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| Emerald encrusted golder horse girdle, ruler Sher Singh of Punjab. .rct.uk/collection |
Among the European royal families, the English royalty has the rare distinction of being the largest looters of countless treasures from India particularly, from the Maharajahs and Nawabs. They were either as forced gifts from the princely states or taken during the transfer of the kingdom. The shrewd british officials used the doctrines of lapse and subsidiary alliance as a pretext to annex the Indian lands and the personal properties of the rulers. The paradox is the manipulative British History will come up with a whooping lie that they obtained them as spoils of war and not taken by force. The british Historians and media sided with the royals to save their name and their savants under the EIC and the Crown administration (after 1858-59).
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| Maharajah Ranjit Singh and his horse with golden girdl,een.wikipedia.org. |
During the coronation of King Charles in the recent pat some of the royal family's expensive collections such as priceless crowns, orbs, and scepters known as the crown jewels, drew the attention of the people and the curious media. That many of the dazzling precious gems adorning these stuff were looted by the English company and later by the Crown administration, London during Britain’s colonization of India. It included many jewels of king Charles.
A 46-page file (1912)uncovered from the India Office archives details an investigation, apparently commissioned by Queen Mary - the grandmother of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Purpose: To know the imperial origins of her jewels. Among them the most interesting one is an emerald-encrusted gold girdle used to decorate the horses in the stables of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab; it is part of King Charles collection. They were ''trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria," In reality, they were looted from the Punjab rulers. Historical records point out in 19th century, ''Ranjit Singh's son and heir, Duleep Singh, was forced to sign Punjab over to East India Company.''
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| King Charles and the Crown with Koh=i-noor diamond asiasamachar.com |
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| King Charles with the Indian loot finance.yahoo.com |
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| Queen Victoria .britannica.com |
Above image: Queen Victoria (married to Albert, her cousin)- under her blessings the East India company plundered Indian. rulers' treasures and their land......
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| Punjab Maharani Kaur in.pinterest.com |
Above image: Punjab Maharani Jindan Kaur Emerald and Seed Pearl Necklace
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| founder of Sikh kingdom, Sher Singh. prabook.com |
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| Minor Punjab maharajah Duleep Singh 1854 it.wikipedia.org |
On her visit to the Great Exhibition On 22 May 1851, Queen Victoria ,being fond of gemstones and jewelry , attende the he Great Exhibition. The amazing ‘jewels & ornaments from Lahore including quality pearls - probably eighteenth century or earlier, a variety of high quality of emeralds and a rare girdle of emeralds left a lasting interest on them. At the time of the Great Exhibition the emeralds of different qualities, presumably mined in the Urals or in the Afghan/Kashmir region, were said to have been used by Ranjit Singh to decorate his horse harnesses. The Jewelled belt comprising 18 rectangular gold sections were separated by gold links and a buckle, edged with diamond and pearl links. Set with square or hexagonal emeralds and four with engraved oval stones, the buckle has a square emerald between rows of diamonds in a flowerhead design.
After the the exhibition was over, the Directors of the East India Company availed themselves of the opportunity to please the queen (to run the company without any hitch) had presented her with a fine selection of jewels, including numerous quality of emeralds, which she described as ‘wonderful and of immense value’. Some were able to be re-cut and set by Garrards in a new emerald and diamond parure, consisting of a tiara, stomacher and a pair of bracelets. The Queen wore some of them wore on her State Visit to Paris in 1855. As for the nineteen rectangular or hexagonal emeralds in this girdle, as well as the flat-cut diamonds or lasques set in the borders, were either too thin or were carved, which (to the Queen’s regret) ruled out any re-cutting or reuse.
https://www.rct.uk/collection/11291/emerald-girdle-of-maharaja-sher-singh
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guardian-report-uncovers-extent-stolen-134300295.html?
