The fortune is one of the greatest on earth - the legacy of India's richest princes, which tens of thousands have died in battle to protect.
Now, however, it will be a battery of lawyers who will defend the palaces, fortresses, jewels, crowns, paintings and the vast domains of the royal house of Mysore, once an independent kingdom that was founded more than 500 years ago, and quickly established itself as one of the most powerful in southern India.
And it will be Indian judges, not force of arms, that will decide on their ownership.
In June, a court in the southern city of Bangalore will hear the claim of Kanthraj Urs, the eldest nephew of the 28th maharaja of Mysore, the late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar.
Urs wants the entire estate and properties - worth £8bn by some estimates - to be split equally among the family.
But, though he performed the last rites for the dead king, it was Wodeyar's 61-year-old widow, maharani Pramodadevi, who took charge of the vast estate.
The final battle against Tipu Sultan, the legendary king of Mysore still revered in India for his opposition to the invaders, ended in the monarch's death and is seen as one of the key military events in the British conquest of the subcontinent .
However the dynasties did not die, nor did their fortunes.
Maharani Pramodadevi told the Guardian that, though she has been hurt by the family dispute, the selection of the next heir was done in line with 600-year-old customs and traditions and that no one was "spurned" or "betrayed".
Some however blame an ancient malediction for the families problems with bearing heirs. The so-called "Talakad curse" was cast upon the dynasty in the 17th century by the queen of the neighbouring Srirangapatna kingdom when it was invaded and annexed by Mysore's kings. The queen fled with the temple jewels and hid near a village called Talakad. Discovered by her enemies, she cursed the royal house of Mysore for eternity and jumped to her death in the river Cauvery.
India's courts system is notoriously slow, and the chances of a decision on the succession dispute any time soon appear slim. This does not discourage the royal claimant, however.
"I am not a doormat, no one can ride roughshod over me. I will fight for my rights," Urs said.
Such disputes are not rare in India. In 2013, two sisters inherited more than £2bn after a court found that the will of their father, the last maharaja of Faridkot,was void. The testament had left his estate to a trust run by servants and lawyers.
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