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- Gender:
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- Age:
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- Country:
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- City:
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A Tartaned Singh ! Alexander Gardener photographed dressed as a Sikh Noble man. A man with a fascinating history: In August 1831 he left for the Punjab, where he was appointed Commandant of Artillery. He served in this position for many years before he was transferred to the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, where he was one of between 32 and 100 Western soldiers in Ranjit's army. He was later promoted to the rank of Colonel by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He writes: The untented Kosmos my abode, I pass, a wilful stranger: My mistress still the open road And the bright eyes of danger. Epigraph of Alexander Gardner's Autobiography. He remained in the Sikh army after Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, but after the First Anglo-Sikh War he joined the service of Gulab Singh, Maharajah of Kashmir, and spent the rest of his life in Srinagar. Gardner was involved in numerous gun fights and sword fights during his career. He was described as being six foot, with a long beard, an all around warrior and fighter. Gardner was known to have saved the City of Lahore in 1841 when his comrades abandoned him and he fired the guns that killed 300 enemies. He is described by Keay as continuing to suffer the effects of 14 wounds in later life. Gardner remained in the service of the Maharajas as they came and went, and witnessed the fall of the Punjab as a sovereign kingdom. This he vividly described in his book on the 'Fall of the Sikh Empire.' Gardner kept a journal, much of which was lost. Extracts were published in 1853, and attracted controversy. His exploits were so bizarre that the geographer Sir Henry Yule disbelieved them. In later life, Gardner related his adventures to several prospective biographers, and after his death the surviving material was published in 'Soldier and Traveller: memoirs of Alexander Gardner'; edited by Major Hugh Pearse.
