Q: What has caused the controversy surrounding wagh nakha (tiger claws) being brought to Maharashtra from London?

A: Ideally, there should not have been any reason for the controversy. The Victoria And Albert Museum in London has a total of six tiger claws. Indians have been demanding that various historical artifacts taken to England should be brought back. The government did correspondence with the museum after which the tiger claws are coming to India on loan for three years. But the minister and the officials from the Cultural department started claiming that these are the exact tiger claws used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to kill Afzal Khan (Mughal war commander). Researchers like me are saying that the government should give the evidence to prove that these are the exact tiger claws used by our Maharaj. I have been studying the topic for the last two decades. I have not found a single reference anywhere claiming that those tiger claws are of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. On the contrary, evidence from 1818 to 1944 prove that the tiger claws used by Maharaj to kill Afzal Khan were with the Satara throne. The tiger claws which are being brought now were gifted to the museum in 1971 by great-great-grandson of Grant Duff. The museum has not only mentioned this in its information on tiger claws but has conveyed this to me through the correspondence.

Q: What is the other evidence you have collected to prove that these claws are not original?

A: Grant Duff was one of the first authors of Maratha History and he was also a friend of Pratapsinh Maharaj of Satara throne of Marathas. The government claims that the Maharaj gifted him the original claws with a box. However, Duff has never mentioned it in any of his books or notings. On the contrary, Duff’s then superior Mountstuart Elphinstone was gifted the tiger claws in 1826. Elphinstone has written that during his Satara visit he saw the original tiger claws and Pratapsinh Maharaj gifted him the identical claws. Duff was already in London by 1825. In 1848, Amelia Cary – wife of Lucius Cary, governor of Bombay – mentioned visiting original tiger claws in Satara during her visit. Duff’s son was in India during 1875 and wrote a book called ‘Notes of an Indian journey.’ He visited Chhatrapati Abasaheb Maharaj (then king) in Satara. He saw the original claws and has mentioned in his book that he carries the exact replica of those tiger claws. At least 15 such records till 1944 are available, including a photograph from Satara.

Q: What is the basis of the government’s claim of bringing original tiger claws?

A: One of the pieces of evidence is newspaper reports on the exhibition of Industrial Arts of India. Ideally, newspaper reports cannot be considered as proof. But even in that case, books in 1880 and 1884 by Sir George Birdwood have mentioned that these are replicas of tiger claws. These are the replicas which went down with generations of Duff family and the government is bringing them back calling it original. The minister also mentions a box in which those claws were kept. Has he checked when that box was manufactured? The company which manufactured the box itself was formed in 1909. How can any reference on that box be used to prove the minister’s claim?

Q: Did you seek information from the museum in London?

A: Yes. The information that the museum sent me, has clearly mentioned that there is no evidence to prove that these tiger claws were used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to kill Afzal Khan. I have one additional letter with additional information, which I have not yet released and waiting to see what the government does now. Moreover, the museum itself has asked the government to mention this uncertainty of its originality when it will put them on exhibition. Not writing this would be a violation of loan agreement. This government,minister and the department are ignoring all this evidence and lying.

Q: Why do you think the government is ignoring this evidence?

A: The ideology of this government is the reason. The government claims Pratapsinh Maharaj gave away the original tiger claws. He was kept under jail by Peshwa Bajirao II. After the fall of Peshwas, the British reestablished the Satara throne and Pratapsinh Maharaj became the Chhatrapati. He was the first to start using English customs, learned the language, and wrote diaries – some of which are published. During his period, he even faced allegations of being a shudra or not being a devout Hindu from conservative Hindu upper caste. Blaming Prataphsinh Maharaj for giving away the original tiger claws is an attempt to defame him. More than political agenda, I see a cultural agenda behind this.