Footnotes

• The inscription reads Akal Sahai, Maha Singh, Samvat 18...
  
  Sardar Mahan Singh (1760-1790), the father of Ranjit Singh, was chieftain of one of the smaller Sikh misls or confederacies, the Sukarchakia. Mahan Singh's father died when he was a child and the misl was ruled in his stead by regents until he was fourteen. The territory he controlled and his power grew by a series of military successes, in particular his occupation of Rasulnagar (renamed Ramnagar), after which many of the other misls transferred their allegiance to him. In 1787 Colonel James Browne estimated his standing army at fifteen thousand horse and five thousand infantry. Im 1774 he married Raj Kaur, the daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, and in 1780 she gave birth to a son who was named Ranjit ('Victor in War'), later to become Maharaja of the Punjab. Mahan Singh died of dysentery at the siege of Sodra in operations against the Bhangi misl.
  
  For further references, see inter alia: Harbans Singh, Encyclopedia of Sikhism, vol. III, p. 13; Bhagat Singh, A History of Sikh Misls, Patiala 1993; Lepel Griffin, Rajas of the Punjab, London 1865; James Brown, History of the Origin and Progress of the Sikhs, London 1788.

Saleroom notices

• This lot has been withdrawn.