A large collection of correspondence, postcards and other documents relating to Princess Bamba (1869-1957), the daughter of Maharajah Duleep Singh, including a proclamation laying claim to the lands of the Punjab Great Britain, Europe, and Kashmir, late 19th/early 20th Centuryvariously manuscript and typewritten the largest 294 x 200 mm.; the smallest 55 x 88 mm.(qty)Footnotes:ProvenanceFormerly in the collection of the great-grandson of Princess Bamba Duleep Singh's personal secretary, who with his wife was employed by the Princess for over thirty years.Princess Bamba was the daughter of Maharajah Duleep Singh with Maharani Bamba. In 1915, when she was 46, she married a doctor in the Indian Army, Lt. Col. David Waters Sutherland (hence the surname used in no. 2 below). At this stage (though subsequently saved by a lump sum payment of £10,000 from the British Government) she was not well-off due to mismanaging her allowance and in addition gambling debts (see nos. 4, 8 and 9 below for her apparently lifelong concern with finances).She travelled frequently, including to India, as witnessed by many of the items included in this lot. She died in Lahore at the age of 89, having declined drastically in health during her last years. For a survey of her life, including several photographs, see P. Bance, The Duleep Singhs: the Photograph Album of Queen Victoria's Maharajah, Stroud 2004, pp. 127-134; and by the same author, Sovereign, Squire and Rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh, London 2009, pp. 152-161. 1. A typewritten proclamation, addressed To: INDIA, from 'Bamba Shahzadi of the Punjab and Kashmir, Rightful Queen of the Punjab, Kashmir and much territory beyond', dated 21st June 1948, from La Turbie, Alpes Maritimes, France, claiming her 'inheritance to the vast lands of my Father, Maharajah Dulip Singh which have been misappropriated'. She castigates the British (and in particular Lord Dalhousie, his guardian) for taking away his birthright. The Sikhs have been sadly forgotten, despite their role in repelling foreign invaders of India (notably Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Durrani. 'I claim also the value of the richest portion of our private property. The territory between the Indus and the Jelam from the lower hills to south of the Salt Range'. Maharajah Ranjit Singh began the rise of the Sikhs to power, continued by his sons and successors - but 'There is no doubt that they were all disposed of by the machinations of the British'. Her last paragraph deals with the alleged treachery of Gulab Singh, in league with the British, who began the Anglo-Sikh Wars 'without any provocation'. 'Little Dalip Singh was only 8 years old when robbed by his guardians the British of Kasmir [sic] which they sold to Gulab Singh for £75,000. This money had been placed in Firozpur by his brother Raja Sujet Singh who was killed in battle. At his death this money legally reverted to the Lahore Treasury, but the British accepted it from Gulab Singh in payment of Kashmir. Kashmir was bought with my father's money. Kashmir therefore twice over [also underlined in red] belongs to me'. 294 x 200 mm.On her return to England after the war, perhaps provoked by the partition of the Punjab between India and Pakistan, but also ill-health, Princess Bamba began to refer to herself as 'Queen of the Punjab', and often caused a nuisance in the street in places such as Norwich, asking policemen and others if she knew who she was, Queen of the Punjab.2. A letter from the Governor of the Punjab, addressed to Princess Bamba Sutherland, apparently in rather exasperated response to a perceived slight, dated Government House, Lahore, 30th December 1941: Thank you for your letter of December 23rd, and I apologize for the delay in replying. I have now looked up the records and I find that the procedure indicated in the ADC's letter to which you refer has received the approval of very high authority, and I regret that I am unable to alter it. Let me assure you, however, that the last thing that my wife and I would wish to do is hurt your feelings in any way. With our kindest regards and all good wishes for the New Year., addressed to the Princess at 'Gulzar', Jail Road, Lahore, Governor's official stamp at upper left, 227 x 176 mm.Princess Bamba became stranded in Lahore from January 1941 for the duration of the war, purchasing a house there, and was often unwell as well as distraught through loneliness and being unable to see her sister Catherine before she died in 1942. She became convinced that she had been poisoned by British agents (though she does in reality seem to have been watched by the authorities).3. A typewritten letter, sent soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, from a doubtless harrassed British Consul-General at Marseille, informing the Princess that he cannot assist her with either a visa to enter Spain or a visa to leave France, dated 21st September 1939, addressed to the Poste Restante at Font Romeu, signed by the Consul and with embossed stamp at top, 240 x 190 mm.4. A group of fifteen typewritten sheets from a total of twelve separate letters (incomplete) addressed to Princess Bamba from her solicitors, regarding the estate of her late sister Princess Irene and her litigation with her stepsister Princess Pauline Torry, letters dated between 13th July 1927 and 20th December 1930, two addressed to the Princess at the Poste Restantes in Nice and Monte Carlo, 260 x 205 mm.5. A group of fifteen medical prescriptions made out for the Princess, dating between 1953 and 1956, from the United Christian Hospital, Lahore, a Dr H. M. Selzer, and a Dr G. Lorbeer, both in Lahore, and a Dr Qureshi in Abbottabad, handwritten on printed chits, 190 x 125 mm. and slightly smaller.6. A small quantity of share dividend receipts for Princess Bamba's holding in Woolworth's and Shell, 1951 and 1952, printed forms, 160 x 360 mm.7. A group of seven hotel bills for the Princess during her travels in the Punjab, printed and handwritten chits for hotels in Karachi, Patiala, Multan, one dated 1955, 335 x 265 mm. and smaller.8. A group of nine letters and receipts relating to the Princess' tax affairs, Lahore, 1943, discussing refunds of income tax and her resident status ('Not Ordinary Resident', having arrived in India in February 1941), 230 x 140 mm. and smaller.9. A group of eight letters addressed to Princess Bamba: two letters to the Princess from the Assistant Resident at Lahore (on embossed headed paper), dated Srinagar, 5th and 6th November 1914, gently reminding her that she owes a certain Miss Langley the 'trifling sum' of fifty rupees, and asking her to remit the sum to avoid the possibility of Miss Langley bringing a civil suit against the Princess and 'in the hope of saving you possible annoyance hereafter', and 'with every apology for troubling you'; the second letter, a day later, thanks the Princess for the sum and wishes her a 'good journey down'; a letter from a letting agency in Srinagar, dated 5th November 1914, regarding a house and the aforementioned Miss Langley; four separate notes, apparently from Miss Langley herself, requesting the money, dated October [?] 1914, 210 x 140 mm. and smaller.10. A small clipping from The Illustrated London News, 30th June 1849, relating to Maharani Jindan Kaur's escape from British prison, 160 x 87 mm.11. A small albumen photograph of Maharajah Duleep Singh, circa 1860, 88 x 58 mm.12. A small engraved illustration of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, clipped from a newspaper, late 19th Century, 100 x 82 mm.13. A signed letter in Italian from the Princess to an Italian shipper or travel agent, regarding the collection of packages from San Remo to go to India, dated Hilden Hall, Penn, Buckinghamshire, 29th September 1949, 265 x 205 mm.14. A letter in the hand of Princess Bamba writing... For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
