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Sword, of the type called sukhela
by Rawson in The Indian Sword (London, 1968), with a calligraphic hilt lacking
a knucklebow, a broad, straight, wide single-edged blade and a velvet-covered,
gold-mounted scabbard.
Overall length (in
scabbard) 42 ½”; blade length 36 ½”
The polished, bright steel hilt of
standard talwar form, with a dished disc pommel, convex pommel cap fitted with
a gold loop for a sword knot, bellied grip and short, waisted quillons curving
slightly towards the tip of the blade; the hilt itself canted slightly forward
and inlaid overall in gold with five of the qualities of God and an invocation
of Him (twice), each of the qualities and one of the invocations rendered six
times.
The straight backsword blade, of
sukhela form, 1½” wide at the forte and with a double-edged point
10” long, inlaid in gold on the outside with the orb and parasol mark
ascribed by some authorities to Imperial Moghul swordsmiths, and deeply
engraved in five lines, within an engraved border, on the inside of the
blade, |
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the blade pierced with a small
hole 3¾” from the tip. The blade inlaid in gold on the back edge at
the forte with an inscription in Persi-Arabic that translates as The Sword
of the Ruler (or of the Kingdom).
The wooden scabbard covered in
faded, green, corded silk velvet and mounted with three silver-gilt mounts, the
upper two mounts having loose gilded iron rings; the mounts engraved overall
with panels of leaves within borders of bubri stripes and the lower mount
fitted with a gilded steel shoe.
Surely one of the most
important of the few swords with unquestioned close personal associations with
Tipu Sultan, this sword, with its unimpeachable provenance and contemporary
documented links with both Tipu and Baird, must represent one of the most
evocative trophies of war to be sold in auction for many years. National and
private collections worldwide have examples of the arms and armour removed from
Seringapatam after its fall. Inevitably, many of these have supposed links with
Tipu. Equally inevitably, many of these links are apocryphal - the result as
much of wishful thinking as of the power of the Tipu myth and its ability to
confer status upon what were everyday objects in the palace of the ruler of
Mysore. Few collections, other than the British Royal collection, possess items
with the unquestioned provenance of The Bedchamber Sword: a weapon not only
from Seringapatam but also from the private quarters of its prince, a weapon
that was undoubtedly a part of his personal arsenal.
The sword itself is of great
historical importance. It is also of great importance as a sword, calligraphic
hilts being amongst the rarest type of hilt from the Indian sub-continent and
involving extremely high standards of manufacturing detail. The combination of
what is essentially a talwãr hilt with a wide backsword blade
that is probably of Indian manufacture rather than a European import renders
this sword, technically, a sukhela.
What P.S Rawson categorised as a
sukhela is a type of sword associated with southern India and
particularly with south-eastern India: Madras, Mysore, the Mahratha territories
and the Deccan (where the form is called a dhup). There is evidence to
suggest that sukhelas were swords of state, rather than fighting swords:
the lack of a knucklebow on this example would tend to support this. Similarly,
the presence of sukhelas in Mughal paintings - where they are shown
being worn by courtiers or being received as gifts by the Emperor - would
explain not only the status of this sword as one quite likely to have been
found in the private apartments of a prince but also the fact that the blade is
probably of Mughal manufacture, with an inscription, The Sword of the Ruler
(or Kingdom), proving that this sword must have princely associations. The
blade may well be of an earlier date than the hilt since it follows in its form
the style of German 16th century blades imported into India and obviously
copied by Mughal swordsmiths, even down to the orb mark which - combined with a
cross above it - is found on German blades of the period. By adding a Mughal
Imperial parasol to the orb mark, itself an international symbol associated
with blades of high quality, the Mughal swordsmiths were taking the status
implied by such an imported blade and adding to it their own stamp. Such blades
were not everyday items, even in a culture that set such store by the quality
of swords, and so the existence of this blade in this hilt is further evidence
of the high status of the sword and its owner.
Although Tipu ruled what was
primarily a Hindu state, he was Muslim in faith and a pious and doughty
defender of that faith. This accounts for the presence, in the very finest gold
inlay, on the hilt of five of the qualities of God and of two invocations of
Him. These qualities have been translated as O! the Helper, O! the Opener,
O! the Protector, O! the Aide and O! the Supporter. The invocations
call upon God by name O! God. Each of the qualities is repeated six
times, as is one of the invocations, making a total of 36 occurrences. The
nature of the inscriptions, together with the remarkably high quality of the
inlaid calligraphy in which they are rendered, implies - without doubt - that
this is the sword of a very high-ranking Muslim: Tipu was just such a man.
That this sword should have been the
one chosen for presentation to Baird by those who had served under him at the
assault upon Seringapatam, is of great significance. It would have been
selected with care from among the chaos that must have been present in
Tipu’s apartments following his death. The survivors of Tipu’s family
and retainers would have been asked about its significance in order to inform
its choice as the weapon selected for presentation. There were officers in the
occupying Army capable of reading the hilt and blade inscriptions, of
understanding the significance of their presence and thereby appreciating the
importance of the sword. In presenting this particular sword, not only one of
Tipu’s personal swords but also one of great status, to Baird - and by
doing so publicly - his officers were demonstrating the age-old ritual of the
Trophy: taking an enemy’s most prized possession and presenting it to the
victor. Had he been there, Tipu would have got the point.
Sold as lot 3 by Dix Noonan Webb on 19
September 2003.
Images reproduced by courtesy of Dix Noonan Webb,
the
London auctioneers. |
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