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| Tipu Sultan's three-pounder cannon with field carriage taazakhabarnews.com |
At India's expense, they vastly
improved the British economy and pushed the GDP up from mere 2% to more
than 20 % and saw to it India' economy plummeted from 23% down to mere
2% to 3%. The industrial revolution there was financed by the revenue from the
Indian subcontinent through depredation and deindustrialization of India as popular Indian politician Shashi Tharoor has put. Utterly improvised, when the British left India,
it was in a chaotic state - a nation split into two; democratic India
and theocratic Pakistan. The latter has become a lawless land almost like Wild West, a
breeding ground of hardcore terrorists run by mad mullahs
and equally mad politicians who are puppets of Pakistani military. The
sufferers are ordinary citizens of Pakistan whose future is bleak as the
country is heading toward bankruptcy.
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| Tipu Sultan of Mysore. devdiscourse.com |
Hard-pressed for money they do not mind selling them through auction houses. The auction houses in England frequently put up antique Indian items for auction and it never failed to attract the rich people in England and other places. Surprisingly, more often than not, they have never lost sight of artifacts, jewelry, swords, etc., once possessed by the great warrior, poet and innovative Tipu Sultan of Mysore who terrorized the East India company's army. His exploits against the British are quite well-known. Only in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war Tipu was felled down, He valiantly fought till he dropped dead on the battle field.
Soon after his death in Srirangapatna in 1799 at the age of 48, his palace was looted by the greedy and grasping British soldiers and higher officials. Col. Wellesley (later Duke Wellington) was no exception. he got certain personal items like the thick gold ring worn by Tipu at the time of death. A friend of mine once said, ''Had Tipu gold teeth planted instead of enamel, the British would have pried them out from his dead body.'' Some valuable items went to some of the high officials who had kept them as war souvenirs. Tipu's famous remarks was : ''I would rather live one day as a tiger than a lifetime
as a sheep’. After his death, the British Army’s National Army Museum
classified Tipu Sultan as one of the 10 Greatest enemies that the
British Army ever faced including Napoleon Bonaparte and Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk.
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| Tipu's sword handle taazakhabarnews.com |
Tipu was not only a great warrior, but also a man with innovative and inquisitive mind. He improved his father's rocket missiles and effectively used them against the British on the battle field. He had a separate division for the rocket-missiles. In the Srirangapatna fort one could see the rocket launch pads which are in a dilapidated state now. His fascination for tiger (babri) is quite well-known. This is the reason why the tiger-stripe design adorned most art, banners as well as arms and weapons of his time, in particular, guns and sword handles. Now on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London is a mechanical tiger which was made by the French engineers at his request.
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| Tipu Sultan's sword. taazakhabarnews.com |
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.
Yet another highlight was a three-pounder cannon with field carriage sold for £1,426,500 against an estimate of £40,000-60,000.
Apart, a unique item was a beautiful two shot flintlock sporting gun from Tipu’s personal armory worth around £100,000-150,000 sold for £722,500.
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The amazing collection included – featured sabers, trophy swords, arrow quivers, helmets, blunderbusses, fowling pieces and sporting guns. It is mentioned that each and every weapon was a work of art in its right.
The happiest man was none other than Claire Penhallurick, Head of the Indian and Islamic Department at ''Bonhams'' who could not contain his joy at the outcome of the sale. Connoisseurs from all around the world recognized the value and workmanship of these rare items from Tipu’s armory, a treasure trove of astonishing works of art. No doubt the auction house was delighted with the sale as they would have made a bundle out of it.
Claire Penhallurick ‘ .... Tipu Sultan’s arms and armor was of the greatest historical significance. For collectors, it was an unrivalled opportunity to acquire objects closely associated with this extraordinary, innovative man who continues to hold enormous fascination across the world.”
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