This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
Paintings from the Sikh courts
Sikhism emerged in the Punjab in the sixteenth century as a distinct religion that shares several of the ideals of both Islamic Sufism and the Hindu bakhti movement.
Ranjit Singh, one of the most famous Sikh leaders, founded an independent kingdom in the Punjab in 1801. He revived the splendour of the Mughal court at Lahore and projected himself as heir to the great emperors of the past.
Ranjit Singh’s son, Duleep Singh, was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was exiled in 1849 following the East India Company’s annexation of the Punjab.
