● Maharaja: the Splendour of India’s Roral Courts ●
(10 ottobre 2009 – 17 gennaio 2010)

● This major exhibition is the first to explore the rich and varied culture of royal India. The exhibition features objects selected from both royal and private collections, including magnificent turban-jewels, gem-encrusted weapons, beautiful textiles and costumes, special commissions by Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, intimate portraits by Man Ray and Cecil Beaton, rare archive film and a Rolls Royce.

Londra

The Exhibition

● The word maharaja, literally ‘great king’, conjures up a vision of splendour and magnificence. The image of a turbaned, bejewelled ruler with absolute authority and immense wealth is pervasive and evocative, but it fails to do justice to his role in the cultural and political history of India. Maharaja: the splendour of India’s royal courts re-examines the world of the maharajas and their extraordinarily rich culture.
The exhibition spans the period from the beginning of the 18th century to the mid-20th century, bringing together over 250 magnificent objects, many being lent from India’s royal collections for the first time. It examines the changing role of the maharajas within a social and historical context and reveals how their patronage of the arts, both in India and Europe, resulted in splendid and beautiful objects symbolic of royal status, power and identity.

Royal Spectacle

● The secular and sacred power of an Indian king was expressed most spectacularly in the grand public processions that celebrated royal events and religious festivities. Riding a richly caparisoned elephant or horse, the ruler was lavishly dressed and jewelled and surrounded by attendants bearing symbolic attributes of kingship: a royal parasol, chauri, fans and staffs of authority.
The vision of a king in all his splendour was believed to be auspicious. It was central to the concept of darshan, the propitious act of seeing and being seen by a superior being, whether a god or a king. Although originally a Hindu notion, the idea of darshan became an integral aspect of kingship throughout the subcontinent.

Kingship in India
● In India rulers were expected to exercise rajadharma, meaning the duties and behaviour appropriate to a king. These would include the protection of their subjects, the adjudication of disputes, and the ministering of justice and punishment. Martial skills were as important as administrative and diplomatic ones; as well as being wise and benevolent, kings were expected to be fierce warriors and skilled hunters. Rajadharma was also exercised through the patronage of poets, musicians, architects, artists, craftsmen and religious foundations.
The concept of rajadharma derived from ancient texts and evolved in response to foreign invasion as well as to religious, social and cultural changes. By the 18th century the Mughals had created a dominant notion of kingship that united indigenous models with those derived from Islamic culture.

Shifting Power

● The 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of great political change in India. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal dynasty was beset by internal conflict and weak rule. Mughal power collapsed completely in 1739, when the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah sacked Delhi and looted the imperial treasury. Although the dynasty survived in name, it wielded no real authority. Mughal regional governors, although still technically allied to the emperor, laid claim to territories as independent rulers. Elsewhere, successful warrior leaders emerged to fill the political vacuum, carving out new kingdoms.
These newly formed states often engaged in a struggle for dominance with each other and with older kingdoms that had freed themselves from Mughal vassalage. This period also saw the English East India Company transform from a trading body into a major military and political power.

The Raj

● Crown rule in India, known as the Raj (literally ‘rule’), operated as a two-tier system. The British had direct control over three-fifths of the subcontinent, known as ‘British India’, and indirect control over the remaining territory. Although Indian rulers were guaranteed their borders and rights, the British continued to interfere in the day-to-day running of their states and to limit royal authority – most dramatically in deposing rulers they viewed as unsuitable.
The number of Indian princes – as rulers were now termed - grew enormously as the British bestowed titles on landowners and chieftains. A system of imperial orders was introduced to integrate Indian rulers into a western-style feudal hierarchy. The most important states were ranked within a system of gun salutes; Queen Victoria was entitled to 101 guns, the viceroy and members of the royal family to 31, while the princes had between 21 and 9 depending on their status.

Princely India

● Indian rulers adapted to the new British imperial regime, just as they had to that of the Mughals. Politically emasculated, they were recognised only as ‘princes’ or ‘native chiefs and rulers’, rather than ‘kings’. Yet, they continued to maintain order within their states, tax their subjects, allocate revenue and patronise cultural activities in a way that fused traditional rajadharma (royal duty) with western models of governance.
Outside princely India, the maharajas were often viewed as exotic beings who epitomised India’s role as the jewel in Britain’s imperial crown. The princes found themselves in an almost impossible position. They were obliged to live within traditional boundaries and appear as the stereotypical ‘maharaja’ when required, but educated by English tutors, they were also encouraged to think along western lines and behave as English gentlemen. Some refused to countenance these conflicting demands, but most accepted the dominant British model of modernity.

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● INFO ●
£11 adults, concessions available
To book call +44 (0)844 209 1770 or book online (Booking fee applies)
Exhibition opening times - Daily 10.00-17.30 (last ticket sold 16.45, last entry 17.00) - Fridays 10.00-21.30 (last ticket sold 20.45, last entry 21.00) Exhibitions close 10 minutes prior to museum closing
Late night opening - The V&A is open late every Friday - take this opportunity to visit Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, meet friends and have
a drink in our café-bar.
Tubes: South Kensington, Knightsbridge
Buses: C1, 14 and 74 stop outside the Cromwell
Road entrance
Access - There is full access to the galleries. We have a
wide range of services for disabled visitors.
Call +44 (0)20 7942 2766 or
Textphone +44 (0)20 7942 2002 for details.
Exhibition Tour
After London, the exhibition will tour to Munich, Germany: Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung
12 February — 23 May 2010.
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