Next Thursday, Bonhams will offer for sale in London a dagger once owned by Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal as a memorial to his dead wife. There is no doubt about the authenticity of this rare and symbolic object. It comes from a celebrated collection, that of the Belgian industrialist Jacques Desenfans, and the blade bears a gold inscription carrying the emperor’s dates and a parasol, the Asian symbol of divine rule.

The dagger is estimated to be worth £500,000 but it is expected to fetch much more, for there could hardly be a better time to sell such an iconic Indian treasure. Whatever the financial storms engulfing the west, the new generation of Asian plutocrats seems to be hoovering up its national heritage, driven by patriotic empathy but also, perhaps, with one eye towards a safe investment in an uncertain world. In recent years it has been the rich Chinese running the Asian art market, setting record prices for everything from contemporary Chinese art to Tang horses and Ming porcelain. Now Indian entrepreneurs are showing a passionate interest in their art and culture.