Lahore College of Administration Sciences (LUMS) has unveiled a landmark exhibition that brings again to public consciousness the misplaced treasures of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s legendary toshakhāna (royal treasury). Titled “Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Toshakhāna: The Materials Splendour of nineteenth Century Punjab,” the exhibition re-examines Punjab’s royal materials heritage by way of rigorous analysis, digital reconstruction, and immersive storytelling, providing audiences a uncommon window into the cultural and aesthetic lifetime of the Lahore Darbār.
Opened on December 12, 2025, and working by way of December 19, 2025, on the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani College of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS), LUMS, the exhibition traces the historical past and dispersal of the famed toshakhāna of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who dominated Punjab from 1799 to 1839. As soon as celebrated for its extraordinary objects crafted in gold and silver and embellished with treasured stones, the toshakhāna mirrored the refined creative sensibilities and cultural vibrancy of the Lahore Darbār. Many of those prized possessions had been later dismantled, auctioned, or misplaced following the annexation of Punjab in 1849 by the East India Firm.
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Nadhra Shahbaz Khan, Affiliate Professor of Artwork and Architectural Historical past, and Dr. Murtaza Taj, Affiliate Professor of Laptop Science, whose interdisciplinary collaboration attracts on years of analysis into the dispersal of the toshakhāna. By combining historic inquiry with digital methodologies, the curators have created an exhibition that permits guests to interact with materials tradition in new and significant methods.
Guests encounter a wealthy array of video narratives, infographics, immersive installations, and reimagined fashions of misplaced objects, developed by a devoted group of younger researchers: Abdullah Ahmad, Anas Kashmiri, Zeenat Nabi, Ayesha Ali, and Hamza Salar Hassan. Among the many narratives introduced is a nuanced account of the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond, alongside digital reconstructions of destroyed treasures comparable to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s silver bangla, a double-storied cell throne that was dismantled after annexation, its silver sheets melted down for bullion.
Collectively, these narratives spotlight the social, cultural, and creative lifetime of Lahore within the nineteenth century, encouraging audiences to interact with heritage as a significant dimension of historic understanding slightly than as a distant or summary previous. Talking on the opening ceremony, Vice Chancellor Dr. Ali Cheema emphasised the significance of such scholarly and public engagement initiatives. “Heritage at LUMS goals to centre heritage as a means for us to find who we’re as a folks, and to replicate on what inclusive futures might seem like,” he stated.
The exhibition’s Visitor of Honour, the college’s Founding Professional Chancellor, Syed Babar Ali, famous that a lot of Punjab’s dispersed heritage stays scattered throughout world collections awaiting documentation. The occasion’s Chief Visitor, eminent scholar Fakir Syed Aijazuddin, highlighted the broader stakes of historic inquiry, observing, “Those that overlook historical past usually are not condemned to be liberated; they’re condemned to forfeit it. And that’s the hazard that confronts us.”
The toshakhāna exhibition varieties a part of the broader Heritage at LUMS initiative, which seeks to advance heritage scholarship by way of analysis, preservation, and public engagement. Dr. Ali Raza, Chair of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, spoke about complementary initiatives such because the LUMS Digital Archive and the Lutfullah Khan Archive, entrusted to the College by the late archivist’s household. The gathering includes over 2,500 hours of recordings, which LUMS is actively working to protect and digitise for future generations.
Reflecting on the curatorial intent, Dr. Khan famous, “The intention is to not mourn what has been misplaced, however to recall or reimagine, after which learn these objects as dwelling portraits of their age; of the palms that formed them, the eyes that admired them, and the refined aesthetics of a society that introduced them into being.”
Open to the general public till December 19, 2025, the exhibition underscores LUMS’ dedication to interdisciplinary scholarship and its rising function as a nationwide platform for rethinking heritage by way of analysis, expertise, and inclusive cultural dialogue.
