From the Life in the Sikh Kingdoms collection ·
The full story
Akal Sahai invokes the protection or help of the Timeless One. The British Library records the motto on coins, sword hilts and important manuscripts, and on an actual signet ring belonging to Bhai Maharaj Singh. That surviving ring has a reversed Gurmukhi inscription, intended to make a readable impression.
The card imagines a much more lavish object: a green face set within a gold ring, accompanied by a red impression. Look from one to the other. A working seal is an intriguing meeting of jewellery and writing—an object worn by a person that can leave a mark after the person is gone.
This design is symbolic, not a reconstruction of the Library’s ring or proof of an emerald signet with this appearance. The illustrated letters and impression are decorative. Follow the source to compare the documented object and to learn how a short devotional phrase travelled across different materials in Sikh history.
Research & sources
Follow the historical record behind this card. Campaign artwork is an interpretation; an object’s ownership, appearance or a person’s likeness needs its own evidence.
Place it in the wider story.
Seals, inscriptions and historical evidence ↗
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