Shivaji’s tiger claw arrives in state, to be displayed from July 19 in Satara
Last October, the state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Victoria and Albert Museum, which loaned the wagh nakh to the Maharashtra government for three years free of cost
MUMBAI: After a year of deliberations between the state government and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the historical ‘wagh nakh’ or tiger’s claw which was used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to kill Bijapur Sultanate general Afzal Khan in 1659 arrived in Maharashtra on Wednesday. The artefact will be displayed from July 19 for the next seven months at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sangrahalaya in Satara and subsequently showcased at four different museums over the next three years.
Last October, the state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Victoria and Albert Museum, which loaned the wagh nakh to the Maharashtra government for three years free of cost. Chief minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and Shivaji Maharaj’s direct descendants and legislators Udayanaraje Bhosale and Shivendraraje Bhosale will throw the display open to the public in a function at 11 am.
Excise minister and Satara guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai reviewed the security and other arrangements at the museum on Wednesday. “Right from the maintenance of a correct temperature to the security of the artefact, everything has been properly looked into,” he said. “The wagh nakh will be accorded a grand welcome.”
Cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the wagh nakh would reach Satara on Thursday evening. “We have taken all precautions from the safety point of view and otherwise while making arrangements to put this historical treasure on display,” he said. “It will be the centre of attraction at the museum, where Shivaji-era arms and ammunition are showcased. After signing an MoU with the London museum last year, the wagh nakh has been given to us for three years free of charge.”
The artefact was at the centre of a controversy since last year after a historian, Indrajit Sawant, declared that the original wagh nakh had never gone out of Satara and was in the possession of Shivaji’s descendants. After the ensuing doubts raised over the authenticity of the artefact, Mungantiwar informed the legislative assembly last week that the wagh nakh was the original one. “The museum sent us a picture of a specially designed box made in 1875 on which was written that this was the ‘wagh nakh used by Shivaji to kill a Muslim general’,” he said. “There are several wagh nakhs, but this is the authentic one. Raising doubts about its veracity was inappropriate.”
Mungantiwar added that though some people were spreading rumours that the government had paid to bring the wagh nakh to India, they had not spent any money. “After we demolished the encroachment at Afzal’s Khan’s tomb at the foothills of Pratapgad in November 2022, there was a pressing demand from the followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji to bring back the wagh nakh,” he said. “The followers submitted many historical documents as proof to show that the artefact is the actual one used by Shivaji Maharaj. We held deliberations with the Albert and Victoria Museum, which agreed to hand over the wagh nakh to us for three years.”
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