The Story – Sikh Cannons

The Anglo-Sikh Wars

1845 – 1849

The Kingdom of Maharajah Ranjit Singh

With all of the Indian states under British control, the Kingdom of Ranjit Singh remained free and independent. Ranjit Singh was a great statesman and had mobilised and armed the Sikh Kingdom. The Kingdom integrated people of all religions and recruited European and American military expertise. During his reign Ranjit Singh was undefeated in the battlefield and he gained a mythical status throughout Asia.
The Sikh Kingdom’s arsenal of cannons were fabled and further modernised by European officers who had served Napoleon. Each cannon represented freedom and success of the Sikh Kingdom and their warrior spirit.
When a cannon was forged it would have gone through a traditional blessing ceremony and each cannon would be inscribed with a name, a blessing to God, the Gurus, the Maharajas and those who made it. In addition The cannons’ contain snippets from history of past conquests, the hopes and dreams of a people, and the principles of faith and duty.

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Following the death of Ranjit Singh the Anglo-Sikh wars were fiercely fought by those still loyal to Ranjit Singh’s descendants, the Sikh Gurus and the Kingdom. Sadly, there were many whose loyalty could be bought and this meant the often leaderless Sikh armies would be narrowly defeated.

The East India Company

The wars with the Sikh Kingdom rocked the British East India Company to the to its foundations. Realising the threat a Sikh Kingdom posed to their rule in India the Company took every step to break up the Kingdom, including exile to Britain of Ranjit Singh’s remaining heir, Maharajah Duleep Singh. It was also made sure the Sikh cannons were taken away on an unprecedented 1,200 mile journey to Calcutta, so they would never end up in Sikh hands again. The Company also wanted to try and show the world that the legend of Ranjit Singh had truly died and the Sikh Kingdom had finally been defeated.

At this point most of the cannons would be melted down and lost forever. Only a few remain today. Before they were melted down the British Officers in the East India Company decided to immortalise the capture of these cannons in a book we know today as ‘Inscriptions’. The purpose was mainly to create a commemorative piece of work to herald the East India Company’s victory for the Officers and their families.

The Original Inscriptions

In around 1850 the East India Company commissioned an artwork to be made of the Inscriptions. The artwork consists of mostly floral patterns with each Inscription inlayed into the pattern in its original Arabic dialect.

The patterns were then lithographed, printed on recto, interleaved throughout, on contemporary half morocco gilt paper and hand coloured. The original Inscriptions book is still a striking commemorative piece. It seems no attempt was made to translate the actual inscriptions, even though translators would have been more common at the time.

It is believed that no more than a dozen of the Inscriptions books were made. Any that remain are in museums or in the hands of a few private collectors.

Whilst the East India Company’s purpose for Inscriptions was to immortalise their victory, the task also fortunately persevered the thoughts and feelings of the Sikh Kingdom leading up to the Sikh Wars. Otherwise these Inscriptions would have been lost when the cannons were melted down. These Inscriptions are a faithful source of Sikh history, which now translated can be shared and enjoyed by everyone.

The prints

Recreating the Master Work of Inscriptions

We wanted to make a true reproduction of the original artwork from Inscriptions. Reproducing the artwork seemed impossible at first, because of the age of the original work and because they were in a book.

So, we went to a world leading 3D scanning and reproduction studio. They spent painstaking hours carefully scanning each page using their cutting edge technology.

We declined to enhance the original colours or retouch any flaws in the original hand-crafted designs and hand coloured patterns. What we ended up with is a pure reproduction, true to the original copy of Inscriptions.

We chose the highest quality paper (like the original) to create a print that matches the look and feel of the original and which gives the owner something that they can cherish and pass on to future generations.

The Translations

For the past century historians have been unable to translate the Inscriptions as the Arabic dialect used by Ranjit Singh’s Kingdom became lost shortly after British rule. We searched the globe and contacted over 700 potential translators and finally found a Persian and Arabic manuscript expert, based in Bologna, Italy who could unlock the Inscriptions.

We have set the translations in English underneath each print and provided each print with the title from the name of the cannon that the Inscription was taken from.

These Inscriptions are direct messages from the Sikh Kingdom and we hope they will spark off historical curiosity in the future generations.

Limited Edition Gouttelette™ Prints

Each Inscription has a limited edition 250 print run. Each print comes with a digital ownership certificate to keep as proof of authenticity.

What is Gouttelette™?

Gouttelette™ (pronounced “goo-ta-let”) is the next stage along the evolutionary chain from the giclée. Derived from the French word for “droplet”, Gouttelette™ is a huge technological development in the printing world. It allows to print reproductions of the very highest quality and fidelity to the original.

Why is it different?

In addition to using coated papers, the Gouttelette™ process allows the use of beautiful uncoated papers, which are excellent for image reproduction because they allow the ink to travel down the paper fibres more easily and into the sheet itself to give a “wicking” effect. This provides unparalleled print results.