Sikh Heritage items in U.K.
A no of belongings to Gurus and Sikh rulers are available in some Gurdwaras in India. A bulk of them as removed by the Britishers are still available in the museums, art galleries, libraries and personal collections in U.K. For example, in the Art Gallery of Earl Edgerton collections, we have many items of Sikh origin such as quoits, shields, armour, matchlocks, etc. An items of particular interest is the Gauntlets of Kharak Singh (son of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh). The armour of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh is also believed to be in this collection but needs confirming. Similarly, we have Rani Jinda’s Prayer book, beautifully written in Punjabi, in the India Office Library. The sword of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh acquired by General Hudson and other Sikh weapons are also available in the National Army Museums. Some other items like Dastar Bunga of a Nihang, swords, kataars, Sikh cannons, are also available in the large collection in Royal Armouries at the Tower of London. The world famous diamond, Kohinoor, which Maharaja Sahib used to wear on bicep, is also placed hear. Some of these items are displayed while other are kept in reserve collection which can be viewed by prior arrangement with the keeper of oriental armour. In the India Office Library and British Museum, we have some compositions in Punjabi which need identification by research. The Victoria and Elbert Museum also preserves many items associated with the Sikhs such as jewellery, weapons, paintings, musical instruments, clothes, metal ornaments, etc. In the Indian section exhibition the Golden Throne of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, some paintings and a Dastar Bunga of a Nihang are on display. Access to the reserve collections can be gained by prior arrangement, and some items of the reserve collections have been touring as part of the “Warm, Rich & Fearless” exhibition.
Warm, Rich and Fearless Exhibition
We have already mentioned about the Sikhs artefacts in Britain in the above noted paragraph. We have also referred to “warm, rich and fearless exhibition”. This is infact a catalogue title that accompanied an art show organized by the Bradford Art Galleries and Museums in 1991. One of the first exhibitions devoted to bringing Sikh Art to the public, it was curated by Dr. Nima Poovaya-Smith, and the art was displayed at the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. It included a large number of historic paintings, fabrics, jewellery, ornate weapons and suits of armour. Items came from many different collections, including the Royal Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, The India Office of Library and Records, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and numerous private collections. A contemporary painting by Aparna Kaur was donated by the Vipasha Gallery in London. Many items associated with Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular are available in museums in other countries also. These include institute of oriental studies, St. Petersburg, Russia, Indian National Army Museum, Singapore, Ghadarites/Kamagatamaru Museum (Desh Bhagat Centre) Vancouver, Canada and Wolverhampton Museum in U.K. where the famous gates to the Noor Mahal Sarai are kept.
Mention may also be made of the monuments erected in Brighton, France and Ethiopia in memory of the Indian soldiers who gave their lives in the course of World Wars. The contribution made by the Indian soldiers in this regard is dominated by the Sikhs. As the Brighton memorial was got erected by Maharaja of Patiala, outside this pavilion he got a door way erected to thank the people of Brighton for looking after the wounded Indian soldiers at Brighton hospital.
The Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail
Before parting with Sikh heritage in Europe, particularly U.K. it is appropriate to mention about an organisation, whose aim was to promote a greater awareness of the shared heritage between the Sikhs and the British. This Anglo-Sikh organisation had launched in July 2004 an Anglo-Sikh heritage trail. The organisation through its website explores this close relationship between the two peoples and cultures through historical personalities, shared treasures/artefacts and the joint cultural background as they exist in Britain today and in the past. Together with the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), which holds a vast collection of maps, photographs, documents and books which impact on these communities it hopes to share these historical documents with both communities. The RGS’s database includes historical maps of the Punjab, paintings and archive photographs relating to the history of the Punjab and the Sikh people.
U.K. Punjab Heritage Association
U.K. Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) is a British charity organization which was launched in London in 2001 after two friends Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh started travelling to museums, academic institutions, private collections and libraries around both the UK and the Indian subcontinent and discovered a huge wealth of material relating to the legacy of Punjabi and Sikh culture including manuscripts, paintings, drawings, arms and armour and other rare items. They successfully received £450,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2013 to research the contributions of Sikh soldiers and the First World War [2] and have been working with a number of British institutions including SOAS, [3] Brighton Museum and the V&A Museum to deliver their projects. Their activities include organizing talks, exhibitions and discussions on Punjab heritage. They had launched in 2016 an interactive soldier map displaying the records of 8000 Sikh soldiers who died in World War 1. It may be added that the current Chairman of UKPHA, Amandeep Singh Madra, received an OBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for his voluntary services to Sikh and Punjabi heritage.
Sikh Stamps
Sikh stamps are those stamps which have been issued from time to time in India and other countries to commemorate the memory of Sikh personalities, places and events. Various Gurdwaras like Sri Harimandar Sahib are there on the stamps. Similarly personalities like Bhai Veer Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Bhagat Singh and so on also find a place on these stamps. Sikhs in armed forces and sports etc. also constitute a subject for the stamps (For details please refer to the book “Sikh Heritage through Stamps”). When Israel Government issued last year a stamp showing Sikh soldier the whole world came to know about their courage shown by them for protecting Haifa during world war 1. Major Dalpat Singh is known as Hero of Haifa. These stamps are mainly available with the stamp collectors. For example, S. Surinder Singh of New Delhi is one such stamp collector, who can be contacted on phone no. +91-9971008151, Email :singhstylestudio@gmail.com
