No saint or bigot, Tipu was great ruler

The highly biased contemporary British writings have come in handy to defame him as a religious fanatic.

The fact that for decades  even after the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, housewives in England used his name to calm their crying babies, speaks of the  terror he infused in the minds and hearts of the average English man, leave alone the British soldiers and generals who were engaged in the numerous protracted wars with him. 

Tipu hated the very presence of the British on Indian soil. In pursuit of his objective to oust them, he strove to forge an alliance of Indian forces and the French armies. If only Tipu had the support of a few native rulers of the day, the Indian history would have been different.

Born on Nov 10, 1750, Tipu was named after a Muslim saint, Tipu Mastan to whose tomb in Arcot his mother Fakhr-un-nisa had visited on a pilgrimage to pray for a son. Tipu succeeded to the Mysore throne in Dec 1781 after the  demise of his father Hyder Ali near Chittoor when the second Mysore war was in progress. Tipu continued the war against the British with more vigour  and concluded the treaty of Mangalore in 1784.

However, Tipu’s crusade against the British power and his heroic exploits were well reflected in his next two wars, the third and the fourth Mysore wars. Cornwallis, with the military support of the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas,  conducted the war on Tipu during 1790-92 and the treaty of Srirangapatna, that crippled his state was signed in 1792 bringing the third Mysore war to conclusion.   

The arrival of Wellesley as the governor general in 1798 led to the outbreak of the fourth Mysore war. The large British army commanded by future Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, the younger brother of the governor general, who attacked Srirangapatna from several directions. On May 4, 1799, Tipu, after putting a heroic resistance fell fighting in the battlefield. Tipu, probably,  is the  only ruler in modern times to have died fighting in a battle. 

It is not only his military abilities for which Tipu Sultan is rightly remembered but his administrative capabilities have  equated him to be on a par with several notable leaders in  world history. His voluminous  correspondence in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and French, the languages in which he was proficient, reflect his abiding  interest in administration.  His issue of coins of fine calligraphy, his ordinances prohibiting liquor, his reforming of the calendar, introduction of new scales, weights and measures, experiments in judicial and revenue regulations and his zeal to change the names of towns and cities in his kingdom show his creative ability and desire for modernisation.

Tipu was a great economic innovator. He showed great interest in starting irrigation works in his kingdom to improve agriculture. He made banking and money lending a  government monopoly. 

A firm believer in mercantilism, Tipu established a Board of Commissioners for trade that looked after the development of foreign as well as internal trade. He took special interest in the development of industries in Mysore. The Chinese experts assisted in refining sugar, for production of which a factory was established in Channapatna. Malabar coast during his time thrived with pearl fishing.

Tipu had a great penchant for modern technology and succeeded in manufacturing  arms like muskets, canons and pistols. The rockets he used in the wars stunned the British so much that by taking the remnants of Tipu’s rockets they developed modern rockets by subjecting to reverse engineering. He even built ships on modern design to create a navy that would effectively challenge the British. 

Diplomatic missionsTipu was fond of having contacts with the outside world  through numerous diplomatic missions and trade agents. Mysore then was known for  ivory, sandalwood, spices, silk, coconut and tobacco. He established several centres for the culture of silk worms and cultivation of mulberry plants was encouraged. Several countries like the Ottoman empire, China, Muscat, Peru, Armenia, Jeddah and Ormuz showed interest in purchasing Mysore products. 

On the religious front, Tipu was more tolerant than what  he is made out to be. He held the Hindu sadhus and saints  in high esteem. He often consulted Hindu astrologers and gave land grants to temples. He sought blessings of goddess Chamundeshwari before embarking on every military expedition. His numerous  grants to Sringeri mutt and his regard for the seer there, is well known.  

If Tipu crushed Hindus in Coorg and Malabar, it was for political expediency as they were in league with the English  and not because they were Hindus. He never spared his co-religionists if they were guilty of similar offences. The highly biased contemporary British writings and testimonies have come in handy for many a British apologists to defame him as a religious fanatic.

If the legacy of the indomitable ‘Tiger Tipu’, who for  political freedom staked everything including his life, is overlooked today even to be commemorated,  then there seems to be nothing left in our history to take pride in.

(The writer is retired professor of History, University of Hyderabad)