Maharajah Sher Singh 's rare Emerald encrusted gold horse girdle plundered by the English company for the British royalty

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).

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.''


King Charles and the Crown with Koh=i-noor diamond asiasamachar.com

Among the Indian Maharajahs, Sher Singh (d. 1843)  was one of the richest rulers of Punjab. Have you ever heard of a gem-encrusted gold horse girdle owned by an Indian  ruler? The horse girdle ,in  traditional Mogul form, was made for Sher Singh (d. 1843) using emeralds - some of which may be seventeenth-century - that had belonged to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.  Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843), the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire was the elder of  the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 following his assault on Lahore which ended the brief regency of Maharani Chand Kaur.

King Charles with the Indian loot finance.yahoo.com 

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......

Punjab Maharani Kaur in.pinterest.com

Above image: Punjab Maharani Jindan Kaur Emerald and Seed Pearl Necklace

founder of Sikh kingdom, Sher Singh. prabook.com

Minor Punjab maharajah Duleep Singh 1854 it.wikipedia.org

Above Images" Punjab rulers looted by the English company; Top image: Queen Victoria was a famous looter. She had permitted EIC to loot for the royal family. A large section of British labor were in a poor state living in run down boroughs.  

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.

The emeralds and other valuable jewelry made for Sher Singh) inherited from Ranjit Singh were  part of the Lahore Treasury.
The East India Company annexed the Punjab on 2 April 1849 and incorporated it within British India. Subsequently, when Duleep Singh was the minor ruler of Punjab with his mother Kaur as regent the Lahore treasury was emptied by the English company. 
 
The Directors of the East India Company,presented the jewelry and other treasures to Queen Victoria in 1851. This included Koh-i-noor diamond and Timur Ruby -the largest red stone in  history. 

https://www.rct.uk/collection/11291/emerald-girdle-of-maharaja-sher-singh

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/highlights-from-elite-ensemble-by-phoenix-kessaku-a-symphony-of-opulence-and-culture/articleshow/103247249.cms

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/world-news-jewels-from-treasury-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh-auctioned-in-uk/363274

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guardian-report-uncovers-extent-stolen-134300295.html?