Explained | How Shivaji's tiger claw weapon is returning to India 'on loan' for three years
Legendary Indian ruler Shivaji Bhosale I
An iconic tiger claw or wagh nakh (a weapon) that reportedly belonged toMaratha empire's patriarch and legendary Indian ruler Shivaji Bhosale I, often referred to asChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is set to return home centuries after Shivaji is said to have fought a consequential war with the weapon.
Thewagh nakhwill return to India for the first time after East India Company took it to England in the 1820s during British colonial conquest on Indian subcontinent.
But India's wagh nakh is returning 'on loan'
The tiger claw is scheduled to make its return to Indian state of Maharashtra from London in November 2023 coinciding with the 350thanniversary of Shivaji's coronation. Itwill be brought from London's Victoria and Albert Museum "on loan" for a three-year exhibition in South Mumbai.
Sudhir Mungantiwar, the Culture Minister of Maharashtra, will travel to London on Tuesday to formalise an agreement with the museum for the repatriation of this historic weapon.
It is expected that the wagh nakh will find its home at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in South Mumbai.
Battle of Pratapgarh and role of wagh nakh
The Battle of Pratapgarhin 1659, where the Marathas triumphed over the Adilshahi forces led by Afzal Khan, marked a turning point in Shivaji's quest to establish the Maratha Empire. Despite being outnumbered, the Marathas' victory enhanced Chhatrapati Shivaji's reputation as a brilliant military strategist.
Shivaji's personal act of killing Afzal Khan at the foot of Pratapgarh fort in present-day Satara district, Maharashtra, has become a legendary episode, symbolising his courage in defeating a significantly larger and more powerful adversary.
Shivaji is known to have killed Afzal Khan with wagh nakh.
How British got India's wagh nakh
The British purportedly received it from the descendants of the British political agent in Satara after the collapse of the Peshwa rule in 1818.
According to historian Pandurang Balkwade of Pune's Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, the biggest centre of Maratha documents and artefacts, the wagh nakh was kept in the sanctum sanctorum of a temple housed within Satara ruler's family residence, The Times of India reported.
"The object must have been sacred for it to be kept in the ‘dev ghar’ (house of god)," he is quoted as saying.
According to Indrajeet Sawant, a history researcher in Maharashtra's Kolhapur, the wagh nakh kept in London museum made its way to the British after it was "gifted" by Pratapsinh Maharaj, the fifth and last Chhatrapati, to British political agent James Grant Duff, ToI reported.
Did Shivaji use wagh nakh to kill Afzal Khan?
The government has claimed that the wagh nakh to be brought back to India was used by Shivaji to kill Afzal Khan.
But some historians have disputed the claim and said that the weapon that's with the London museum, belonged to Shivaji's family and whether Shivaji used the same weapon to kill Bijapur general Afzal Khan, is subject to verification.
Why wagh nakhis being returned on loan?
The British museums, both national and regional, argue the notion of"common humanity" and "shared history", as justification to why they keep the items acquired in dubious circumstances or plundered outright. In recent years, they have come up with the conceptof sharing some of the "greatest objects" under their possession,"to be shared with audiences around the world" under long-term partnerships with countries or museums in particular.
The purported middle-ground has not been well received by African groups and particularly byGreece, whose50 per cent of the total sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, is with the British.
In 2018, the Ethiopian Ambassador said it would not accept a loan of its heritage, and that only the full return with ownership rights and display in Ethiopian museums would be satisfactory.
India in recent years has sped up its efforts to retrieve the heritage it lost to British colonial conquests.
New Delhiis hoping for "a process of retrieval of antiquities through bilateral cooperation and partnership, in a manner consistent with existing international arrangements", an Indian governmentrepresentative was quoted as saying by Politicoin May 2023.
As the current president of Group of 20 (G20) nations, New Delhi had placedthe repatriation of antiquities on this agenda G20 leaders' summit that concluded in the Indian capital last month.
The joint statement reiterated its "commitment to strengthen our fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property at national, regional or international levels to enable its return and restitution to their countries and communities of origin as relevant, and call for sustained dialogue and action in that endeavour, with a view to strengthen cultural diplomacy and intercultural exchanges, consistent with national law and relevant UNESCO Conventions."
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