In 1854 Maharaja Dhuleep Singh (by now 15 years old and converted to Christianity whilst separated from his family and community) was deported to England where he became close to the Royal household of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Isolated from his roots and all vestiges of his former life, he adopted the life style, habits and dress of the English gentleman. Before long he became a much sought out star of London’s high society. This engraving shows "His Royal Highness" in his early twenties, having just "recently become of full age."

It was a brief re-union with his mother in later adult life that informed him of his history and heritage and inspired him to re-convert to Sikhism. This caused great distress to the British government who conspired with powers within the Raj to thwart his every attempt to return to his homeland. To exert pressure on him, his pension was first reduced, then stopped altogether - in direct contravention of the terms of the treaties of annexation. Dejected and broken, Dhuleep Singh settled in Paris where he died, ill and lonely, on October 22, 1893. His body was hastily claimed by the British authorities, who whisked it away to Thetford in Suffolk County where, despite his reconversion to Sikhism, it was given a Christian burial on the grounds of his Estate, Elvedon Hall.