(41) A King is Crowned

In this episode, Ranjit Singh is crowned king of the Punjab; the venerable Sardar Sahib Singh Bedi presides over the coronation and daubs the young king’s forehead with saffron. As the young king tries to consolidate power, tumultuous events roil the subcontinent. To the West the grandsons of Ahmad Shah Abdali are locked in internecine warfare as they fight for the Afghan throne. Closer to home, the Irish Prince of Hansi, George Thomas, a sworn enemy of the Sikhs is neutralized by General Perron, the French soldier of fortune in the employ of the Marathas. To the East the British under the expansionist Lord Wellesley, eye the rich territories of the Marathas, whose internal conflicts boil over into a civil war that will have disastrous consequences for their empire and will roil the subcontinent.