One of the three popular swords of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, ‘Jagdamba’, may soon travel to India from the United Kingdom (UK) for a year. The sword will be kept in a museum to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the famed Maratha ruler, as per reports.
As per records, Shivaji IV, the descendant of Maratha King Shivaji, presented the sword to Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII, during his visit to India in 1875-76. At that time, Shivaji IV was only 11 years old. As per the Indian Express report from 2022, the sword was more of a coercive extraction by the British rather than a genuine gift. Shivaji IV was forced to “gift” the sword like many other kings of that time. The three popular swords of Shivaji were named ‘Bhavani’, ‘Jagdamba’, and ‘Tulja’.
The sword currently resides at Saint Jame’s Palace in London under the purview of the British Royal Family. As per the Hindu’s report, the government of Maharashtra has started talks with the centre to bring back the sword. Speaking to The Hindu, state Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said he would hold discussions with the officials in the UK. The central government will be the guarantor for the sword to get it back to India briefly.
He said, “I will personally reach out to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in this regard. We wish to keep it in Maharashtra for at least one year. It is touched by the Maharaj [Shivaji Maharaj] and is extremely valuable for us since.” Mungantiwar added, “It will be a moment of pride if we get back the Jagdamba sword to mark the 350th anniversary of Shivaji’s coronation in 2024. Once we get the sword, we will organise a series of events across the State for the special day.”
Notably, after India gained independence, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian leader to make an attempt to bring back the sword. Later, several Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, including first CM Yashwantrao Chavan, attempted the same.
According to historian Indrajit Sawan, author of Shodh Bhavani Talwaricha (In search of Bhavani sword), when the Prince of Wales scheduled a visit to India, he had instructed the British officials to find the “best antique” weapons with historical significance for his collection. Several Indian Kings, including Shivaji IV, “gifted” him weapons during the visit. As a return gift, Shivaji IV was presented with a sword that is currently placed at the New Palace Museum at Kohlapur.
The Maharashtra government has been trying to bring back the sword since November November 2022. At that time, Mungantiwar said he would discuss with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bring back the sword.
The dimensions of the historic sword are “127.8 x 11.8 x 9.1 cm”. The length of the blade is 95 CM. Its catalogue at the museum reads, “Sabre: Maratha straight, one-edged old European blade, with two grooves on each side, in one of which IHS is stamped three times; the raised steel supports at the hilt are damascened with gold in floral designs; the guarded hilt is iron with a broad knuckle guard and a circular pommel, terminating in a spike and encrusted with heavy open-work floral decoration of gild thickly set with large diamonds and rubies. Presented by H.H. the Maharaja of Kolhapur as a relic of the Maratha Chief Shivaji to whom it formerly belonged.”
The devotion towards the sword and other items of Shivaji Maharaj
Many Indian tourists who visit the British Museum have been seeing paying respect to the items belonging to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Recently, a video by Karan Sonawane, who goes by the handle FocusedIndian on Instagram, went viral where he was seen paying respect to items on display that belonged to Shivaji Maharaj. He noted that the Jagdamba Talwar was not on display in the museum. It is in the private collection of the Queen. Only the ‘Vaaghnakh’ was on display.
Kohinoor was “gifted” to the British just like the sword
It is pertinent to note that the famous Kohinoor diamond was also “gifted” to the British in the same way as the sword of Shivaji Maharaj. During the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 AD, the British army made Raja Ranjit Singh’s son Duleep Singh surrender the Sikh empire. Following that, the British Government in Lahore entrusted the famous Kohinoor diamond to the treasury of the British East India Company. When Duleep Singh, then 11 years old, ‘surrendered’ the Sikh kingdom to the British, it is said he also surrendered the Kohinoor diamond.
