'Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts' at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, 10 October 2009 - 17 January 2010, is the first exhibition to comprehensively explore the world of the maharajas and their extraordinarily rich culture. The exhibition will bring together over 250 magnificent objects, many on loan from India’s royal collections. It will include three thrones, a silver gilt howdah, gem-encrusted weapons, court paintings, photographs, a silver carriage, a Rolls Royce, Indian turban jewels and jewellery commissioned from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels in the 20th century.

The word 'maharaja' (literally 'great king') conjures up images of fantasy and spectacle. The heyday of the maharajas began in earnest after the collapse of the Mughal empire in the early 18th century. The exhibition will open with this period of chaos and adventure and will close at the end of British rule in 1947, when Indian princes acceded their territories into the modern states of India and Pakistan. It will show the changing role of the maharajas in an historical and social context and look at how their patronage of the arts both in India and Europe resulted in splendid and beautiful commissions designed to enhance royal status and identity.

Many of the objects have never before been seen in the UK. The royal collections of Udaipur and Jodhpur are lending several spectacular paintings and objects. The V&A is reuniting four portraits from the 1930s by Bernard Boutet de Monvel depicting the elegant Maharaja and Maharani of Indore. One pair depicts them in Maratha dress and the other in modern Western dress. They will be shown together on public display for the first time.

The show will explore the extraordinary culture of princely India, showcasing rich and varied objects that reflect different aspects of royal life. The exhibits will include both Indian and Western works, featuring paintings, photography, textiles and dress, jewellery, jewelled objects, metalwork and furniture. These sensational works will be explored within a broader historical context of princely life and ideals, patronage, court culture and alliances.