40cm heavy section crescent-form blade sharpened on the inner edge, struck with a gold finished mark oC just above the chiselled and shaped forte, multi-stepped waisted collar, chequered back edge, the characteristic thick gold wrapped hilt with tapering and shaped base, large flattened tear-shaped pommel finely engraved, in garter form, LING RAJENDER WADEER in surround and with centered cypher of the Raja of the Coorg and surmounting the date AH 1230 (1815), fine braided gold wire grip framed with vertical gold struts, pierced to the top of the grip for its black silk wrist loop and tassel. Provenance: Sir William Macnaghten to the current owner, See lot 57 Antique Arms and Militaria, Olympia Auctions, 5th December 2018. See also lot 10163 Herman Historica, 6th December 2024 which realised £47,000 including premium. Macnaghten recounted that upon meeting The Raja of Coorg in 1815 he was presented with a Coorg knife decorated with gold.

Sir Willliam Hay Macnaghten (1793-1841) became a cadet in the East India Company at the age of sixteen. He studied many languages and Eastern culture and joined the Bengal civil service in1814, later writing treatises on both Hindu and Muslim law which were extensively followed in British Indian courts. He also published various further legal reports and the Calcutta edition of One Thousand and One Nights. By then the British Envoy, he was executed by the Afghans outside Kabul in 1841.

Ling Rajender Wadeer II, Raja of Coorg (now Kodagu) in Western India ruled Coorg from 1811-1820. He was the brother of Dodda Vira Rajendra who had freed the kingdom of Coorg from the rule of Tipu Sultan and later supported the British army in overthrowing Tipu Sultan between 1790 and 1799. Linga Raja appears to have been well thought of by the British thanks to his hospitality and generosity to his many British visitors, although he was known amongst his subjects for his cruel and tyrannical behaviour towards those he believed to have crossed him.