story which began three years ago when iset out on an unexpected journey into a little-known . of indian history it all started with the auction of whati believe to be an insignificant painting it was a sale which took me bycomplete surprise i was commissioned to undertake housesale big dr. state lurking behind this very large covered as move out wherethese india watercolors they were painting the court bi of davinder tourone of the country's most prolific collectors of sikh antiques i was just blown away having i've neverseen anything like this for sale only
ever seen in museums by for the five ithought it might make a thousand feeding began and 500 went to 67 i soon startedto gather momentum 11,000 on the phone 12,000 back in the marquis we hadinternet bidding from india as well i mean it was just crazy the otherchaplains compete against he was waving of every x time it was this great fight13,000 14,000 15,000 eventually 20,000 pounds it's your turn it over and said to meetits old it's also a man who clearly knows a bit more about this painting andi do it was a huge price for a very small water everybody in the ground andonline it was some things that i wasn't
expected i'm something that made me think whyit's not the sort of thing that happens every day ever since that i've beenintrigued to learn more about the painting and the history behind it it'sa fascinating tale of a lost empire a seat kingdom which had at its heart oneof the greatest treasure collections the world has ever seen and in this film i'm going to track downthese forgotten wonders from secret faults to some of the greatest museumcollections in the world the most famous objects in the victoria and albertmuseum in the week when nearly 24
million seats celebrate the birth oftheir founder crewneck i'll discover that not only are the objects of greatvalue but works of art which have the traditions and beliefs of the sikh faithraven into the very fabric of that it's here in the british library that myjourney begins the fascinating but little-known document dating from the19th century what we have here is the originalhandwritten inventory made by the secretary the british governor-generalof india in 18-49 dr. logan and water lists is truly breathtaking this jewelry set with priceless stoneshandcrafted weapons and even what was
believed to be the largest diamond inthe world i've been an auctioneer for over 20years cataloging and valuing some amazingobjects but nothing compares to this it is quite extraordinarily thisincredible list gives us a glimpse into one of the greatest treasure collectionsin history it was made at a time when the british and just conquered thepunjab in northern india and dr. logan's task was to catalog for sale every itemin the personal treasury of the man who once been his ruler his name was maharaja ranjit singh andhe was one of the most charismatic and
successful leaders in sikh history andcreator of the greatest kingdom they'd ever know collection of treasures was not onlyvast so invaluable money generate i say had an impact the future fortunes of theentire british empire these enigmatic treasures are nowscattered across britain and i won't see them for myself so i'm starting byheading to a secret location to meet the collector have been treating paintingthat garbage yourself this is where i keep all my collection been collectingfor about 18 years now and i start plating just armed i collect everythingrelated to the sikhs and the punjab
defender is a british seek passionatelycollect incredible objects all from a very particular time in sikh history ilove beautiful things a lot of beautiful objects and and those objects thatcontain some history for me it's just like time travel is nearest i can get tovisiting 19th century punjab so it's a bit like my little time capsule i don't like an icy welcome thank you well then i've got my note where tobegin ya gotta feeling you might like to see this us thought you might oh how lovely go as you for so much forthat i did i did yeah it was tough
competition there were but here is i'mvery glad indeed you can you tell me more please do falseness a mid-level19th century watercolor and would have been painted by local punjabi artistsbut commissioned by the british just after the british take punjab 18-49 andin this painting we see this group of sikh warriors called the godly the mpimmortals on their way traveling with all their belongingsthey've got these repairs and the scabbards of their swords is emaciatedforce bases sounds a misleader who's got gold plates on his turban and now all hehas left is this aesthetic tweaked for for a switch and we go down south ofindia to safeguard the traditional
typically know they're going to be lostif they stay in europe they look to feature today that's right glasses really got theatmosphere absolutely what's happening absolutelydefenders painting marks the end of a golden era concede history but he hasanother two reveals the beginning it's the single most valuable item heowns it goes back to a . 10 years before that . image of the sling ockley to anage in which the sikhs were at the height of their political and militarypower i time when the quarter ranjit's singhwas the most splendid in the whole of
india ok this is one of my prized possessionsquality of that work is so did you have to fight as hard for that one as you didfor mine little bit harder really had no cost me $money cost me six figures inthe end it's a painting of ginseng in his the ball in his court setting is alittle fort the whole northwest india and pakistan previously the capital ofpunjab and you can get a lot of information out this picture so you gotthis wonderful in architectural information that inlaid marble stone youalso have all of brandy sings courtiers here assembled in in rank order each ofthem with their wonderful kashmir shoals
and tournaments and feathers in theirterms so what kind of man was injured saying if we go back to the 18th centurywhen you have been juicing with a young boy he became the head of his client andwork 12 clans of 12c clans that rolled punjab and his cameras actually won thesmallest his father died when he was very young he became the leader he ledhis army into battle at the age of 12 by the age of 19 he did manage toconsolidate the punjab overwhelming the other clan leaders from both conquestanswer marriage alliance maharaja ranjit singh was the founder ofa/c kingdom stretching from afghanistan to china which he ruled for threedecades
and through his a student leadershipcompletely transformed the fortunes of the sikhs so engines sing becomes themaharaja of the entire punjab that does his wealth come from internal sources oraccidentally there's some internal wealth in the sense that he is a clanleader but predominantly will come through conquest in addition to that wealso have angie seeing as this is a great patient of the arts for exampleyou see reggie's in your seat in the center of this picture something onthese golden throat yes he commissioned there after conquering more time withthe region now in pakistan and that was made by a local attorney artist thegolden throne frank's sing just a piece
of furniture it was his ceremonial seat of state andunlike many of his other treasures it wasn't auctioned off to raise money forthe british instead it was shipped back to england in 1853 and it survives tothis day at the victoria and albert museum fantastic is that it is it is it's oneof one of the most famous and greatest treasures in the vna it was made forrandy singh probably made in the hole and it's it just says everything aboutthe power of the man of of the empire the importance of the punjab at thattime it's very small isn't it it's very
small yes but it's got tremendouspresence even though it's not a huge object but he was actually rather rathera small man and when visitors came from abroad met him they without exception were disappointedbecause they thought he looked like a little old mouth and was usually veryvery plainly dressed so to have something so opulent it's certainlywhere to send a message to visitors it yes but this throne wasn't just a statussymbol ranges things choice of designer was a statement of the sikh ideals whichlay at the heart kingdom is recorded
that it was made by a muslim craftsmancalled half is mohammed al thani and the fact that he was a muslim justunderlines the hybrid nature of the empire to see it was a sikh empire butseeks actually in a minority so the ranch dressing was ruling an empirewhere hindus were in the majority and there were more muslims and sikhs andthey were all equally able to rise to the top within the court hierarchy onmerit and that reflects almost certainly the teachings of the founder of sikhismguru nanak said there is no hindu there is no muslim meaning that everybody inreligious terms was absolutely equal yeah
the golden throne demonstration grantedsing skill as a leader and seek principles forged religious unity and itwas also work of such opulence that it could only have been created by a manwho money was no object manjit singh was clearly a prolificpages of the arts but that wasn't the only way in which he shared his wealthand his power amongst the treasures listed in opens inventories one categoryin particular stands out weaponry it's not something usually associatedwith religion but for the sikhs military press has always been at the heart offaith i've traveled to the royal armouries inleeds find out more
their keeper of armor is tom richardsand he's taking me to one of the parts of the museum hidden from the publicgaze the weapons store a vast room packed with arms from every age goodbest so i also want to have the treasure houses of arms and armor and in theunited kingdom is one of our study collections and we've got some of thepieces out here that actually come from the treasury of range of seeing inlahore and because we can trace some of those pieces back to that 19th centuryprovidence we can actually now say that this matchlock musket robin just beingan indian matchlock musket actually we think the long-term changes sing andwhat goes with this matchlock gun also
ash of the treasury is the belt withpowder flask coaches football it's all covered in velvet and in beautifullyembroidered have seemed very poor examples coming up for sayingoccasionally it in the auction rooms but that is just fantastic it is it's amurder not only is it fantastic as a work ofart if you like but we can identify this as range it seems own one else wasrunning a beautiful example of the type these incredible objects reflect themight and prestige of a maharajah is military prowess is legendary and therewas a reason why his forces were so successful at the heart of his army witha fearsome carly's highly trained
warrior seeks for hundreds of years haddefended the seat people against their enemies the militarism of the seatsreally goes right back to the 17th century when are the are carly's areappear and objects like this show that ancient seek heritage this is a whiteturban of the akalis and the coins the disks on it all for decoration these are deadly weapons these are steelsharp and throwing quotes chakram which are characteristic weapon of the punjabrelease the 16th century onwards and because our job james bond have to saythat makes me very city but it's the same principle isn't it the shop and topshop and bowler hat absolutely the same
thing and one can't help feeling thatfleming may have been inspired by something from the punjab his inventionof our jobs over here so you know it's a weapons system on a terber and it'samazing things being worn by our soldiers who are fighting on the modernbattlefield with lock muskets with artillery it's an incredible story ofusing the best of the ancient world and the best of the modern world that makesthe sikh state under and just seeing what it became a real vision wouldadjust granted sings armies were renowned asformidable fighters but there was another factor behind his militarytriumph here at the world chelsea
hospital in london is a remnant of asikh artillery force that was the envy even of the british amongst this amazingcollection of cannon here we've got to that have particular relevance to runjust saying every way that's right yes indeed saying lovedartillery and when he started off with his military career he had 23 which wereinherited from his father and figure that had captured but he saw the britishyou know just across the border and you need to organize his army very quicklyso from that modest collection he grew his arsenal to almost about 800 cannonsbut randy its power and military success awesome to last in 1839 the greatestmaharaja in sikh history died and
without his charisma and force ofpersonality be incredible empire successfully built began to implode so tell me how did these cameron end uphere okay well after angie sink died therewas a period of about seven years when there's a lot of turbulence nobodyreally at lahore to actually take over the state and run it in in the same waythat ranjit singh did the army had become almost the kingmakers if you likeoff lahore and the law government in an effort to get them away from lahore getthem away from involvement with the politics decided to to essentially havea war with the british really just to
occupy the army and watery the board ok well the border was only 30 40 milesaway and there's a little bit of saber-rattling from the the british aswell at that stage so that resulted in two wars and these are part of the gunsthat are actually captured booty if you like that was captured during that time in 18-49 after four years of bloodybattles that dominated the punjab british victorious sikh kingdom andginseng had fought so hard to create his annex dr. logan began his vast infantrythe maharajah's treasures for sale to fund the british imperial machine butamongst the riches logan listed there
was one jewel that was never destinedfor your traps it was the legendary kohinoor diamond believed to be thelargest in the world and now sit into one of the most important of all thebritish crown jewels some valuable was it thengovernor-general of india lord l house ii gave it to queen victoria as apersonal gift its fate once in the hands of thebritish summed up the attitude of the imperialists to those that theyconquered it also marked the end of the greatest see kingdom of all time on the first of may 1851 britain was ina state of the feverish anticipation
the trains roads highways but of peoplefrom all over the country with one destination in mind hi park london all heading into the openone of the greatest spectaculars the practice ever seen it was known as thegreat exhibition opened by queen victoria and pioneered by her husbandprince albert it was a showcase for the best of the british empire and the centerpiece of this extravaganzawas the celebrated kohinoor diamond lent by queen victoria herself and the singlemost valuable of all the wonders to come from the treasury of vengeance see whatother than being bored at the stones
great beauty the reaction of the generalpublic was one of disappointment the problem was the indian style of cartmeant the jewels and glitter quite as brightly as expected the press rose thati'm viewing the state although the crowd to heat their heart was crushed as thatbinds prince albert took criticism as apersonal slight against his wife and so commissioned the diamond to be recappedaccording to western tastes into a shape which will guarantee sparkle it was adecision that caused an hour in 1850 to the diamond faced its fatestonecutters were brought over from amsterdam and a steam engine set up inthe strap but the cutting process proved
to be anything but straightforward thehardness of a facet of the diamond cause it to become so hot that it melted theputer in which the stone was held threatening the implosion of the diamonditself it looked like disaster the jewel did survive but a tragic cost after 38days and 8,000 pounds forty-three percent of this incrediblestone is now nothing more than dust today the current all can be found inthe tower of london it's now set into the crown of queen alexandra worn by the queen mother and displayedon her coffin at the funeral we asked boil permission to film thediamond but sadly we were turned down
due to it's sanctity and ceremonialsignificance i wanna clearly when you think prince albert almost destroyed itsimply to make it more fashionable but there is one jew of random thingskingdom that managed to escape the imperial grasp the treasure to survivesintact to this day something the british couldn't dismantle something that thebritish couldn't take to a museum and is a treasure that lies at the heart of thesikh faith even today ranjit singh's renovation of the hurryasst seek good were in the world well defender has some of the earliestphotos of the temple ever taken these photographs were taken you by an italianphotographers a naturalised british
fleet apr 2015 i've sold photographs bybefore they are just fantastic quality on these are among this is the secondearliest photographs ever taken of the golden temper so they really do show thetemple at its peak and we can understand from these images that many ways thatthe temple is one of the lasting legacies of ngc one of those realtreasures because anything showered patent on the temple he been beautifiedthat temple companies and copper and gold stitching an idea of how splendidmust look so what was it like before we started his work prior today will justbe a sandstone limestone structure quite plain database the original buildingunderneath dates back to 1765 just a
very plain stone the golden temple has been the focus ofintense religious devotion as well as political conflict for the past fourcenturies but it was during the reign of ranjit's saying that this iconicbuilding came to look as it does today of all this maharaja's incredibleobjects this temple remains his lasting legacy my journey to find the treasures of thisdazzling see kingdom is almost at an end but i still got one last question fordavinder why are you prepared to spend so much time so much effort and so muchmoney in this passion of yours collect
i'm on a voyage of self-discovery reallylove british seek brought up in britain but had this wonderful connection withmy ancestral home in punjab and i want to learn about their old customs andtraditions that essentially make me who i am the the objects they tell mewonderful stories and let me learn about myself and then i will continue tocollect as long as i can like consider myself a temporary custodian really i'mthe vehicle by which these wonderful objects come together and try to me theyexisted and there will exist laughter i've gone there they were notintrinsic value but they're invaluable in terms of relocating for our people interms of the information they have and
that story desperately needs to be toldseek story and because it's a real danger that will just disappear and nowwe'll never know well i've got a strange feeling but aslong as you keep collecting keep finding these treasures i don't think the story will die it'sbeen an absolute pleasure i've learned so much shit i can't really believe that the sale ofa tiny watercolor three years ago would have taken me such an amazing journeyi've been to some wonderful places let some incredible people but also seensome real treasures but most of all is
left me with an admiration of randomthings see kingdom and all that it stood for i do hope that the vendor
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