You are cordially invited to a journey into the vibrant world of nineteenth-century Punjab!
December 12, 2025 to December 19, 2025
A-8 Auditorium, Academic Block, LUMS
The court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1799–1839) was known as the Lahore Darbār and his treasury as the toshakhāna— both had become legendary in his lifetime for the magnificence of the material culture they showcased and held. The Punjab was annexed on March 29, 1849, and the toshakhāna riches became the “Lahore Confiscated Property” in the hands of East India Company officials. While some of the most valuable objects were sent to the Queen, many were appropriated by others in positions of power, and the remaining disposed of through public sales.
This multisensory exhibition, curated by Dr. Nadhra Shahbaz Khan, Associate Professor, MGSHSS, and Dr. Murtaza Taj, Associate Professor, SBASSE, traces the journeys of famous artefacts from the Lahore Fort toshakhāna to different destinations. It presents object histories through infographics and short video narratives, as well as a few reimagined models of artefacts that were lost during the senseless colonial looting. The intention is not to mourn what has been lost, but to recall or reimagine, and then read these objects as living portraits of their age—of the hands that shaped them, the eyes that admired them, and the overall refined aesthetics of a society that brought them into being.
Register here.
