SHER SINGH: What is the Resident Sahib doing in here so early? Everyone is looking for him. (Suddenly sees his hand.)
Larins, you’re bleeding! What have you done to yourself?
LAWRENCE: (Shouting.) Leave me alone!
SHER SINGH: (Trying to help him with his hand.) Tch, tch, Larins, you shouldn’t go about spilling good English blood.
LAWRENCE: Leave me alone.
SHER SINGH: (Humouring him.) Come on, Larins …
LAWRENCE: (Interrupting.) And call me the ‘Angrez Badshah’!
SHER SINGH: (Humouring him.) All right, ‘Angrez Badshah.’ Now come on, Larins, we have to dress your hand before the Darbar.
LAWRENCE: (Shouting.) Call me the Angrez Badshah!
SHER SINGH: Wah Guru! You really mean that! Look at your eyes.
(Lawrence goes to the side and inspects his eyes in a mirror.)
LAWRENCE: (Coolly.) Of course I mean it.
(Pause.)
Now dress me!
SHER SINGH: (Shocked.) What!
LAWRENCE: (Calmly.) Help me with those things.
SHER SINGH: The Maharaja’s …
LAWRENCE: (Interrupting.) Yes.
SHER SINGH: No!
LAWRENCE: Yes.
SHER SINGH: (Panicky.) Larins, what’s the matter?
LAWRENCE: (Shouting.) Call me the Angrez Badshah!
SHER SINGH: (Sadly.) Let’s go back to the Residency.
LAWRENCE: (Calmly.) If you won’t dress me, I shall do so myself.
(Begins to dress himself in the Lion’s ornaments slowly and deliberately. Finally he puts the turban on his head, very carefully. Sher Singh looks on, disappointed and helpless. Lawrence goes in front of the mirror, looks admiringly at himself, and shouts ‘Angrez Badshah.’ White spotlight on his glowing face as other lights fade.)
LAWRENCE: Angrez Badshah! Angrez Badshah!
(Puts his hand with the diamond condescendingly before him.)
Bow down to the Angrez Badshah! Bow down, you Lal Singhs and Tej Singhs. You can kiss the jewel. The Punjab is mine, as surely as the Koh-i-noor is mine.
Where is my Rani? In the harem, is she? So much the better.
Where is my son? Asleep. Let him sleep. He needs his sleep.
The tribes are restless? We shall teach the tribes. They are dealing with a great Badshah of a great land. Let’s go on to battle. The Lion has come.
(He yells.) Arhh!
(Light fades.)
Act Three Scene 3
The same. A few minutes later. Full lights on Diwan-e-Khas. A chaotic, noisy, but splendid assembly of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim nobles. His Highness Dalip Singh sits in the centre on a throne. Rani and Lal Singh sit on the divan nearby. Others are on the floor. Lawrence standing between the throne and the divan, is finishing his speech to the Court.
LAWRENCE: And finally I want to thank His Highness and the noble Darbar for listening to me so patiently. Please be assured that the British Government will try to act to the mutual advantage of both the Punjab and the Company. Our policy on land revenue is one example.
Our policy on the Frontier is another. My apologies to the Wazir Sahib again. It was truly an unfortunate incident—a misunderstanding, which resulted in a hasty arrest.
COURTIER: Don’t let it be repeated.
SECOND COURTIER: What about the Wazir’s plot against His Highness?
CROWD: Yes, yes. What about the plot against the government?
LAWRENCE: The Wazir has already rendered apologies to the government for his indiscretions.
SECOND COURTIER: Has the government accepted?
LAL SINGH: (Getting up.) Of course they have accepted.
CROWD: No, no. We want the Wazir to apologize.
LAL SINGH: Shut up, you pigs.
CROWD: No, no.
LAWRENCE: I think you’d better apologize, Lal Singh.
LAL SINGH: (Condescendingly.) I apologize.
LAWRENCE: Is the Darbar satisfied?
CROWD: Yes, yes. The Wazir is right. The Angrez is right.
Resident Sahib zindabad! Wazir Sahib zindabad!
LAWRENCE: Thank you. Now I beg permission of His Highness, the Rani Sahiba, the Wazir Sahib and the illustrious Darbar’s indulgence to proceed with the ceremony of the day of honours. The Governor-General has been kind enough to recommend honours to fifteen nobles of the Punjab.
HERALD: (Announcing in a magnificent voice.) The concluding and most honoured event of the Darbar will now take place in the auspicious presence of and with the cosmic blessing of the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-conquering His Highness, the Maharaja, by the Guru’s grace firmly established in his kingdom and bringing prosperity and strength to the Khalsaji—His Highness!
CROWD: May he live long! May His Highness live long!
HERALD: To fulfil the special request of our honoured and bountiful ally to our South, the Honourable East India Company and the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India, and one of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council …
CROWD: May he live long!
HERALD: His Highness, as a special favour to our esteemed ally who is represented by the most honoured ambassador, Mistar Hendri Larins …
CROWD: Larins Sahib zindabad! Larins Sahib!
HERALD: His Highness will confer titles and honours on fifteen nobles of our court.
(Shouts, clapping, music, noise.)
The first and foremost Sardar of our court, the brave and noble Sardar Tej Singh, the Commander-in-Chief of the Khalsa, is to receive the first honour; from today he will be addressed as Raja Tej Singh.
CROWD: Raja Tej Singh, may he live long! Raja Tej Singh!
HERALD: The magnificent Raja will now step forth to be blessed by His Highness with the sacred tikka, as a mark of his new status … Raja Sahib!
(Tej Singh steps forward and kneels before Dalip. Lawrence personally takes the golden plate containing saffron to Dalip, who instead of placing the tikka on Tej Singh’s forehead, shrinks back into his seat. Immediate commotion among the crowd. Confusion and noise.)
LAWRENCE: Your Highness!
TEJ SINGH: Your Highness!
CROWD: Your Highness!
(Dalip snatches the plate from Lawrence, and turns it upside down over the head of Tej Singh. With his left foot, Dalip kicks the Sardar, who loses his balance and falls down. Laughter among the crowd. Noise, shouts. Lawrence, red with anger, looks at the Rani, who turns away.)
CROWD: May His Highness live long!
(More commotion. Noise.)
LAWRENCE: (Clapping his hands for attention.) His Highness
