The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts

Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts

Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts is the V&A’s latest exhibition (until 17 January 2010). It sets out to explore the lives of India’s princes from the 18th century to the end of British rule in 1947. In the first room, a life-sized model elephant in all its finery — silver earrings, necklace, harness and howdah — stands ready to lead a royal procession. What else? Well, necklaces, belts and bracelets with rocks to make your eyes pop: look out for a dazzling turban ornament from the mid-18th-century. There’s a 19th-century howdah from the Mehrangarh Museum; many miniatures and watercolours depicting durbars, processions and life at court, including one of the 18th-century Maharana Ari Singh at Jag Mandir, his island palace; and a golden throne from Lahore. Don’t think the maharajas’ wives and courtiers led a slothful life, though: there are a pair of women’s dumb bells from Jodhpur, evidence of a 19th-century keep-fit culture.