July

VENCESLAS VICTOR JACQUEMONT du DONJON

‘Alias Jakman Sahib Bahadur’

1801-1832

Traveller and Naturalist in the Sikh Kingdom

During his youth Victor studied at the ‘Lycee Imperial’ before entering the College of France to study scientific studies in chemistry in 1817. In 1822, he entered a course in medicine at the ‘Faculty of Medicine’ whilst being employed at the ‘Jardin des Plantes’ in Paris. Then he received an invitation from the director of the ‘Natural History Museum’ to undertake a scientific survey of the Himalayas in India.

In May 1829, he arrived at Calcutta where he was received by the Governor General Lord William Bentinck. After a brief stay with the Maharaja of Patiala he arrived at the British outpost of Ludhiana on the banks of the Sutlej River in 1831. Here he was escorted by General Allard’s troops across the Anglo Sikh frontier and was later received by General’s Court & Ventura on the outskirts of Lahore.

He was entertained in the Sikh capital by General’s Allard and Ventura with all its pomp and glory. The Maharajah gave him permission to travel within his dominion who continued his travels to the salt mines accompanied by Raja Gulab Singh. Victor compiled descriptive information on the flora & fauna of Kashmir including the geological exploration of the region and collected thousands of plants and specimens seen as a scientific challenge.

Although Victor Jacquemont never served the ‘Lahore Durbar’ he was respectively known as ‘Jakman Sahib Bahadur’ and described the Maharajah who he met on several occasions as a miniature version of Napoleon Bonaparte who possessed equal similarities. He was an astute observer describing vividly the Sikh Kingdom under Maharajah Runjeet Singh as the best cultivated land of northern India.

IMAGE AN CAPTIONS

169: Victor Jacquemont du Jonjon.

170: Joseph Frederic Jacquemont (1799–1846) – Elder brother of Victor

Jacquemont.

171: Frederic Francois (1757-1836) - Father of Victor who died four years after his son.

172: Epitaph of Victor’s tomb in Paris.

173: Entrance to Victor Jacquemont’s tomb in Paris.

174: Commemorative statue of Victor Jacquemont outside city hall in Paris.

175: Commemorative coin issued in France showing Victor’s Indian journey.

176: Jean Norbert Jacquemont – descendant of Victor living in France.