Noted historian S. Settar has appealed to the Centre and the Karnataka government to take immediate steps to stop the auction of a ring belonging to 18 century warrior king Tipu Sultan by a London firm on May 22.
Prof. Settar, Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), has written to Union Minister of Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to “make use of all available avenues, legal and diplomatic, to recover the ring.”
If it was not possible to prevent the auction , the government should purchase the ring or persuade Indian philanthropists in London to buy it on behalf of the nation, he said.
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The gem-studded ring, bearing the name ‘Ram’ in Nagari letters, “provides solid historical evidence to show that Tipu respected Hindu religion as much as he respected Islam. It should be treated as a national heritage, recovered and preserved permanently,” said the former Chairman of Indian Council for Historical Research.
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The Tipu Sultan United Front has also urged the Karnataka government to bring the ring back to the State. “The ring that Tipu Sultan wore when he was killed in the battlefield has the name of Ram inscribed on it,” said the organisation. The ring is part of the private collection of Fitzroy John Somerset.