The Maharajah is like the sun and the sun has only one eye. The splendor and luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at his other eye.” This is what Fakir Azizuddin, foreign minister of the Sikh Empire (1799-1839), replied to British Governor General lord Auckland when asked which of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s eye was missing.
The above statement denotes the respect which the Sher-e-Punjab received from all quarters of his vast kingdom. Those who served him — including Hindus, Muslims and even Europeans — pledged their allegiance and defended the empire with all their might, even after Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839 until the downfall of the Sikh Empire in 1849.
Those who campaigned and fought wars for France, alongside its first emperor Napoleon, were also Ranjit Singh’s most trusted generals. The first Europeans to serve him were — a Frenchman named Jean Francois Allard and Jean-Baptiste Ventura from Italy.
Speaking on the occasion of ‘Celebration of historic links between Punjab and France’ at the Embassy of France, was Jean Allard’s descendant Henri Prevost Allard, who shared with us a brief history of his ancestor.
“Jean Francois Allard, born on March 9, 1785 in Saint Tropez, joined Napoleon’s cavalry in December 1803. He fought as a part of the Imperial Cavalry from Naples in Italy to Spain. He became a lieutenant in 1810 in Spain and then was transferred to the Imperial Guard, after which he campaigned for France with Napoleon and was also awarded the legion d’honneur. He was promoted as the Captain and assigned the 7th Hussars regiment,” he informed.
Following Napoleons’ defeat in Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and his abdication, Allard — considered a Bonapartist — was placed under house arrest for in Saint Tropez. Three years later, he had the clearance to leave Saint Tropez and was then introduced to Abbas Mirza, the crown prince of Persia who appointed him as a Colonel. There he also met three other officers of Napoleon’s Army — Jean-Baptiste Ventura, Claude August Court and Paolo Di Avitabile. Following threat from the British, Mirza obliged to fire Allard.
“Both Allard and Ventura decided to travel to Kabul and there they heard of an independent king fiercely resisting the British and forbade entrance of foreigners. Nevertheless, they decided to present themselves to this prince and to offer him their service,” Henri, who is also the Deputy Mayor of Saint Tropez, said. The arrival of General Allard proved providential for Maharaja Ranjit Singh as he, for many years, had wanted to modernise his Army on the pattern of the British Company.
“Allard offered him what exactly he was looking for. So first, the Maharaja tasked him with the training of 5,000 men which later increased to 40,000. A special Army unit Fauj-i-Khas was created. Even the orders were given in French and many other aspects were based on Napoleon’s Army designs,” he further added.
A strong friendship developed between Allard and the Maharaja. The Maharaja also arranged for Allard to marry a young princess from Chamba named Bannou Pan Dei. They had seven children, of which, six were born in Punjab and one in Calcutta.
Jean Allard wanted to move his family to France because he wanted his children to receive Catholic education. He then settled his family is Saint Tropez with the Maharaja’s blessings in 1834 and then left for Paris to seek aid for Punjab. He then went back to India in 1837 and passed away in Peshawar in 1839.
There were other Europeans serving in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s court as well. Bobby Singh Bansal, British author of The lion’s Firanghis: Europeans at the Court of lahore, discussed the contributions of these foreigners to the vast Sikh empire.
“There was not just one French officer in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there were over 30. Of the Europeans — the Dutch, Italians, Spanish, Prussians, Greeks, Irish, et al - constituted over 120 foreign mercenaries serving at the court of lahore. It was the only province in India where over 100 mercenaries were present, much to the disgust of the East Indian Company,” Bansal informed.
But why did Ranjit Singh employ so many mercenaries in his durbar and what was the relationship, especially with the FrenchIJ
“The bond between the French and Maharaja Ranjit Singh was truly unique. It was the French officers, in particular General Allard and General Ventura, who were the first to arrive in lahore. Within five years of their arrival (in 1822), the entire Sikh Army had been transformed to European standards. The Fauj-i-Khas, the royal brigade sent shockwaves to the officials at Fort William in Calcutta,” the writer disclosed.
The influence of Europeans between 1820 and 1830 was so major that the British officials prevented foreigners from crossing river Sutlej.
“Officers like General Court completely transformed the artillery of Ranjit Singh’s Army. The native officers or courtiers detested these foreigners because they had taken all the top jobs in the durbar but Ranjit Singh trusted them more. He took advise from Allard and Ventura in particular,” Bansal further shared.
There were other officers who served with distinction and Ranjit Singh also got them married to local princesses and they had children. These families witnessed the grandeur and the opulence of the durbar but were compelled to move to Europe and other places after the British annexed the region.
photos Pankaj Kumar