The outstanding Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r. 1799-1839) died ten years before the
British annexation of the Punjab in 1849. His funerary monument or samadhi is located next to
the Lahore Fort where the Maharaja lived. The structure is the last state funded project of
the Lahore Darbar and represents a high point of nineteenth-century Sikh architecture second
only to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. This book analyses the architecture and embellishments
of the Maharaja's samadhi comparing them with contemporary and earlier Mughal Rajput or Hindu
practices. Media included are carving in red sandstone white marble and wood inlay in white
marble mirror mosaic and frescoes. The conclusion emphasises singular aspects of Sikh period
art and architecture to establish a new cultural identity unique to Sikh aesthetics.
