A photograph showing a man posing with a sword is going viral on social media with a claim that it shows a soldier who fought in the 1818 Bhima-Koregaon battle.
The image also carries text in Hindi which says that this man who is 11 feet tall and weighs 285 kilograms fought against 8,000 Peshwas.
The text reads, "A photo of a Mahar soldier who showed his courage in the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, obtained from the diary of Davy Jones, advisor to the then East India Company."
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
(Similar claims can be seen here, here and here.)
Whose picture is it?: The picture shows Prince Ndabuko kaMpande, younger brother of one of the kings of the Zulu Kingdom, a monarchy in Southern Africa.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the picture which led us to Alamy, a stock image website that carried the same photo.
The caption of the photo mentions that it shows Prince Ndabuko kaMpande, younger brother of King Cetshwayo kaMpande.
It also added that kaMpande was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1879 and its leader during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
The image shows a Prince from South Africa.
(Source: Alamy/Screenshot)
What about Bhima-Koregaon battle?: Bhima-Koregaon is a small village in Maharashtra's Pune.
A Dalit-dominated British Army defeated a 28,000-strong army of Peshwa Bajirao II in Koregaon on 1 January 1818.
This day of victory of Mahars against the Peshwas is celebrated every year on 1 January.
We also found older pictures of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar with the soldiers of the Mahar Regiment on the stock website, which can be seen here, here and here.
(Note: Swipe to check all the screenshots)
Pictures of Mahar Regiment.
(Source: Alamy/Screenshot)
Conclusion: This photo shows a prince of Zulu Kingdom and not a Mahar soldier who fought against the Peshwas in Bhima-Koregaon battle in 1818.
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