Research can often be a brilliant excuse for a holiday. Recently, I took advantage of that to visit Wales and, in particular, the Clive Museum at Powis Castle, Welshpool. This museum stores the items seized by Robert Clive, the first British governor of the Bengal Presidency, and his son through their forays in eighteenth and early nineteenth century India.

Many of the items in the museum are pillaged belongings of Tipu Sultan, who ruled the south Indian Kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan’s resistance to East India Company forces has become legendary, particularly in the Indian subcontinent. His final stand in 1799 saw his defeat and fall on the battlefield. Thereafter, British troops and officials proceeded to loot the fallen Sultan’s belongings in an astonishingly exhaustive manner. From his military tent and all its contents to his throne, which was famously broken into pieces and distributed among company troops and officials, and even his perfume casket snatched from his bedroom - nothing was spared.

Image: Clive of India display at Powis Castle

Among the loot were a number of swords, now on display at the Clive Museum. Examining the hilts and blades of two of these pieces was something of a revelation – quite literally. Tipu Sultan was known as the Tiger of Mysore, and many of his belongings were embellished with tigers. His throne bore solid gold tiger head finials encrusted with jewels. His field canons had tiger heads cast at the mouths. His swords too often featured a tiger’s head at the hilt, from which his signature curved blade emerged. Among the swords on display at the museum is one such sword of the fallen King. Its tiger embellished hilt is fashioned in a beautiful black metal with ‘Allah’ (God) etched in gold along the tiger’s forehead. Across the handle in similar gold etched calligraphic script is inscribed the final verse of Surah Baqara, the second and longest chapter of the Qur’an. The verse is a famous one often memorised by Muslims. It takes the form of a prayer:

Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford. All good will be for its own benefit, and all evil will be to its own loss. The believers pray, “Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake. Our Lord! Do not place a burden on us like the one you placed on those before us. Our Lord! Do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our only Guardian. So grant us success over the disbelieving people.”

For the Sultan risking his life to resist occupation, these words must have been etched into his memory just as they were onto his hilt, where they pressed against his palm in battle. The success he sought against British forces was not achieved on the battlefield, but generations of South Asians have drawn inspiration from his anticolonial stance since – perhaps another kind of success over his foes.

Image: Tipu Sultan's sword, accessed here

Tipu Sultan’s sword is not the only one in the museum collection to draw inspiration from revelation. Another similarly regal sword in the collection also incorporates the Qur’an. This stunning piece bore a cream-toned ivory hilt with decorative gold inlaid handles. In this case, the hilt is not inscribed, but the blade itself is. Etched along the glinting steel is Surah al-Ikhlas, the 112^th chapter of the Qur’an, and one of the shortest in the book. Like Tipu Sultan’s verse, this surah too is often memorised by Muslims. The chapter is a proclamation of the oneness of God:

Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,

Allah, the Eternal Refuge.

He neither begets nor is born,

And there is none comparable to Him."

The battlefield is a space in which life is singularly fragile. The owners of these swords were conscious of that and turned to their faith and God for courage and guidance amidst the dangers they faced. Whatever their success or defeats in action, the swords remain as testament to the hopes of an Indian generation that witnessed the spread of Britain’s empire. These items may be weapons of resistance first and foremost, but in their sacred embellishments lies a far deeper story preserved through the centuries: the story of hope and faith in the most uncertain of times.    

Title Image: Detail from Tipu Sultan's throne finial at Powis Castle