The Maharajah's Box: An Imperial Intrigue

by Christy Campbell

In 1997, Christy Campbell, then a journalist on the London Sunday Telegraph, was following the story of Jewish victims of the Holocaust who were announced as having had "dormant accounts" in Swiss banks, and whose descendants were therefore entitled to compensation. However, among these names was one that rather stood out: one Princess Catherine Duleep Singh, last heard of residing in Penn, Buckinghamshire, in 1942. Like all good journos, Campbell immediately scented a scoop, and began to investigate. "I started out on a treasure hunt and found a love story". What he discovered was quite astounding: Princess Catherine was none other than the descendant of Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last Emperor of the Sikhs, and his story was every bit as glamorous and tragic as that of the last Emperor of China.

In 1849, at the age of 10, the Maharajah, his armies defeated in the field by the British, was brought to London. Oh, and with him came a certain rather famous diamond: the Koh-i-Noor, "acquired" by the East India Company and presented to Queen Victoria. The Maharajah settled down for a while as an English country gentleman, at Elveden Hall in Suffolk, and married an English chambermaid. But later in life he grew more and more obsessed with his lost inheritance, and the exchange of the majesties of the Punjab for a few acres of rural Suffolk did not seem to him quite fair... This is very much the territory of what Rudyard Kipling christened "The Great Game". Kipling himself wrote about it in his own masterpiece, Kim, as did Patrick French more recently in his prize-winning biography, Younghusband. Christy Campbell now joins this select band of chroniclers of the wilder margins of the British Empire, in a story that, one imagines, would make a brilliant film. Merchant-Ivory, where are you? --Christopher Hart

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India

1000 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty exciting read. I thought it was well written and engaging. There were lots of jumps and a lot of information to keep track of, but I was never bored. The reason this didn't get a higher rating, however, was because this was a book I had to read for one of my most recent ghostwriting projects. As a source, it was pretty weak. A lot of information was anecdotal, rather than evidence-based, which makes for a compelling story, but made me question how much of this book was fact rather than a fiction to sell copies. I'm not hardline about popular history being heavily footnoted or referenced, however for me, there needs to be at least some evidence when trying to write a narrative of history, especially when quoting historical figures.

[Ravi Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why hasn't this been adapted for a movie yet, I don't know.
A fantastic real life story about the last King of the Sikhs, how the British Empire robbed him of his lands, subjects, kingdom and vast riches. The British act all pomp and circumstance, but are just rich in thieving and broken treaties, so no change there then. Expertly told as fact and with the storyteller's skill of fiction, great work by Christy here and made it relevant by linking the aged tale to modern day happenstance, of which there is plenty.
Much research and corroborated evidence, expertly written and thankful the story is kept alive of such a tragic yet absolutely regal character. Well done Christy!

[Inderjit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched, though questionable as to how much is fact and how much is fiction. Confusing to follow and jumps around a lot. Why is the term Guru sometimes spelt at Gurro, seems lazy. The British Raj glorified and the Indian king demonized.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book concerned the life of Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire. It all started out so fascinating. A secret bank box in Switzerland, the princess who kept it, the Koh-I-Noor diamond, and the race to get back a lost Sikh throne. No question, the first few chapters held my interest and had me wanting more. However, the more I read, the more bored I became. Lots of back and forth, lots of things that had nothing to do with the bank box in question, lots of complaining by Duleep Singh. Without a doubt, he was ill-treated by the British government. Tricked into signing away his kingdom and giving up his most prized possession, he had every right to be angry. I just got tired of reading about it for 300-plus pages. Oh, and the ending was a complete let down.

This book could've been so much more. Of worthy note are the parts that deal with Singh and his family life.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not seriously persevere, just got bogged done with the names, lost interest. It got more and more complicated although there is a family tree at the beginning. What had attracted me to the book initially was the mystery of what happened in the 20th century when a Swiss bank listed an Indian princess among its account holders. I had lived in Tunbridge Wells where the princess was said to have lived, so that sounded inviting. However, the book is mostly about her father who must have had quite a life but he died in 1893, so the bulk of the book takes place in the 19th century.

[Tena · Rating 1 out of 5]

***Spoiler alert***

The Maharajah's box was empty. I did not finish this book as I could not bear the endless lists of names and places with no details about the people themselves. This had the potential to be really fascinating but alas left me feeling cold. I also found its attempts to justify colonialism problematic.

[Kathryn Wardell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed history of how the British Raj deposed the last Maharajah of the Punjab. Interesting political history but gets bogged down in minutiae. The politics of England, India, Russia and Germany give great insight to the turn of the century and late 1800s.

I waded through the detail in the middle but you could just skim it. It is a sad story of the loss of a throne, country and the Koh-I-noor diamond. Read the last chapter if you get bogged down

[Lucy]

Didn't finish. Got a couple of chapters in and got very sick of the jumping around of the narrative and the endless full footnotes. It's a shame - in the right hands I feel like this could have been great.

[Rena Sherwood]

I gave up on this about page 189 -- and I should have done it sooner. This gets so complicated that you just cannot give a damn anymore.