General Jean-Baptiste Ventura

Jean-Baptiste Ventura was an Italian officer who served Maharaja Ranjit Singh from 1822 to 1843 and trained the infantry of the Khalsa army on European lines. He was born Rubino Ventura on 25 May 1794 at Finale in the Duchy of Modena. He enlisted at 17 in the militia of the Kingdom of Italy and later served in Napoleon's army. In 1817, after a dispute with a ducal policeman, he left Italy, worked as a ship-broker in Constantinople and changed his name to Jean-Baptiste. He then trained the army of the Shah of Persia, rising to colonel; after Fath Ali Shah died in 1822 he sought service under Abbas Mirza but was dismissed (Wikipedia).

In the service of the Darbar. He reached Lahore in 1822 with the Frenchman Jean-Francois Allard. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that Ranjit Singh hired Allard to train the cavalry and Ventura to train the infantry, together with other foreign officers, and that Ventura rose to the top of the military hierarchy and was given the title Count de Mandi. Dawn credits him with raising four infantry battalions and an artillery regiment, and says he helped win the battle of Nowshera in 1823. Wikipedia adds that he was made a general, Kazi (supreme judge) and governor of Lahore. Accounts differ over the Fauj-i-Khas, the European-drilled model brigade: Wikipedia says Ventura commanded it, while a Dawn history credits Allard with founding it.

Beyond the army. In 1830 he was the first to explore the Manikyala stupa and recovered coins and relics now in the British Museum. King Louis Philippe awarded him the Legion of Honour in 1835. He made a diplomatic mission to Paris and London in 1838 and was recalled to Lahore. He kept serving the Darbar after Ranjit Singh's death and left the Punjab after Maharaja Sher Singh was assassinated in September 1843.

Later life. He lost part of his fortune in failed business ventures and settled near Toulouse, where he died at Lardenne on 3 April 1858. The Jewish Encyclopedia, which also records him, gives 1795 and 5 April.

Key moments

• 25 May 1794: born at Finale, Modena.
• 1822: arrives in Lahore with Allard.
• 1823: Nowshera.
• 1830: explores the Manikyala stupa.
• 1835: Legion of Honour.
• September 1843: leaves after Sher Singh's assassination.
• 3 April 1858: dies near Toulouse.