Image Reference: The 39 Paintings contained within "The 1836 Tazkirat Al-Umara of Colonel James Skinner: Image Description: Thakur Shyam Singh Of Bissau One of the earlier Thakurs of Bissau Shyam Singh was an outstanding if somewhat unconventional ruler. An Englishman who visited his court in 1808 had this to say "At his palace I saw four Shekhawat Chief's and cousins - they were plain men, and seemed to be living in great harmony. While some of the others bore strong marks of the effect of opium especially noticeable in their eyes, one of them Shyam Singh seemed remarkably mild and well mannered but scarcely had I crossed the desert when I heard that Shyam Singh had murdered the three others at a feast, stabbing the first with his own hand". This story may or may not be authentic but is quite typical of times and conditions prevailing in that particular era. To his credit, however, it must be maintained that Shyam Singh was a brilliant general and tactician who hired the services of French mercenaries in his fight against the British and the Jaipur State. Most of the armory displayed here were a part of Shyam Singh's 'personal effects'.