Erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan’s ‘Bedchamber Sword’ had sold for more than 14 million pounds ($17 million) at an auction in London.
Described as “one of the world’s rare artefacts”, the sword’s sale was conducted by Bonhams — a privately owned international auction house in London — on Tuesday, achieving 14,080,900 pounds against an estimate of 1.5 million to 2 million pounds.
The auction house said the sword was found in Tipu Sultan’s private quarters of his palace after he was killed by British forces on May 4, 1799.
The auction house said that the sword’s “extremely rare calligraphic hilt is a masterpiece of late-18th century Indian manufacture, intricately inlaid in gold with fine calligraphic invocations to God”.