The Sikh Empire was already collapsing when these coins were struck. Duleep Singh was eleven years old, a puppet ruler whose kingdom had been effectively administered by British Residents since his father Ranjit Singh's death in 1839. The Second Anglo-Sikh War erupted in 1848, and by February 1849 the Punjab was formally annexed — making this issue one of the final coinages produced under Sikh authority before the British dissolved the empire entirely.
Duleep Singh was subsequently deposed, converted to Christianity under British pressure, and transported to England, never to return to the Punjab as a ruler.
The Sikh Empire was already collapsing when these coins were struck. Duleep Singh was eleven years old, a puppet ruler whose kingdom had been effectively administered by British Residents since his father Ranjit Singh's death in 1839. The Second Anglo-Sikh War erupted in 1848, and by February 1849 the Punjab was formally annexed — making this issue one of the final coinages produced under Sikh authority before the British dissolved the empire entirely.
Duleep Singh was subsequently deposed, converted to Christianity under British pressure, and transported to England, never to return to the Punjab as a ruler.