June

There have been many paintings and artwork depicting Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but after researching his life I found that most of these do not portray him accurately. He had suffered from smallpox when he was younger, which left him blind in one eye and his skin full of pockmarks. Further, like many other great military leaders from history, like Napoleon, he was described as being small in stature but is normally painted as quite big and large.

This portrait of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was intended to be a more accurate portrait of the man. His skin is full of pock marks and his eye is clearly damaged from small pox. The jewellery on his head and neck are also quite accurate, as I replicated them from a painting that had been done during his lifetime.

The second drawing of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is one of him with his generals. This was to show the uniqueness of his court. Although his rule was called the Khalsa Raj, the name of the Sikh warriors, it was actually a 'secular' and equitable state. There were people from all religions and backgrounds in his cabinet. Fakir Azizuddin, who wielded great power in his cabinet, was a living example of his secular credentials.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a mighty army, well-trained by French and other European generals, with soldiers and generals from all races and religions. It was quite formidable, even for the powerful British forces, and the British rulers dared not attack the Punjab during his lifetime.

This drawing has his two most well known Sikh generals Hari Singh Nalwa (right) and Akali Phulla Singh (back left), and two of his most favoured European generals, the French Jean Francois Allard (left) and the other Italian Jean Baptiste Ventura (back right).

These two drawings of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were drawn specifically for the 2015 Sikhlens: Sikh Arts and Film Festival exhibition titled, 'The Last King: Harmony in Interfaith.'