His Highness Gaj Singh II, Maharaja of Jodhpur

His Highness is the thirty-eighth head of the Rathor clan of the Rajputs of Marwar. Simply known as `Bapji" (father) to subjects, clansmen, friends and relatives, he was four years old when he succeeded to the Gaddi (throne) of Jodhpur. He is considered by his people to be the social and cultural head of Jodhpur, a fount of patronage and the custodian of her fabulous riches – forts, palaces, havelis, manuscripts, paintings, costumes, weapons and jewellery. Amongst its many precious heirlooms this clan counts foremost the sandalwood throne of Kanauj, the oldest piece of Indian furniture and to the Rathor, his only existing link with his ancestors of Kanauj, including Jaichand, who was, until 1194, the most powerful ruler in northern India.
His Highness"s seven hundred year-old traditions and history has seen much change and his clan"s martial chivalry has experienced the Mughals, Marathas and the British. He was born during the transition to independent India and is now an intrinsic and important part of modern India. He was eight years old when he went to Cothill House prep in Oxfordshire. He was thirteen when he moved on to Eton. He studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Christ Church, Oxford.
Following a period in politics his activities have covered a wide range of social and cultural life. He served as the Indian High Commissioner to the West Indies from 1978-1980. He was elected (unopposed) member of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament from 1990-1992. As Convener of the Marwar regional chapter of INTACH, he has pioneered architectural conservation and restored many historical buildings in Marwar. In 2006, he received the Hadrian Award given by the World Monument Fund. As head of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Rajasthan, he has done much to raise the level of awareness amongst his people. He is Founder-Patron of the Jodhpur Polo and Equestrian Institute. His own trusts are very active. The Meherangarh Museum Trust maintains the finest fort museum in India. It is also a lively centre of academic research. The religious trust continues to support many temples in the city. The educational trust runs and supports a number of schools. The medical trust runs a free hospital in the walled city and regularly organizes medical camps in the villages. Another trust cares for ex-soldiers, war widows and their children.
Umaid Bhawan palace is now one of the finest hotels in the world and His Highness is actively involved in the hotels and tourism industry. He was Chairman of the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation from 1994-1998. He is Founder-President of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association, Jaipur. He is widely respected as a symbol of continuity and an instrument for ordered change. He weds the past and the present, the traditional and the modern, with consummate skill and panache. As his ancestor, Sheoji, once carved himself an empire from the smouldering ruins of Kanauj, his descendant today has carved himself a very special niche.
He has been on the Advisory Board of Sotheby’s India and subsequently Osian’s and now brings his invaluable knowledge to Bid & Hammer’s Advisory Panel.

His Highness Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, Prince of Arcot

His Highness Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali Azim Jah, the eighth Prince of Arcot traces his lineage to the second Caliph of Islam, Hazrath Omar Ibn Khattab. The Prince is the only royal in India who was not affected by the abolition of privy purses in 1971. He is ranked on par with the Cabinet Ministers of the State in the Warrant of Precedence, the Courtesy Ranks accorded to officials and non-officials. He is recognised by the Government of India as the first nobleman in the Muslim community of South India.
More than 300 years ago his ancestor Zulfikar Ali Khan was summoned from Mecca by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to fight against the Marathas. Zulfikar defeated their ruler Rajaram and the delighted Aurangzeb made him Nawab of the Carnatic. Thus began the House of Arcot. The town of Arcot, near Madras, became famous for its capture and defence by Robert Clive in 1751 during the war between the British and French for supremacy in South India, when they supported rival claimants to the throne of the Carnatic. The ruler at the time, supported by the British, was the liberal and enlightened Muhammad Ali Wallajah. He was made independent ruler of the Carnatic by the Mughal Emperor in 1765. This was a glorious episode for the House of Arcot.
By 1801, however, the Carnatic passed into British hands following the resignation of the government of Nawab Azim-Ud-Daula. He had presented Queen Charlotte, consort of George III, with the famous Arcot diamonds. The splendid Chepauk Palace, spread over 121 acres and perhaps the fist specimen of Indo-Saracenic architecture in the country, was taken over by the British. It is now the Senate House. In exchange they constructed Amir Mahal in 1789. Today, the 70 room palace is home to 600 family members, staff and their families. The title "Prince of Arcot", uniquely using the European style "Prince" was conferred on His Highness"s ancestors by the British government in 1870 after the post of Nawab of the Carnatic was abolished.
The House of Arcot has traditionally had a cordial interaction with the Hindu inhabitants of the Tamil country. This has generated a climate of mutual tolerance and secularism which is a hallmark of His Highness"s office. He has a passion for promoting Hindu-Muslim unity. The land for the construction of the Kapaleeswarar temple tank was donated by his ancestors. Every year, on the 10th day of Mohurram, the Hindus allow the Muslims to dip their "panjas", the sacred symbol of the hand, in the waters of the tank. The Prince is founder-secretary general of "Harmony India", a registered association formed in 1990 to promote communal amity and national integration. He says "secularism is the oxygen without which you cannot survive". He heads various other religious endowments, charitable organizations and educational trusts. The Arcots manage the "wakf" in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and have developed infrastructural facilities for pilgrims. They also maintain eight mosques in Tamil Nadu and many of those who work in their trusts are Hindus.
Prince Abdul Ali came to the title in 1994. He was Sheriff of Madras in 1984-85 and again in 1988-89. He is a patron of music, art and literature. He is an accomplished singer and pianist. Amir Mahal is adorned with the finest art and antiques and retains an elegance and old world charm. Under the present Prince of Arcot, a romantic, and valuable, piece of history is being faithfully preserved.

Rukmini Varma

Rukmini Varma hails from the royal family of Travancore. The grandniece of India"s renowned artist, Ravi Varma, she is herself an accomplished artist. In the 1960s she became interested in Bharata Natyam and other forms of classical Indian dancing such as Kathak and Kathakali. She gave many benefit performances and opened her own school of classical dancing in 1965. Her painting exhibition in 1973 was inaugurated by the Governor of Karnataka. In 1974, her exhibition `Conch and the Cauvery" was opened at the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi by Sri V. V. Giri, President of India. Other exhibitions followed including one in London in 1976, opened by Lord Mountbatten, who commissioned her to paint a portrait of him in a jewelled turban and achkan, for presentation to the Royal Overseas League in London. Unfortunately the commission was never completed due to Lord Mountbatten"s tragic death. In the 1970s she joined Stanislas Roerich on the advisory board of the Chittrakala Parishath in Bangalore. Her most recent project is a biography of her grand-uncle, Ravi Varma, in which she traces the metaphysical motivation behind the inspiration for his work. The publication is eagerly awaited.

Dr. Mohan Lal Nigam

Dr. Nigam was Director of the renowned Salar Jung Museum, one of the foremost Indian institutions for the repository of the arts, for 18 years. With his Masters and Ph. D. from Lucknow University he went as a Commonwealth Scholar to the U.K. He joined London University where he pursued higher studies in Archaeology and Museology. He did his A.M.A. (Diploma in Museology) from London and was elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, Great Britain, in 1963.
He joined the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, in 1964 and was appointed its Director in 1975. During a long and distinguished career with the Museum he has published ten books, including an outstanding work on jade. He has contributed numerous research papers in various leading national and international journals. These include the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, U.K.; Museum UNESCO, Paris; ICOFOM study series, Stockholm; Lalit Kala Akademy, Bombay; Marg, Bombay; J.U.P.H.S., Lucknow; Journal of M.A.I., New Delhi; and several others. He has also worlked as editor of the Journal of Museums Association of India, New Delhi and also of the Salar Jung Museum Bi-Annual Research journal, Hyderabad.
Dr.Nigam is associated with various cultural and educational institutions of the country. He has been acting as expert advisor to Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; Calcutta University; Ujjain University; Osmania University, Hyderabad; and many others. He is consulted by many international academics and scholars on a wide variety of subjects. He has also attended many international seminars and conferences.
Dr. Nigam is our advisor on historical and cultural research.

Dr. Sharada Srinivasan

Dr. Sharada Srinivasan recently combined her work as an archaeometallurgist with her love of classical Indian dance when she gave a lecture/performance at the Royal Asiatic Society London during the recent exhibition of Chola bronzes. This must be the most dynamic demonstration of the iconometric link between Lord Shiva"s cosmic dance and the constellation Orion, resulting from a collaborative study with the astrophysicist Nirupama Raghavan.
Dr. Srinivasan is a Fellow of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. A distinguished academic career included her Master"s dissertation on the use of stone in Indian Temples, submitted to the School of Oriental and African Studies. This won her the Flinders Petrie prize and a medal from the University of London in 1989. Her PhD thesis was on the topic of archaeometallurgical and art historical investigations on metal icons from southern India, submitted to the Department of Conservation, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, in 1996. She is a recipient of the British Chevening Scholarship (1991-1995); the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award (USA 1997); the Homi Bhabha Fellowship (from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 1996-1998); a Research Associate scholarship from the Forbes Fund at the Department of Conservation, Freer and Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1999; the DST-SERC Young Scientist Award (from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, 2001-2003).
Dr. Srinivasan works closely with INTACH and frequently lectures across the world. Her recent article in Orientations, Hong Kong, November/December 2006 ‘The Art and Science of Chola Bronzes’ highlights Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance and the icon"s realization in bronze taking on grander connotations as the `Cosmic Dance of Shiva". She has co-authored, with Srinivasa Ranganathan, an authoritative work on India"s legendary Wootz steel, Bangalore 2004, on India"s world leadership in earlier times in the manufacture of this renowned high-grade steel, particularly in the production of the ‘Damascus’ sword blade.
Dr. Srinivasan is our honorary advisor based in Bangalore.

Savita Apte

Savita Apte is a leading expert, art historian and independent commentator on Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art. She has been mentoring promising artists and guiding their development since 1991. In 1995 she joined Sotheby’s as consultant prior to heading their Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art Department for their auctions in London and New York.
She was also instrumental in developing and instituting the Sotheby’s Prize for Indian Art, in Mumbai, in 1998. She is on the advisory board of Sovereign Art Foundation, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (London) and is a Director of Asal Partners, APT and Gulf Art Fair.
She lectures on Contemporary South Asian Art at SOAS, Sotheby’s Institute, the British Museum and Oxford University. She is currently a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London and has two forthcoming publications on the subject.
She is now with us as an advisor and goodwill ambassador.

Madhavi Singh

Madhavi Singh is Managing Director, Dharohar Art Conservation (P) Ltd. Lucknow. She is a science graduate from the University of Lucknow, 1990, and a post-graduate in Conservation of Works of Art from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi, 1994. She was senior conservator at the Indian Conservation Institute, INTACH, Lucknow, where she received her professional training in conservation of Miniature Paintings, Books, Manuscripts, Documents, Textiles and other Art Objects from 1993-1996. She has conducted workshops at the National Archives, New Delhi and at INTACH, Lucknow, including one on the use of Cold Lining technique of Oil Painting. In 1995, Madhavi was appointed the M.Lib Counsellor for the Preservation and Conservation of Library Material at Indira Gandhi National Open University. She is also a life-member of the Indian Association for Conservation Studies.

Venkat Singh

Venkat Singh is Director, Dharohar Art Conservation (P) Ltd., Lucknow. A Mechanical Engineer from Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad 1987, he also studied conservation under his father, the late Shree Muni Singh, who was Head of the Conservation Division at the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, Lucknow, from 1979-1994. Since 1990, he has been involved in Art Conservation and is renowned for using his engineering skills to resolve conservation problems. He has successfully produced iconographically restored models, in synthetic stone, of antique Indian sculptures. One of these was sent to Germany for the Festival of India held in Berlin. He executed the interior design work for the Taj Mahotsav festival, Agra, in 1993 and worked on a project on the Traditional Plasters and Floors of India for the Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Numerous other projects include participating as an Expert Instructor in a workshop on Plasters and Paper Machines organized by the Government of Orissa with INTACH, 1995; participating in a seminar for preserving the cultural identity of Lucknow, organized by INTACH and the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Department, India, in 1998.