Product Details
MADE FOR MIR ALI MURAD KHAN TALPUR, RULER OF KHAIRPUR
A BEST QUALITY CASED 26-BORE PERCUSSION RIFLE BY W. & J. RIGBY, DUBLIN, serial no. 8874,
for 1842, with etched octagonal damascus 34in. barrel 'in the white' (some mild staining), the top-flat with gilt signature 'WM. & JN. RIGBY, DUBLIN' and with three gold shamrock leaves inlet at breech, dove-tailed beaded blade fore-sight, standing notch rear-sight with three additional folding leaves, fully engraved long top-tang, border and scroll engraved back-action lock with integral forward-facing 'moustache' below the nipple bolster, the lockplate signed 'WM. & JN. RIGBY' and further engraved with a prowling tiger, fully engraved dolphin-headed hammer with chisel-carved base, highly figured chequered walnut half-stock with engraved colour-hardened patch-box featuring a scene of a hunter engaging a lion in the action of attacking another hunter, matted iron heel-plate with scroll engraved top-spur, single set trigger in blued and engraved guard, engraved nose-cap and horn handled heavy duty mahogany ramrod, the whole remaining in fine condition and together with its manufacturers oak casing, lined and compartmented in green baize, Rigby '24 Suffolk Street' parchment label and with a full compliment of accessories, all also in fine order, the whole giving the impression of little use
Provenance: According to D.H.L. Back's publication, 'Great Irish Gunmakers, Messrs Rigby, 1760-1869', rifle no. 8874 was built as a 'Best single rifle, cased with gold shamrock inlaid in breech' and completed in 1842 for 'Ali Murad Khan Talpore, Rajah of Khyerpoor' (sic). 1842 was the year he became Mir of Khairpur
The Khairpur branch of the Talpur dynasty was founded in 1783 in Burahan, renamed Khairpur in 1873.
Following the death of the founder of the branch, Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur, power fell to Ali Murad's elder brother, Mir Rustram Ali Khan in 1811, who ruled until his abdication in 1842. Ali Murad played an integral role in establishing a treaty with the British in 1832 which secured recognition for his brother as the independent ruler of Khairpur in exchange for surrendering control of foreign relations to the British as well as the use of Sindh's roads and the Indus river. In 1845, now as Mir, Ali Murad helped the British during the Turki campaign - but was later accused of plotting against the British and was stripped of his lands in upper Sindh, leaving him in control of just the city of Khairpur and its immediate environs. However, during the 1857 Sepoy mutiny, Ali Murad sided with the British and successfully prevented the rebels from capturing the Shikarpur jail and treasury and thus regained favour. In 1866, the British promised to recognise any future successors as rightful rulers of Khairpur and his rule remained stable until his death in 1894.
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Estimate £2,000-3,000