Rajah Karam Singh of Patiala (reg. 1813-45) enthroned on a terrace beneath a canopy, with a courtier before him, an attendant behind waving a morchal

Punjab, Patiala, circa 1820-30

Footnotes

Provenance
Private UK collection until 2012.
Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 14th June 2012, lot 302.


For another portrayal of Raja Karam Singh receiving a minister, see Sotheby's, The Sven Gahlin Collection, 6th October 2015, lot 84; for another portrayal, see Christie's, Islamic Art, Indian Miniatures, Rugs and Carpets, 23rd & 25th April 1991, lot 32.

After Lahore lost its importance as a centre of power and patronage, following the death of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, Patiala became probably the most important kingdom within the Punjab. Rajah Karam Singh was fourth in the line of descent from the kingdom's founder, and his reign was marked by a period of relative peace after the internecine strife amongst the Sikhs. For another portrayal of Karam Singh, this time with his son in an interior, see S. Stronge (ed.), The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, London 1999, p. 165, fig. 188; and see also pp. 165-170 for a discussion of the kingdom of Patiala.

Karam Singh (1798–1845) was fourth in line from the founder of the Phulkian clan, and his principality, Patiala, was the most prominent of the major cis-Satluj states (the other two being Jind and Nabha), all of whom shared a common seventeenth-century ancestor named Phul. In 1809, these Phulkian states accepted British suzerainty rather than risk being consumed by Ranjit Singh's ever-expanding empire. The treaty left them absolute in their own territories, exempting them from tribute but requiring their assistance and co-operation in the defence of their own country. Above all, the British Government, as opposed to any Sikh authority, was to be regarded as the paramount power.

Karam Singh ascended to the throne at the age of fourteen and soon after proved helpful to the British in the Anglo-Nepal war of 1814–15. As reward for his services he received a large tract of the Himalayan foothills below Simla.

At the commencement of the First Anglo-Sikh War, Karam Singh initially helped the British by securing vital supplies and safeguarding Ludhiana, the northern-most military base in British India. In a dramatic development, he was accused of treachery and hung by his 'protectors' on 22 December 1845, the day after the crucial battle of Ferozeshah. He had been found to be corresponding with the enemy while his troops protected Ludhiana. Karam Singh's son, Narinder Singh (1824–1862) succeeded his murdered father. Fortunately for the British, he was even better disposed towards them than his father and would prove to be one of their most loyal Indian vassals.