Maharaja Ranjit Singh in a bazaar

Gouache on paper.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r.1801-1839), the charismatic Sikh leader, rides an elephant through a Lahore bazaar. In the foreground Hindu ascetics converse with a yellow-clad Akali Sikh and a Jain monk wearing a mouth-cloth to protect any insects from harm. Behind, craftsmen fashion gold and silver thread, while a father and sons admire kites and balls of twine in a kite-seller’s shop. This scene of bazaar life may have been painted for a French officer at the Sikh court.

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