Hyder Ali (1720 – 7 December 1782) and Tipu Sultan (20 November 1750 – 4 May 1799) fought the British throughout their rule. Tipu Sultan was undoubtedly the first important Indian commander to realise the value of European methods of drilling. He endeavoured to provide flintlocks, a rarity in Indian armies those days. Hyder Ali took the standard Mughal view that the local potentates were Zamindars and as such, their entitlements were not sacrosanct like Deshmukhs and Polegars (palayakkadurs) and subordinate holders (Gandas, Patels, etc.). They held varied rights and consequently the share of the state in produce and the revenue was quite constricted. Hyder Ali directly collected tax from peasants, realising it through salaried officials. Munro’s Ryotwari system indeed heavily drew upon this experience of revenue collection in the district at Baramahal, seized from Tipu Sultan in 1792. Hyder Ali could well claim that he had added territory far larger than the original dominions the Raja of Mysore had governed.
Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali’s son, succeeded to his father’s office on 29 December 1782 at the age of 32. He was immediately immersed in the struggle against the British, continuing the war that had begun under Hyder Ali in which he had vigorously taken part. Thereafter a war with the Marathas and the Nizam followed in 1785-87 ending with military success but with rather disadvantageous terms of peace because of Tipu’s anxiety to avoid their alliance with the British, his principal enemy.
Tipu attempted the modernisation of his army, which Hyder Ali had bequeathed to him in fine condition. Tipu Sultan invoked Islamic laws, trying to appease his army and Muslim subjects through the holy wars (ghazwaat). Can anyone imagine that in order to spread this religious spirit, he published the first Urdu viewsweekly for almost five years from 1784 to 1789 C.E. called “Fauji Akhbar” in Urdu? It dealt with themes such as the holy wars, Islamic faith, and relevant matters pertaining to Islam. He published this viewsweekly 53 years before the Delhi-based Urdu newspapers. It was different from the Akhbarat-i Durbar-i Maulla of the 17th-18th centuries of Aurangzeb and his successors. This weekly would invoke the spirit of jihad and other significant Islamic matters. We can appreciate why Tipu Sultan and the military leaders of the 1857 freedom uprising appealed to religious zeal for strength and discipline against an alien foe.
Although it is factually correct that he punished some Hindus and destroyed their temples, there is evidence to the contrary as well. Interestingly, the discovery in 1916 of letters to the Sringeri Mutt written by Tipu sheds fresh light on how he wanted a printer of books, services of a clockmaker, and artisans who could make Chinaware, glass and mirrors. In 1797, he was demanding from France 10 canon-foundries, 10 shipbuilders, 10 manufacturers of Chinaware, 10 glass and mirror makers, ten makers of ship-clocks (literally wheels and wheels for engines for raising water and other kinds of wheelwork and wheelmen versed in gold plating.
Though Tipu Sultan did not succeed in procuring a printing press, he succeeded in making paper by modern methods. After his navy was destroyed, he revived plans to build a navy afresh after 1792, which was designed to consist of seven warships (jahaz-i jungi) each to be mounted with 30 or 50 guns (darakhsh). He even established his factory in the Arabian Sea at Muscat (Oman) before 1785.
Tipu spent a lot of money to establish his own Trading Corporation similar to the European Companies. He did so by establishing his own overseas settlement. He even tried to establish a Trading Company in Europe by sending 400 men to France, which would have been the first Indian ship to appear in European waters. He even established a 9-member board in 1793 with the designation of Malikut Tujjar to have full scale trade on the pattern of European Companies.
The Pitt’s India Act 1784 was a comprehensive piece of legislation that displayed the usual parliamentary hypocrisy of the British as Mysore was singled out for bitter and hostile propaganda. Hyder Ali and then Tipu Sultan defeated British forces and captured British officers and men. Even General Mathew had become a prisoner in 1783. Therefore, the British intentionally created fictitious stories about Tipu’s barbarities and succeeded in portraying Tipu as a brutal villain, who mobilised his forces against the British. Thus, vengeance against Tipu was completely justified for the East India Company.
Tipu was also singular in envisioning a kind of people’s war. Even in his early reign, he required his revenue collectors to carry muskets, as they had to come along with peasants and do target-practice against a wall. It turned out to become extremely popular so much so that there were not enough matchlocks for the purpose.
Tipu did not succeed in his efforts to invite the Turkish troops and the French army to fight the British in India. Both the powers denied the invitation as the French Revolution was in the offing in 1789 while Turkey was no more interested in a scheme that was independently led by Tipu Sultan. Consequently, Tipu had to face British power alone in the third Mysore War (1791-92). Both the Nizam and the Marathas sided with the British, which compelled Tipu Sultan to accept the Treaty of Srirangapatna in 1792.
Unfortunately, this treaty divested Tipu of half of his dominions and imposed on him an indemnity of Rupees 3.3 crores, which was to be paid within a year with two sons of Tipu held as hostage. Although Tipu paid the indemnity in full, it demoralised him. His government survived and he started making schemes for developing agriculture, commerce, and industry and reorganising his army and rebuilding his fleet. Some of his most interesting innovations belong to this period of interlude 1792-99 before the final Anglo-Mysore war in 1799.
Though the British reduced him to size, they could not curtail his independence. Tipu was willing to side conditionally with France if a 10,000 strong French army landed in South India. This condition was accepted by France. However, new ideas of revolutionary France were spread under Tipu. For example, the Jacobin Club was established at Srirangapatna and on 15 May 1797, the Republican flag was hoisted along with the “Tree of Liberty” in the presence of Citizen Tipu with a salute of 2300 guns. It was the first declaration of the proposals of “Liberty and Equality” on Indian soil.
A mission to the French Island of Mauritius in 1797-98 using the services of 99 Frenchmen helped in providing justification for the final British invasion of Mysore in 1799. Can anyone imagine that after conquering Srirangapatna, capital of Mysore, Wellesley was bent upon annexing a portion of Nizam’s territory together with half of the kingdom of Awadh? Finally, he did so in early 19th century as he conquered Carnatic and half of the Awadh besides Tanjore and Poligar territories in July 1801. Tipu resisted the naked and colonial aggression skilfully even as his territory was already halved. With the Nizam of Hyderabad joining the British and the Marathas looking the other way, Tipu’s last decision was historic and valorous.
No surrender before the aggressor, but a fight to death. Tipu Sultan died fighting at the so-called Watergate contrary to the British officers’ imagination that they had captured him. He died bravely fighting the British as his corpse was covered by bodies heaped over each other. Though Srirangapatna was given over to reckless rape and slaughter by the victorious army yet the only thing done with grace was Tipu Sultan’s funeral with military honours. This was perhaps deemed necessary in order to assure everyone that the dreaded enemy was dead, to prevent any future resistance.
The people grieved deeply the death of their brave ruler and the atmosphere was filled with loud lamentations. That was the end of the Tiger of Mysore. A great statesman and administrator, a visionary and a nationalist, Tipu Sultan was indeed one of a kind. It is a pity his legacy is being frittered away by vested interests through frivolous arguments that undermine his stature and contribution to the nation.
[The writer is Ex ADA(OR), National Archives, New Delhi]