Discover the legendary dark grey horse Laili, adored by Ranjit Singh, known for its beauty, grace, and the fascinating journey through 19th-century Punjab.
ALLARD, JEAN FRANCOIS (1785-1839), Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, an order instituted in 1802 by Napoleon I, was born at Saint Tropez, France, on 8 March 1785. In 1803, he joined the French army and served in it fighting in the Imperial Cavalry in far flung fields in Italy, Spain and Portugal until its final defeat at the hands of the allies in 1815 when the Imperial Guard, in which he had been serving as a lieutenant since 1810, was disbanded.
ANARKALI, the oldest Mughal tomb in Lahore, was built between 1605 and 1615 by Emperor Jahangir for his former favourite dancing girl Anarkali. The tomb was surrounded by extensive gardens enclosed within a high protective wall, and several buildings and palaces were erected in the gardens by Mughal princes and nobles. In 1799, Maharaja Ranjit Singh put up his headquarters there while besieging Lahore. Subsequently, he offered Anarkali to his eldest son, the heir apparent Kharak Singh.
DE LA FONT, CAPTAIN AUGUSTE, a Frenchman, who entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service in 1838. He was appointed an aide decamp to General Ventura. Later, he acted as a staff officer to Colonel C.M. Wade during his journey to Kabul. He took active part in the action at Fort `All Masjid and was also helpful in maintaining peace between the Sikh contingent and Wade`s "somewhat unruly" force. He left service in the Punjab in 1843 and returned to France. His younger brother (Christian name not known) also served in the Sikh army under Generals Avitabile and Ventura.
EUROPEAN ADVENTURERS OF NORTHERN INDIA, 1785 to 1849, by G. Grey, first published in 1929 and reprinted by the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala, in 1970, contains biographical sketches of over one hundred Europeans who came to or served in the Punjab during Sikh times. The book, which is the result of "some six years of labour" in the archives of the Punjab Government as well as the consultation of a large number of contemporary memoirs and other works, supplements Compton`s European Adventurers which the author found both out of date and incomplete. Broadly speaking, these adventurers fall into two groups: well known men like George Thomas and Avitabile and the lesser known men "of whom no account has hitherto appeared." They could also be classified as combatants and noncombatants; the former category includes Generals like Ventura and Potter and the latter class includes medical men like Honigbergcr and Harlan, the antiquarian Masson and the engineer Bianchi.
Explore the life of Francois Henri Mouton, a French army officer who served the Sikh Khalsa army. Learn about his adventures and honors up to 1876.
Discover the journey of Jean Baptiste Ventura, an Italian general in the Sikh army who transformed Sikh infantry with European tactics. Learn more here!
