July

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 Generals Court and Ventura on the outskirts of Lahore. Here he was entertained in the Sikh capital by Generals Allard and Ventura with pomp and lavishness. The Maharaja gave him permission to travel within his dominion and he continued with his travels to the salt mines accompanied by Raja Gulab Singh. Victor compiled descriptive information on the flora and fauna of Kashmir, seen as a scientific challenge including the geological exploration of Kashmir and collected thousands of plants and specimens of the region. Although Victor Jacquemont never served the Lahore Durbar he was known as ‘Jakman Sahib Bahadur’ and described the Maharaja, who he met on several occasions, as a miniature version of Napoleon Bonaparte possessing similar qualities. He was an astute observer describing vividly the Sikh Kingdom under Maharaja Ranjit Singh as the best cultivated land of northern India.