Discovering stories from Punjab on the streets of Saint-Tropez, Cote D’Azur, France – Ranveer (Rav) Singh

Spring 2023

Abstract

This paper presents stories associated with artefacts and episodes from the Kingdom of Lahore
in Punjab, told through the author’s research visit and fieldwork on the streets of Saint-Tropez
located on the Cote D’Azur in the South of France. Episodes in the early 19th century that shaped
the establishment of the Kingdom of Lahore, ruled by Maharajah Ranjit Singh, are outlined, and
the author introduces Europeans employed in the armies of Punjab. The author describes how
the actions of the Maharajah in the 1830s opened up highly profitable trading routes for some
of his European generals between Lahore and Europe, dealing in arts, armour and textiles. The
establishment of these Indo-French trading routes included the export of luxurious shawls from
Kashmir and Amritsar (ruled at the time by Ranjit Singh) to Europe. One prominent individual,
Jean-Francois Allard, who rose to become a general in Punjab, is chronicled, and the paper
focuses on Allard and his wife, Bannou Pan Dei, and their life in Saint-Tropez. The paper ends
by highlighting the recent work by officials in Saint-Tropez to articulate these stories and shared
histories to develop interest, relations and promote tourism between the locations of India,
especially Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and France.

Keywords: Indo-French History, General Allard, Maharajah Ranjit Singh, Bannou Pan Dei,
Kashmir, Kashmiri shawls, Saint-Tropez


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By Ranveer (Rav) Singh
Founder, A Little History of the Sikhs

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