Tipoo’s tiger is a significant symbol between the East and West. It represents India’s dominance over the West, Europe. The Tiger represents India’s power, with the soldier representing Britain. However, Tipoo’s Tiger is located at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was captured from the Sultan after the British invaded Seringapatam and killed Tipu Sultan on the 4th May, 1799. The palace was then attacked and the Sultans belongings scattered, with many ending up in Britain, most noticeably, the representation, carved in wood, of a tiger devouring an English soldier.
It was kept for a time it was kept at the headquarters of the East India Company before being transferred in the 1850s to the South Kensington Museum, now the Victorian and Albert Museum. This represents a significant end to the conflict. It lies on display for all to remember Tipu’s power and the attitudes towards Europeans at that time. It’s also a symbol for many Asians living in Britain today, as it represents past events, the victories India had to overcome. However, William Dalrymple believes that even with such symbols, history is always going to repeat itself.
He believes there are many similarities in Henry Dundas, the minister who oversaw the East India company, and Richard Wellesley with Bush and Rumsfield. “ Dundas and Wellesley were certainly more intelligent and articulate than Bush or Rumsfield, but they were no less cynical in their aims, nor less ruthless in the means they employed to affect them. ” (Dalrymple, www. guardian. co. uk, 2005) Brighton Pavilion is another significant symbol of relations between the East and the West.
Williams Pordons designs of the Pavilion looked very similar to those of Indian Palaces. This is very significant to East West relations as it shows some kind of acceptance by Britain to other cultures and ideas, things they seemed reluctant to accept during their earlier encounters with Eastern Countries. Therefore, the Brighton Pavilion is significant in showing closer relations between nations from the East and West and the acceptance of each others cultures, influencing one another’s own cultures.
As westerners, and western ideas, travelled eastwards, so too was the West susceptible to eastern or ‘ Oriental’ influences. Lord Valentia believed “ India is a country of splendour, of extravagance and of outward appearances… the Head of a mighty Empire ought to conform himself to the prejudices of the country he rules over… the British, in particular, ought to emulate the splendid works of the Princes. Moreover, the fact that Brighton petitioned to buy the pavilion once the government decided to sell it, after Queen Victoria disliked it due to lack of privacy, shows how the town appreciated the beauty of the building and the culture it represented. Coincidently, the pavilion was used as a military hospital for India troops during the First World War. Thus, it is clear from this that the pavilion is another symbol to represent an end to the conflicts between the Eastern and Western countries and an acceptance into one another’s cultures.