Repatriation of 1,000-yr-old Chola copper plates from Leiden University during Narendra Modi's visit to the Netherlands last weekend is a welcome assertion of India's proprietorial sovereignty. Excavated between 1687 and 1700 during the Dutch redevelopment of Nagapattinam, the two sets - comprising 21 large plates and 3 small plates weighing about 30 kg - reveal a legacy of royal succession and maritime diplomacy.
The 9th-12th CE Chola dynasty emerged 'out of the blue', as Anirudh Kanisetti writes in Lords of the Earth and Sea, from the Kaveri floodplains around 850 CE. For the first and only time, a maritime power based in coastal south India became the dominant force in the region - a position historically monopolised by empires of the Deccan or the north. Post-independence, as India's federal narrative leaned toward Gangetic histories, the Chola legacy became essential to Tamil identity.
This return of Chola plates mirrors that of Piprahwa Buddha relic gems, and restitution of 657 stolen antiquities from the US, including a 10th-c. bronze Avalokiteshvara, a compassionate form of the Buddha. The homecoming of these charters marks the end of colonial entitlement, and these plates, much like the Piprahwa relics, must be opened up to the public, ensuring that a nation's living memory is shared by the people it belongs to. Pride of a nation, usually measured in India by abstractions, must be reflected in how it values physical manifestations of its past. It may seem a cliche by now, but from the Amaravati limestone sculptures to Mughal artefacts - and the Kohinoor - it's time India gets ready to house its history still stashed away in the British Museum. Its heritage can - and should - after that, happily travel across the world's museums on loan.
The 9th-12th CE Chola dynasty emerged 'out of the blue', as Anirudh Kanisetti writes in Lords of the Earth and Sea, from the Kaveri floodplains around 850 CE. For the first and only time, a maritime power based in coastal south India became the dominant force in the region - a position historically monopolised by empires of the Deccan or the north. Post-independence, as India's federal narrative leaned toward Gangetic histories, the Chola legacy became essential to Tamil identity.
This return of Chola plates mirrors that of Piprahwa Buddha relic gems, and restitution of 657 stolen antiquities from the US, including a 10th-c. bronze Avalokiteshvara, a compassionate form of the Buddha. The homecoming of these charters marks the end of colonial entitlement, and these plates, much like the Piprahwa relics, must be opened up to the public, ensuring that a nation's living memory is shared by the people it belongs to. Pride of a nation, usually measured in India by abstractions, must be reflected in how it values physical manifestations of its past. It may seem a cliche by now, but from the Amaravati limestone sculptures to Mughal artefacts - and the Kohinoor - it's time India gets ready to house its history still stashed away in the British Museum. Its heritage can - and should - after that, happily travel across the world's museums on loan.
