Royals and Rebels: The Rise And Fall Of The Sikh Empire w/ Priya Atwal

Join Royals and Rebels author Priya Atwal for an exciting charitable talk as she details the history of the Sikh Empire.

Dr Priya Atwal will be delivering a talk at the Nissan lecture theatre in St Antony’s college where she will detail the rise and fall of the Sikh empire.

Dr Priya Atwal is a historian at the University of Oxford. Her book, Royals and Rebels: the Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire, was published in 2020. Her research specialises in the study of monarchy and empire in Britain and South Asia, and she has a long-standing interest in the history of the Sikhs and Punjab. Priya was President of the Sikh Society from 2009-10, and SikhSoc was where she first learned about the history of the Sikh Empire, so she is very excited about this special event!

This event is in collaboration with the Midlands-based charity Unite in Virtue which aims to feed, council, and support those in need. The charity has expanded over the last few years, serving a greater number of people with hot meals and the occasional clothes donation.

In order to support the charity, we are requesting that all attendees make a small donation to help assist the cause. We recommend a minimum donation of £5, but please feel free to donate as little or as much as you want!

Please see the charity’s website to learn more: http://www.uniteinvirtue.co.uk/site/

Please see this link to learn more about Dr Priya Atwal: https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-priya-atwal

About the book

In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet.

Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the queens and princes to the story of this empire’s spectacular rise and fall. She brings to life a self-made ruling family, inventively fusing Sikh, Mughal and European ideas of power, but eventually succumbing to gendered family politics, as the Sikh Empire fell to its great rival in the new India: the British.

Royals and Rebels is a fascinating tale of family, royalty and the fluidity of power, set in a dramatic global era when new stars rose and upstart empires clashed.

About the author

Priya Atwal is the Community History Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she earlier obtained her doctorate. Her research on monarchy and empire has been featured in collaborative projects with Historic Royal Palaces, among others; and on BBC radio and television programmes, including BBC4’s The Stolen Maharajah.