H D Sharma - The Real Tipu

The Real TipuA Brief History of Tipu Sultan

Presentation Based on a Book by

H. D. Sharma

India in 18th century

•After Aurangzeb Mughal Empire vanished because of the bigotry, intolerance and wrong policies.

•With the weakening of central rule, local governors, nawabs and rajas declared themselves independent one by one.

Rulers of India in 18th century• Bengal was ruled by Siraj-ud-daula(1756-57), Mir

Jafar(1757-60) & Mir Kasim(1760-63).

• Awadh came under Shuja-ud-daula.

• Ranjit Singh(1780-1839) consolidated the Sikh Empire in Punjab and extended it to Kashmir & North-west Frontier.

• Jats were active around UP and Bihar.

• Marathas covered the largest parts Maharashtra, Gujarat, Central Provinces.

• Mysore was ruled by Hindu dynasty Wodeyars.

• There were many other small states ruled by Hindu rajas and Muslim Nawabs.

India in 18th century

Foreign powers in India

•Two foreign powers- English and the French took advantage of this tumulus and chaotic situation.

•British were more successful, they had built forts at Madras & Calcutta.

•They got Bombay as a part of dowry given to Charles II when he married Catherine.

Northern India came under English rule

•English defeated Siraj-ud-daula in the battle of Plassey in 1757. And then ruled Bengal.

• In 1764 the English defeated the combined forces of Mir-Qasim, Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh and Mughal king Shas alam II at Buxar

•Bihar was annexed and Awadh had sign the notorious Subsidiary treaty.

•Thus, the whole of Gagnatic plane came under the direct or indirect English rule

India in 19th centuryBRITISH Expansion 1805-1910

English-French Conflict

•Initially French defeated English and occupied Madras for sometime.

•The French were defeated in the third Carnatic war at Wandiwash.

•After that the French influence declined and French soldiers in India fought for whoever paid them well.

Haid

er A

li

It is believed that Haider’s ancestors were from Baghdad, settled in Punjab and later migrated to the south.

Haider Ali’s family background • Haider’s father Fatah Muhammad was soldier

• Fatah Muhammad had 3 wives & 5 sons. Shahbaz & Hiader were born to the youngest wife, whom he had married along with her sisters.

• After Fatah’s death, his family was not treated well. So they migrated to Bangalore.

• When the boys grew up they were brought to Seringapatam where Commander-in-Chief Nanjaraj employed them as soldiers

Haider-From a soldier to the Ruler of Mysore

•He soon rose in ranks because of his wicked ways and bravery.

•He slowly usurped power(1761)of the king though officially he remained a regent throughout his life .

Haider Ali Plundered Bednur

• In 1763, Rani Virammaji of Bednur was defeated by Haider. Bednur was plundered for many days & was burnt down.

•Rani Virammaji was humiliated & imprisoned but was rescued by Marathas.

•By the time Raja Nanjaraja Wodeyar came of age and started to assert authority. Haider got him killed in 1771.

First and second Mysore wars

•After the First Mysore War Haider agreed to join Nizam and Marathas against the English.

•Haider did not live to see the end of this protracted war & died in a camp in December 1782.

•His son Tipu continued this war till March 1784.

Haider’s character

•Haider was not a bigot and respected Hindu religion and tradition.

•Though he was a very cruel, extremely avaricious treacherous and unscrupulous person but he never mixed religion with politics.

•He was illiterate but was full of ambitions.

•He was one of the few secular Muslim rulers in India.

Tip

u S

ulta

n

Tipu Sultan was the son of Haider Ali and haider’s third wife Fakhr-un-Nissa

Tipu Sultan- Islamic zealot •Haider appointed a ‘maulvi’ for Tipu’

education.

•As a result Tipu became a religious zealot and he hated everything that was not connected to Islam.

•Tipu built a musjid (mosque) in every town and appointed a ‘Moula’ and ‘Kazi’ to promote Islamic education.

India at the Birth of Tipu Sultan, 1750

Jam

a M

asjid

The mosque built by Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatnam.

Haider was not happy with Tipu’s character. So he made him sign ‘Iqrar nama’

Iqrar Nama

• I must be punished if I do anything without the proper permission of Hazarat Khudawand Nimat (Haider Ali Khan)

• I must be hanged if I commit any act of theft or embezzlement while performing duties, pertinent to government.

• I must be put to gallows if I am bound telling any lie or commit any act of treachery.

• I should be exiled after being deposed if I am found to accept ‘nazr’(offering) or any such thing from any quarter without the information of ‘Huzur’ (Haider Ali Khan).

Iqrar Nama

• I must be killed if found indulging in consultation (conspiracy) with any person or agency on matters other than pertaining to my relevant duties and functions.

• If I am assigned the governorship of any territory of the State and armed force is placed under my command for the said purpose then 1 would be duty bound to act in consultation only with those nobles or officers who are appointed by the 'Huzur ' in this connect ion. In case 1 am found acting otherwise my head must be severed.

Iqrar Nama

• I am pledge herewith to act only on the advice of the councilors appointed by the Huzur if 1 receive any communication from any quarter (local or foreign).

• I am placing these clauses on record of my own accord with their memory preserved duly in my heart and. hereby, resolve to strictly adhere to them; and in the event 1 am found acting contrary to the spirit of the text 1 must be punished in the manner deemed suitable by the Huzur ."

Daria

-Dau

lat-B

ag

hTipu Sultan's

summer palace at

Srirangapatnam, Karnataka

Lal-M

ah

al

The ruins of Tipu's Palace - Lal Mahal at Srirangapatana.

Islamization of Mysore

•After Haider’s death, Tipu antagonized and even killed the Haider’s most trusted generals.

•Haider’s cabinet consisted mainly of Hindus.

•But Tipu kept his higher command in the family. Several of his top generals were his relatives.

•Tipu ordained that all the revenue records would be kept in Persian language replacing other local languages.

•He even confiscated funds of the temples.

•He replaced the Hindu calendar with an Islamic calendar based on the life of prophet Muhammad.

Tipu was a mighty changer of old pagan names, so as to give them a Muslim cast.

Calicut Ferokhabad

Chitaldurg Farrukh-yab-Hissar

Coorg Zafarabad

Devanhalli Yusafabad

Dindigal Khalilabad

Gooty Fyze-il-azum

Mysore Nazarabad

Pennkonda Fakhrabad

Sankridurg Muzzafarabad

Sira rustmabad

Brahmapuri Sultanpet

After Tipu’s death these Islamic names were forgotten and the old traditional names replaced them.

Tipu’s Islamic Coins

•He issued gold, silver and copper coins. They were named after prophet Muhammad, the first 2 Caliphs and the 12 Shia imams.▫On the obverse is written:

“the religion of Ahmud enlightened the world from the victories of Hydur.”

▫And on the reverse:“He is the sole and only just king.”

Coin

s o

f Tip

u S

ulta

n

Most of the coins were Arabic and Persian coins which hardly any Mysorean could understand.

Revenue and Trade•The state monopolized the sale of sandalwood,

pepper, tobacco and the precious metals.

•Export and import was prohibited for the protection of domestic trade.

•Only trade from true believers from Arabia was encouraged.

•Since commerce and banking were in the hands of Hindus, they were ruined by such measures.

Treacherous nature of Tipu Sultan

•One clause of the treaty of Mangalore was to to exchange the prisoners of war.

•But Tipu ordered the killing of many prisoners of war including Gen. Matthews even after signing the treaty.

Atrocities in Coorg

•He imprisoned about 40,000 to 50,000 of the population in the Coorg.

•Prisoners were driven off like herd of cattle to Seringapatam where they were converted to Islam

•Land in Coorg was distributed to Muslim settlers.

Tipu was born as ‘Tipu Sultan’ and died as ‘Tipu Sultan’

•Tipu was aware of his low birth. Sultan was only a part of his name not his title.

•Tipu demanded as a preliminary an inter-marriage in the families, but Nizam considered himself of superior lineage to that of Tipu so the negotiation came to nothing.

•He even tried to copy Mughal Emperor Akbar and wanted to marry a Rajput princess. but all in vain.

Tipu’s Harem• There were 601 inmates altogether

▫268 relicts of Haider Ali.▫333 of Tipu

• Tipu classified 2 as wives, 80 as women of superior grades and the rest as their attendants or slaves.

• There were 2 sisters of the Raja of Coorg, 3 members of Mysore family & a Purnaiya’s niece.

• Most of the women of harem were Hindus whom he had put to death or held in confinement.

Tigers in Tipu’s palace

•On most of his armaments Tipu had inscribed a cyper ‘Asad ullah al Ghalib’(The lion of the God is the conqueror).

•He kept many tigers chained at the palace gate. Prisoners were often tossed to the chained tigers to be devoured by them.

Th

e T

hro

ne

The Throne was made of gold, ornamented with jewels of great value in the shape of tiger. But Tipu was never destined to sit upon his throne

3rd Mysore war•Tipu attacked district of Travancore

which resulted in 3rd Mysore war.

•He was defeated in 3rd Mysore war.

•The war ended with signing of the Treaty of Seringapatnam according to which Tipu had to surrender half of his kingdom to the English company and send his two sons to them as the hostages of war.

Treaty

of S

erin

gap

atn

am

Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis receiving Tipu Sultan’s sons as hostages.

Attack on Malabar and Travancore

• He looted the inmates of everything including ornaments of ladies & destroyed about 8,000 temples.

• He appointed a Shaikh-ul-Islam in each district to teach the forcibly converted people the ways of Islam.

• Tipu forcibly converted about 2,000 Nairs to Islam. • Some unhappy captives gave a force assent & on the

next day the rite of circumcision was performed on all males.

• Every individual was compelled to close the ceremony by eating beef.

4th Mysore war

•On May 3rd the English succeeded in making a breach in Forts’ wall, & were ready for assault.

•Tipu was the prey to great despondency & had no real confidence in his ability to put up the fight.

•He sought the predictions of the astrologers whose science he had earlier derided. They warned him that 4th may was ominous.

•Tipu, the bigoted ruler hated the sight of the Brahmins & had taken great delight in converting them to Islam.

•He begged the divine blessings of the Hindu gods whose idols & temples he had destroyed.

Cornwallis's attack on Srirangapatam, 1792

4th May-The Battle

•He got the that his most loyal officer, Saiyad Gaffar had been killed.

•There was a confusion all around. Tipu’s soldiers & other people were trying to escape.

•He was shot dead in the crowd and his body was left to be trampled into obscurity among the heap of dead and dying.

Death

of T

ipu

Su

ltan

On May 4th,1799, the English army aided by the betrayers broke through out the defending walls and Tipu Sultan died fighting.

Identification of the body of Tipu Sultan by his kith & kin

Tip

u’s

bod

y w

as fo

un

d h

ere

A close-up view of the battleground where Tipu’s body was found. The plaque was placed by the archaeological department.

After quite a number of dead bodies were dragged, Tipu’s body was found. English buried his body by the side of his father with honor.

Which only the highly civilized of English could do to an enemy during those wild and savage days.

Fin

din

g b

od

y o

f Tip

u

Sir David Baird discovering the body of Tipu Sultan

Tip

u S

ulta

n’s

tom

b a

t S

riran

gap

atn

a.

Tippu's tomb is in the foreground and on the sides are his parents'

After the defeat of Tipu

•Marathas were offered district of Sunda and Harpanahalli but Peshwa refused it, because they didn’t participated in the war.

•The remaining Mysore was set aside for the ancient Mysore rulers.

•Tipu’s family was sent to Vellore and liberal allowance were given to his family members.

Tipu Sultan- A secular king???

Was Tipu sultan a nationalist???•It is said that Tipu was the last king of the

Indian rulers who fought the English in an attempt to save India from foreign domination.

•In 18th century India was divided into small states & feudal principalities. Nobody in those days was thinking of the nation. So there was concept like ‘fighting for India’.

He was not a nationalist by any stretch of imagination

•It is also asserted that Tipu was defeated due to the treachery of the Indian rulers like the Marathas and the Nizam.

•Tipu was not fighting for the ‘freedom of India’. He was fighting for himself. The French, who were the enemies of the English, supported Tipu for this purpose.

•The seed of Hindu nationalism was sown by Shivaji which was continued by Marathas.

Tipu Sultan’s letters

Sw

ord

Of T

ipu

Su

ltan

The sword which killed thousands of Hindus and destroyed 8,000 temples

"Over 12000 Hindus were honored with Islam. There were many Namboodries among them. This achievement ,should be widely publiciesd among the Hindus. The local Hindus should b brought before you and then converted to Islam. Namboodries should be spared. Aloso they should be confined there till the dress materials sent for them reach you.”

Letter dated 22nd March, 1788 to Abdul Khadar

“I am sending two of my followers with Mir Hussain Ali. Along with them you should capture and kill all Hindus. Those below 20 years may be kept in prison and 5000 from the rest should be killed by hanging from tree tops. These are my orders.”

Letter dated 14th December, 1766 from Tipu to his army commander in Calicut

"242 Nairs are being sent as prisoners. Categorize them ordering to their social and family status. After honoring m with Islam, sufficient cloth material may be given to and women."

Letter dated 21st December, 1788 sent to Sheikh Kutub

"With the grace of Prophet Mohammad and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are converted to Islam. Only on the borders of Cochin State a few are still not converted. I am determined convert them also very soon. I consider this as 'Jehad' achieve that object."

Letter dated 18th January, 1790 to Syed Abdul Dalai

“Don t you know that I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar, and over 4 lakh Hindus were converted to Islam. Now determined to march against that cursed' Raman Nair very soon (Raja of Travancore). Thinking that he and his subjects could be converted soon to Islam in the course of time I have happily abandoned the idea of going back to Srirangapatnam.”

Letter dated 19th January, 1790 sent to Badroos Saman Khan :

Tipu is remembered today for his religious zeal by his co-religionists and for his atrocities by the Hindus and Christians of Kerala and Coorg. He is considered as the Aurangzeb of the south.