Artifact
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's throne
also Golden Throne
An octagonal throne covered in thick gold sheet, made by the goldsmith Hafez Muhammad Multani for Maharaja Ranjit Singh.[Arch][EoS]
- Date
- Probably 1805-1810
- Held by
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Location
- The Himalayas and South-East Asia, Room 47a, London
- Provenance
- Documented
- Status: On display
- The V&A's online record (read 5 November 2026) gives accession 2518(IS) and shows it on display in Room 47a.
The V&A records that the British took it with the Lahore treasury at annexation in 1849. Dr John Login's inventory named the maker but gave no date.
Lord Dalhousie held it back from the auctions. It was shipped in 1853 to the East India Company's museum in London and moved to the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A, in 1879.
What is disputed
- Date and place
The V&A calls both its date of 1805-1810 and its making in Lahore probable or almost certain, not recorded.[Arch]
See it online
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's throne by Hafez Muhammad Multani, V&A 2518(IS). This older Commons file says about 1820-1830, but the V&A now gives probably 1805-1810.
Hafez Muhammad Multani. Image: VAwebteam, Probably 1805-1810. Victoria and Albert Museum, 2518(IS).CC BY-SA 3.0. Source
