HYDERABAD, SINDH, 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Members of the Baluchi Talpur family served as officers and ministers to the Kalhora kings of Sindh until Mir Fath Ali Khan (r. 1783-1802) overthrew them and established the Talpur dynasty. After his death, his three brothers successively ruled the fledgling state. The brothers were avid collectors of arms and armour and, according to the visiting British physician James Burnes, maintained a network of agents across Iran and the Ottoman Empire for the procurement of rare and valuable examples (James Burnes, A Narrative of a Visit to the Court of Sinde, Edinburgh, 1831, pp.93-6). Among the arms and armour dedicated to rulers from the Talpur dynasty, those with the name of Mir Ghulam 'Ali Khan Talpur, the second monarch of the dynasty (r. 1802-11), are relatively rare.

A Bukhara dagger from the collection of Ghulam ‘Ali was sold in these rooms, 23 October 2007, lot 305, testifying to the far reach of the Talpur network. A sword with the names of Ghulam 'Ali and Murad 'Ali and a matchlock rifle with the name of Ghulam 'Ali were sold in these Rooms, 1 October 2012, lot 72, and 23 April 2015, lot 140, respectively.