UK imposes export bar on Tipu Sultan’s rare gun

The 14-bore gun, dated between 1793 and 1794, was designed for shooting game (birds) and is signed by its maker Asad Khan Muhammed.

The gun belonged to Tippu Sultan, also called Tippu Sahib or Fateh Ali Tipu, byname Tiger of Mysore, (born 1750, Devanhalli [India]—died May 4, 1799, Seringapatam [now Shrirangapattana]), sultan of Mysore, who won fame in the wars of the late 18th century in southern India.

However, the gun has been barred from export to allow time for a UK-based institution to acquire it for the public study of a “fraught period” in the India-UK history.

UK Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Stephen Parkinson took the decision last week to impose the export ban on the “Flintlock Sporting Gun” following advice from the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA).