The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia

Stories from the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

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In 1801, the young scion of a petty fiefdom in the Punjab was invested with the title of Maharaja of Punjab. The young man, whose name was Ranjit Singh, went on to carve out a kingdom for himself that stretched from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to the boundaries of the British Raj in the east. It included the lush hills and valleys of Kashmir, the barren mountains of Ladakh and the fertile plains of his native Punjab. The British valued him as an ally who would keep their western frontier safe and while they coveted his kingdom, they did not dare to engage in military adventures in Punjab during his lifetime.

The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia is an examination of Ranjit Singh and his times that focuses on a wide array of characters that populated his court. All these stories combine to present a nuanced and complex image of Maharaja Ranjit Singh through his interactions with these characters. The work humanises Maharaja Ranjit Singh and presents him as the brilliant man he clearly was, without attempting to gloss over his flaws and foibles.