THE GOLDEN THRONE OF RANJIT SINGH The ambitious nature of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, combined with his forceful character and military genius, earned him the title of "The Lion of the Punjab". The throne illustrated was made for him after his accession to the throne of Zaman Shah, King of Afghanistan, whom he defeated in 1799. It is made of wood covered with richly-chased gold plates, analysis showing the metal to contain 97.75% of pure gold. The throne later came into the possession of the East India Company, becoming the property of the British Government after the Indian Mutiny. It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.