The colonial rule in India from the middle of 18th century till 1947 was not only one of unjust rule and exploitation of country's natural resources and land-grabbing but also of looting India's riches like diamonds, jewelry, artifacts and bronze idols of deities of archaeological and historical value, etc. The East India company was more of a looter of Indian riches than of an administrator. Subsequently, when the Crown administration ran the Indian subcontinent from London, looting and land - grabbing continued without a break in a subtle manner. No doubt the British empire was accused of stealing various invaluable and historical items from their colonies across the Globe and proudly displayed them in London in various museums to highlight their past imperial power and political dominance. The preponderance of stuff in the British museums were stolen from India covering more than two centuries of plundering. It is to be noted and is often mentioned by historians that that if the British were to return the stuff plundered by them to the colonies, British museums would be left with empty space and racks.
The British under the east India company extensively looted Tipu's personal collection worth crores of rupees after his death in 1799. Within minutes of Tipu's death in the battle field, British soldiers removed the jewels, ornaments, and valuable items from his dead body. In the later days, his palace was looted by English soldiers under col Wellesley and other military officers. Quite disgusting thing.The unabated loot and plundering by British Army in individual capacity went on unaccounted as a personal collection.
The April 2015 auction was organized under the title ‘Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art Sale’ and consisted of 30 items all from a single collection. The exquisite collection was sold for a total of more than £6 million. The top lot in the sale was a rare gem-set sword with tiger's head pommel from Tipu Sultan's royal regalia. Estimated at £60,000-80,000 it was sold for £2,154,500.
India's was achieved after 200 years of slavery and for two centuries Britain looted India as much as they could. An economic study tried to estimate how much British took out of India, it ended up at a number of $45 trillion in today’s value. Not just India, British also stole valuable things from around other countries. The following are just a sample:
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| Tipu Sultan's mechanical wooden tiger toy 18th C dw.com/en |
Rare personal items looted by the English company from Tipu Sultan of Mysore:
01. Tipu Sultan's sword:
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| shutterstock.com |
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| Tipu Sultan's sword. indiatimes.com |
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| flintlock sporting gun.indiatimes.com |
Above image: A silver-mounted flintlock sporting gun from the personal armory of Tipu Sultan
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03. Tipu Sultan's gem-crusted tiger-head:
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| /part of Tipu Sultan's throne, Tiger head. r.pinterest.com |
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| .Tipu Sultan's gem-encrusted tiger head. bbc.com |
Above image: Way back in 2009 another jewel belonging to Tipu Sultan sold for almost £400,000 in 2009. A gold-sheet tiger’s head set with rubies, diamonds and emeralds stripped from Tipu’s throne in his palace after his death in 1799 at Seringapatam. This tiger head had been in a London bank vault unnoticed for over a century. Finally it was rescued from obscurity by the famous auction house, Bonhams. The 338-gram piece which is seven inches high, is one of three surviving pieces of the throne. It will go under the hammer on April 2 with a reserve price between £ 6,00,000 (Rs 4.44 crore) and £ 8,00,000 (Rs 5.94 crore) as part of the Bonhams’s Islamic and Indian Art Sale.
Claire Penhallurick of Bonhams’ Indian and Islamic department said it was an “extraordinary privilege” to be selling the piece. “It’s an important discovery and had been unknown for years. It had been lying in the English collection for over 100 years,” she said
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04. Bronze cannon of Tipu Sultan of Mysore
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| .Bronze cannon of Tipu Sultan of mysore. indiatimes.com |
Above image: Tipu Sultan's A rare 3-pounder bronze cannon with field carriage from the gun carriage manufacturing factory at Srirangapatna; it was sold for £1,426,500 against an estimate of £40,000-60,000.
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05. Tipu's magic gold box:
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| Tipu's magic gold box. reddit.com/r |
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6211941
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06. The Gold Ring of Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan of Mysore often called Tiger of Mysore at last was defeated in the final Angelo - Mysore war in 1799 at Srirangapatna (now in Karnataka). When he was killed in the war Duke Wellington (then major Marques Wellesley) had Tipu's gold ring removed from the dead body of Tipu and kept it as his personal war spoil. It had been a custom for Tipu to wear the heavy gold ring with the Hindu god' s ''Ram'' name inscribed in raised Devanagari while fighting wars.
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| Tipu sultan's gold ring hamariweb.com |
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| Richard Wellesley (Duke of Wellington).en. wikipedia.org |
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| Tipu Sultan of Mysore alhaqeeqa.org |
Above image: Tipu Sultan of Mysore (1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), was a courageous warrior. To him the dishonest and highly corrupt English company was a sworn enemy, hence he had a military alliance with the French army operating in India. Also known as the Tiger of Mysore, he was an innovative person and a pioneer of Mysorian rockets that could travel long distance ie 1 km and hit the targets. he used heat resistant metal-pipes in the rockets. A good administrator he introduced new coinage system a new land revenue system which initiated the growth of the Mysore silk industry. he was killed in the final war with the English in 1799 at Srirangapatna. Arthur Wellesley, later known as the Duke of Wellington, led his army into Seringapatam, the capital of Mysore After his death at the age of 48 British General Harris to exclaim "now India is ours. The unfortunate fact is Tipu was betrayed by his men in the court. He was buried the next afternoon at the Gumaz, next to the grave of his father. The items on auction bore the trademark tiger and tiger stripes associated with the Tiger of Mysore as proof of their provenance. ..........................
07. Gem-set sword:
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| taazakhabarnews.com |
Above image: The highlight of this sale was a rare gem-set sword with tiger’s head pommel from Tipu royal regalia, estimated to be worth £60,000-80,000. It sold for £2,154,500. Bonham's Islamic and Indian art sale, London , April 2015...............
08. Betel-nut Casket:
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| Tipu Sultan's betel nut box. economictimes.indiatimes.com |
Above image: An intricately designed Betel Nut Casket (17,500 pounds) belonging to Major hart; Berkshire-based Antony Cribb Ltd were the auctioneers, who specialize in arms and armory related sales, had announced the auction in march 2019. The other item included a Gold East India Company Seal ring (2,800 pounds) belonging to Major Hart. The descendants of major Hart kept them for some generations prior to the present owners.
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| Tipu Sultan's flintlock gun and bayonet.economictimes.indiatimes.com |
Above image: This personal item of Tipu was hugely popular as it attracted 14 bids before going under the hammer for 60,000 pounds. It is a 20 bore flintlock gun from the personal armory of Tipu. He used many Western craftsmen, and this gun reflects the most up-to-date technologies of the time......
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/tipu-sultans-20-bore-flintlock-gun-and-bayonet-fetch-60000-at-uk-auction/articleshow/68596489.cms
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedstatesofindia/comments/shuyn1/tipu_sultans_magic_bo
https://taazakhabarnews.com/sword-of-tipu-sultan-fetches-6-million-pounds/
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