Context: The Maharashtra government recently announced that it is working to bring back the sword of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from London to India.
About the Sword:
It was given to Edward, the Prince of Wales (the later King Edward VII), by Shivaji IV in 1875-76.
The sword is part of the Royal Collection Trust at Saint James’s Palace in London.
Shivaji IV was barely 11 years old then, and like many other Indian kings of the time, he was forced by the British to “gift” them valuable presents, which included weapons with historical significance.
The first effort was made by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, when he visited London to fight a suit of libel.
Subsequently, the Marathi poet and playwright Ram Ganesh Gadkari, who wrote under the pen name of Govindagraj, made references to the sword in a poem.
After independence, the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Yashwantrao Chavan, pursued the matter.
Later, Chief Minister A R Antulay announced efforts to bring the sword back, and started collecting documents to build a case for India.
At the time, however, the sword was referred to as the “Bhavani” sword, and the British argued that a sword of that name is already there in Maharashtra’s Satara district.
The Bhavani and Jagdamba swords:
The “Bhavani” sword, now in Satara, was also used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
But this sword is different from the one in London, which is called “Jagdamba” in the catalogue of Chhatrapati of Karveer.
