Lot Essay
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the "Lion of the Punjab", was one of the more illustrious characters in early 19th century Indian history. As a Sikh leader based in the north west of the Indian Subcontinent bordering Afghanistan his quest for territorial expansion in that region resulted in continued military conflicts with the British army for almost forty years.
A child of twelve when his father died, Ranjit Singh was suspected of having murdered his mother. At the Age of nineteen, in 1799, he took Lahore, thereby acquiring the title of Raja from the Afghan ruler Zaman Shah. Three years later in 1802 Ranjit Singh took Amritsar, the Sikh holy city, from where he attempted to advance further into the Punjab. From then on Ranjit Singh advanced steadily further south, on the invitation of local chiefs, crossing the Sutlaj in 1806 and occupying Ludhiana. In 1808 the Cis-Sutlaj chiefs, having supported Ranjit Singh earlier, appealed to the Governor General of India, Lord Minto, for help. Lord Minto sent Charles Metcalf as an envoy to the Sikh court in order to negotiate with Ranjit Singh. On April 25, 1809 a treaty was signed between Ranjit Singh and the British Colonial Government, the "Treaty of Amritsar", in which both sides agreed to accept the river Sutlaj as a territorial border, the British Government thus having extended their territories. It is from this year that the above ring dates, and it is thus of considerable historical importance.
While Ranjit Singh consolidated his power north of the Sutlaj, he did advance beyond the Indus to Peshawar in 1823. In 1834 he had a paralysing stroke. Ranjit Singh died in 1839.
It is an interesting historical detail that Ranjit Singh had once owned the famous "Koh-i Noor" diamond, a stone that had once belonged to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It was looted in 1739 by the Persian emperor Nadir Shah whose grandson, Shah Rukh Mirza, presented it to the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah (1723-1773). It was Ahmad Shah's brother and heir Shah Shuja who surrendered the Koh-i Noor to Ranjit Singh in 1813. The stone was claimed from Ranjit Singh's son in 1848-49 by the British and presented to Queen Victoria in celebration of the East India Company's 25th anniversary in 1852 and has remained in the English Crown Jewels since then.
This ring was presented to Sir David Salomons in the 19th century by Robert T. Lattey. Esq.
Sir David Salomons (1797-1873), Lord Mayor of London, was an active politician, and key figure in the development of 'religious liberty' within the Government of his day.
One of the founders of the London and Westminister Bank (1832) he received his comission for Kent as the first Jewish Magistrate in 1838. In 1839-40 he was appointed High Sheriff of Kent as well as deputy Lieutenant for Kent, Sussex and Middlesex.
Following very active political interests, he was twice elected as the liberal M.P. for Greenwich in 1851 and 1859 despite declining to take the oath "on the true faith of a Christian", leading to prolonged legal proceedings and an immense 500 pound fine.
His civic career was crowned by his election as Lord Mayor of London in 1855.
A child of twelve when his father died, Ranjit Singh was suspected of having murdered his mother. At the Age of nineteen, in 1799, he took Lahore, thereby acquiring the title of Raja from the Afghan ruler Zaman Shah. Three years later in 1802 Ranjit Singh took Amritsar, the Sikh holy city, from where he attempted to advance further into the Punjab. From then on Ranjit Singh advanced steadily further south, on the invitation of local chiefs, crossing the Sutlaj in 1806 and occupying Ludhiana. In 1808 the Cis-Sutlaj chiefs, having supported Ranjit Singh earlier, appealed to the Governor General of India, Lord Minto, for help. Lord Minto sent Charles Metcalf as an envoy to the Sikh court in order to negotiate with Ranjit Singh. On April 25, 1809 a treaty was signed between Ranjit Singh and the British Colonial Government, the "Treaty of Amritsar", in which both sides agreed to accept the river Sutlaj as a territorial border, the British Government thus having extended their territories. It is from this year that the above ring dates, and it is thus of considerable historical importance.
While Ranjit Singh consolidated his power north of the Sutlaj, he did advance beyond the Indus to Peshawar in 1823. In 1834 he had a paralysing stroke. Ranjit Singh died in 1839.
It is an interesting historical detail that Ranjit Singh had once owned the famous "Koh-i Noor" diamond, a stone that had once belonged to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It was looted in 1739 by the Persian emperor Nadir Shah whose grandson, Shah Rukh Mirza, presented it to the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah (1723-1773). It was Ahmad Shah's brother and heir Shah Shuja who surrendered the Koh-i Noor to Ranjit Singh in 1813. The stone was claimed from Ranjit Singh's son in 1848-49 by the British and presented to Queen Victoria in celebration of the East India Company's 25th anniversary in 1852 and has remained in the English Crown Jewels since then.
This ring was presented to Sir David Salomons in the 19th century by Robert T. Lattey. Esq.
Sir David Salomons (1797-1873), Lord Mayor of London, was an active politician, and key figure in the development of 'religious liberty' within the Government of his day.
One of the founders of the London and Westminister Bank (1832) he received his comission for Kent as the first Jewish Magistrate in 1838. In 1839-40 he was appointed High Sheriff of Kent as well as deputy Lieutenant for Kent, Sussex and Middlesex.
Following very active political interests, he was twice elected as the liberal M.P. for Greenwich in 1851 and 1859 despite declining to take the oath "on the true faith of a Christian", leading to prolonged legal proceedings and an immense 500 pound fine.
His civic career was crowned by his election as Lord Mayor of London in 1855.