The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia

The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia
Author: Sarbpreet Singh
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2023-06-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 935708133X

In 1801 the young scion of a petty fiefdom in the Punjab was invested with the title of Maharaja of Punjab. The young man whose name was Ranjit Singh went on to carve out a kingdom for himself that stretched from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to the boundaries of the British Raj in the east. It included the lush hills and valleys of Kashmir the barren mountains of Ladakh and the fertile plains of his native Punjab. The British valued him as an ally who would keep their western frontier safe and while they coveted his kingdom they did not dare to engage in military adventures in Punjab during his lifetime. The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia is an examination of Ranjit Singh and his times that focuses on a wide array of characters that populated his court. All these stories combine to present a nuanced and complex image of Maharaja Ranjit Singh through his interactions with these characters. The work humanises Maharaja Ranjit Singh and presents him as the brilliant man he clearly was without attempting to gloss over his flaws and foibles.

Royals and Rebels

Royals and Rebels
Author: Priya Atwal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2021-01-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0197566944

In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the queens and princes to the story of this empire's spectacular rise and fall. She brings to life a self-made ruling family, inventively fusing Sikh, Mughal and European ideas of power, but eventually succumbing to gendered family politics, as the Sikh Empire fell to its great rival in the new India: the British. Royals and Rebels is a fascinating tale of family, royalty and the fluidity of power, set in a dramatic global era when new stars rose and upstart empires clashed.

Empire of the Sikhs

Empire of the Sikhs
Author: Patwant Singh
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2013-08-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0720615240

The definitive biography of Ranjit Singh, contemporary of Napoleon and one of the most powerful and charismatic Indian rulers of his ageRanjit Singh has been largely written out of accounts of the subcontinent's past by recent Western historians, yet he had an impact that lasts to this day. He unified the warring chiefdoms of the Punjab into an extraordinary northern Empire of the Sikhs, built up a formidable modern 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. Unique among empire builders, he was humane and just, gave employment to defeated foes, honored religious faiths other than his own, and included Hindus and Muslims among his ministers. In person he was a colorful character whose his court was renowned for its splendor; he had 20 wives, kept a regiment of "Amazons," and possessed a stable of thousands of horses. The authors make use of a variety of eyewitness accounts from Indian and European sources, from reports of Maratha spies at the Lahore Durbar to British parliamentary papers and travel accounts. The story includes the range of the maharaja's military achievements and ends with an account of the controversial period of the Anglo-Sikh Wars following his death, which saw the fall of his empire while in the hands of his successors.

Ranjit Singh

Ranjit Singh
Author: Khushwant Singh
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2009-03-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780143065432

The Classic Biography Of One Of India&Rsquo;S Greatest Rulers Ranjit Singh Was In Every Way As Remarkable A Man As His Contemporaries, Napoleon And Mohammed Ali. From The Status Of Petty Chieftain He Rose To Become The Most Powerful Indian Ruler Of His Time. His Empire Extended From Tibet To The Deserts Of Sindh And From The Khyber Pass To The Sutlej. His Army Was One Of The Most Powerful Of The Time In Asia And Was The First Indian Force In A Thousand Years To Stem The Tides Of Invasion From The North-West Frontiers Of Hindustan. This Is The First Detailed Biography Of The First And Only Sikh Ruler Of The Punjab By A Sikh Writer Who Has Devoted Many Years Of His Life To Research On Sikh History. In This Classic Work Khushwant Singh Presents Ranjit Singh As He Really Was. Based On Persian, Punjabi And English Sources And Drawing Upon The Diaries And Accounts Of European Travellers Like Moorcroft, Sir Alexander Burne, Masson, Fane And Emily Eden, This Is A Memorable Account Of The Pageantry And Brilliance Of The Sikh Kingdom At The Height Of Its Power, And A Lively Portrait Of One Of The Most Colourful Characters In Indian History. &Nbsp;

The Last Queen

The Last Queen
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0063161885

WINNER of the 2022 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN AWARD for BEST FICTION OF THE YEAR! LONGLISTED for 2022 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD! She rose from commoner to become the last reigning queen of India’s Sikh Empire. In this dazzling novel, based on true-life events, bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni presents the unforgettable story of Jindan, who transformed herself from daughter of the royal kennel keeper to powerful monarch. Sharp-eyed, stubborn, and passionate, Jindan was known for her beauty. When she caught the eye of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, she was elevated to royalty, becoming his youngest and last queen—and his favorite. And when her son, barely six years old, unexpectedly inherited the throne, Jindan assumed the regency. She transformed herself from pampered wife to warrior ruler, determined to protect her people and her son’s birthright from the encroaching British Empire. Defying tradition, she stepped out of the zenana, cast aside the veil, and conducted state business in public, inspiring her subjects in two wars. Her power and influence were so formidable that the British, fearing an uprising, robbed the rebel queen of everything she had, but nothing crushed her indomitable will. An exquisite love story of a king and a commoner, a cautionary tale about loyalty and betrayal, a powerful parable of the indestructible bond between mother and child, and an inspiration for our times, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings alive one of the most fearless women of the nineteenth century, one whose story cries out to be told.

Kashmir Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Kashmir Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Author: C. Baron V. Hugel
Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Dist
Total Pages: 138
Release: 1984
Genre:
ISBN: 9788171560943

This Work Is An English Version Of A Part Of The Travel Account Of German Scholar Mr Charles Baron, Von Hugel Who Visited The World Famous Charming Valley Of Kashmir During The Reign Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, The Lion Of The Punjab. This Travel Account Is The Most Important Source Material For The History Of Kashmir Under The Sikh Rule. Unfortunately It Remained Unnoticed By The Research Scholars As It Was Not Available In English. This Transla¬Tion Has Been Made More Meaningful By Providing Exhaustive And Annotated Biblio¬Graphical Notes At The End Of Every Chapter. These Notes Have Been Borrowed From The Works Of The Contemporary Authors To Supplement This Work.The Appendixes Annexed To This Book At The End Include Some Of The Important Documents Dealing With The Industrial Out¬Put Of Kashmir And The Burden Of Taxation To Which The Kashmiri-Traders, Artists And Cultivators Were Liable During The Rule Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Lions Firanghis

The Lions Firanghis
Author: Bobby Singh Bansal
Publisher: Coronet House Publishing Limited
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2010
Genre: Mercenary troops
ISBN: 9780956127013

Koh-i-Noor

Koh-i-Noor
Author: William Dalrymple
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2017-09-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1635570778

From the internationally acclaimed and bestselling historians William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, the first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, arguably the most celebrated jewel in the world. On March 29, 1849, the ten-year-old leader of the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the center of the British fort in Lahore, India. There, in a formal Act of Submission, the frightened but dignified child handed over to the British East India Company swathes of the richest land in India and the single most valuable object in the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond, otherwise known as the Mountain of Light. To celebrate the acquisition, the British East India Company commissioned a history of the diamond woven together from the gossip of the Delhi Bazaars. From that moment forward, the Koh-i-Noor became the most famous and mythological diamond in history, with thousands of people coming to see it at the 1851 Great Exhibition and still more thousands repeating the largely fictitious account of its passage through history. Using original eyewitness accounts and chronicles never before translated into English, Dalrymple and Anand trace the true history of the diamond and disperse the myths and fantastic tales that have long surrounded this awe-inspiring jewel. The resulting history of south and central Asia tells a true tale of greed, conquest, murder, torture, colonialism, and appropriation that shaped a continent and the Koh-i-Noor itself.