While leaving Raikot, the Guru gifted his sword to Rai Kalha in return of the courtesy and goodwill shown towards him with the injunction that the sword should not be worn or carried except in battle or in some great emergency.
The sword was preserved with great reverence as a treasure heirloom by the family of Rai Kalha for some generations. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and other Sikh chiefs, including the Maharaja of Patiala, who knew the significance of the sword, tried their best to acquire it by offering large sums of money. The family of Rai resisted all temptations and remained adamant not to part with it, until after the death of the last Rani of Raikot.
Rae Imam Baksh, the only descendent and distant cousin of the Rani, brought the sword to Henry Brerton, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Ludhiana in April, 1854, with a request to present it to the Governor-General as a gesture to show his loyalty to the British empire.

I have translated the following inscription from Gurmukhi which is engraved on the side of the blade: 'May God's protection rest on me. There is one God, and a true Guru, whom I worship. This is the signature of the 10th Khalsa Avtar (i.e. Guru Gobind). This sw ord is the protection from all kinds of harms, the omnipresent God is with me always, God the protector of the lives of men."

The sword was sent to England sometime in 1855 as a present to Queen Victoria, and in all probability it was kept in the Indian room at the Buckingham Palace (letter dated August 10, 1922, signed by the keeper of the King's Armoury also states so). However, as per the British version, there is no mention of this sword in the Windsor catalogue of arms and armoury, and it could not be located.

Now the important question - where are the swords' On the closure of the London Museum in 1879, some collections were transferred to other museums. It is possible that Toshakhana sword (if still not in the main museum where it was received on August 10, 1953) found its way to another museum, but, ironically, there is no record of its transfer, as per British version. The sword in all probability, is lying in one of the museums. There is also a possibility of its having gone into the hands of a private collector by unfair means, specially if we believe the British that they could not trace the sword in any of the museums.

With this background, a dynamic and well thought-out search plan is needed to trace the swords. Action at the government level is needed as also incentives in the form of appeals and awards.