Hostages from Mysore

Transcript

Voiceover:

Now, in "A small piece of history", Emma Mawdsley of the National Army Museum presents a favourite object from the Collection.

Emma Mawdsley:

This beautiful painting shows one of the most touching scenes in the National Army Museum's Collection. It shows a scene of 1792 at the conclusion of the Third Mysore War when the British Army demanded the defeated Tipu Sultan to pay a ransom. And they took these two young princes, his two sons, as hostage to ensure that their father paid this 33 million rupee ransom.

In the painting you can see the arrival of the two young princes being taken hostage by Lord Cornwallis. They're being escorted by the court. We have here Ghulam Ali Khan, who was the representative of the Tipu, being carried on a silver chair. And there are camels and elephants and a whole entourage and even Tipu's soldiers.

One of the soldiers is even wearing the symbol of Tipu Sultan's rule. He was called the 'Tiger of Mysore' and his army wore a uniform which was decorated with stylized tiger stripes called bubris.

The artist, Robert Home, was a witness to the scene and he actually included a portrait of himself on the far lefthand side of the canvas. And he's shown holding a portfolio under his arm, standing in a rather relaxed pose with his legs crossed.

This image can be seen as part of the British propaganda showing British paternalism towards India - that Lord Cornwallis was taking care of these two young boys, taking them away to look after them, rather than the fact that they're actually hostages.