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This picture apparently depicts Sikh revolutionary Bhai Maharaj Singh who inspired a potent anti-British movement in the dying days of Sikh Raj
So feared was his influence that one official noted "He is to the natives what Jesus is to the most zealous of Christians” …contd
So feared was his influence that one official noted "He is to the natives what Jesus is to the most zealous of Christians” …contd
He was the archetype of the Khalsa ideal - that of the Saint-Soldier. After years of piety he transformed into a revolutionary fighter against the attempts of the British to take Punjab. His lifestory is expertly told in a new documentary by @UPNEETKN
This compelling portrait is warlike & defiant with the look of a man that has both seen history and made it. Unfortunately this is not a picture of the famed warrior.
Bhai Maharaj Singh was arrested and imprisoned in Singapore 7 years before photos of this quality could be taken
Bhai Maharaj Singh was arrested and imprisoned in Singapore 7 years before photos of this quality could be taken
Arrested in 1849, there was only one photographer in India at the time and the quality of pictures was extremely grainy (see pic). The photograph often used to depict Maharaj Singh is most likely taken in the 1870s. Bhai Maharaj Singh died in 1856 in prison in Singapore.
The idea that a feared prisoner (barely even allowed outside for walks) could be photographed fully armed & in a pose of defiance is highly doubtful
Sadly as compelling as this image is, it is not of Bhai Maharaj Singh. Fortunately there is one contemporary depiction of him …
Sadly as compelling as this image is, it is not of Bhai Maharaj Singh. Fortunately there is one contemporary depiction of him …
As Davinder Toor explains. A portrait of him was made after he was arrested, by a famed portrait artist. The artist spent 7 days visiting him in order to best capture his likeness , this was after all a commission from Lord Dalhousie.
There is an alternate theory that the man captured in 1849 wasn't Maharaj Singh at all. That the Brits captured the Bhai’s doppelganger (look alike) - This pic then depicts the Bhai as an old man living out his final years at his dera.
