Tipu Sultan: Difference between revisions

 

'''Tipu Sultan''' (born ''' Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/7-lesser-known-facts-you-should-know-about-tipu-sultan/1/433548.html |title=Tipu Sultan's 216th death anniversary: 7 unknown facts you should know about the Tiger of Mysore : Listicles: Microfacts |publisher=Indiatoday.intoday.in |date=4 May 2015 |access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref> 01 December 1751&nbsp;– 4 May 1799),<ref name=N18_20210719>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-19|title=Rewriting History: How I Discovered the True Birth Date of Tipu Sultan|url=https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/rewriting-history-how-i-discovered-the-true-birth-date-of-tipu-sultan-3980294.html|access-date=2021-07-22|website=News18|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Olikara|first=Nidhin G.|title=New light on Tipu Sultan|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/history-new-light-on-tipu-sultan-persian-manuscript-in-british-library-london-helps-correct-birth-date/article36133828.ece|access-date=2021-08-28|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref> also known as ''Tipu Sahab'' or the '''Tiger of Mysore''',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cavendish|first=Richard|title=Tipu Sultan killed at Seringapatam|journal=History Today|date=4 May 1999|volume=49|issue=5|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/tipu-sultan-killed-seringapatam|access-date=13 December 2013}}</ref> was the ruler of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] based in [[South India]] and a pioneer of [[rocket artillery]].<ref name="Kovind">{{cite web |last1=Ram Nath Kovind |title=ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRI RAM NATH KOVIND AT THE JOINT SESSION OF KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF VIDHAN SOUDHA |url=https://presidentofindia.nic.in/speeches-detail.htm?355 |access-date=3 September 2019 |date=25 October 2017 |quote=Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in the development and use of Mysore rockets in warfare. This technology was later adopted by the Europeans.}}</ref><ref name="Narasimha" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Allana |first=Gulam |title=Muslim political thought through the ages: 1562–1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nbiAAAAMAAJ |access-date=18 January 2013 |year=1988 |edition=2 |publisher=Royal Book Company |location=Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania |page=78|isbn=9789694070919 }}</ref> He introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule, including a new coinage system and calendar,{{sfn|Hasan|2005|p=399}} and a new land revenue system which initiated the growth of the [[Mysore silk]] industry.<ref name="Global Silk Industry">{{cite book |author=Datta, R.K.|title=Global Silk Industry: A Complete Source Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8U1lmEGEdgC |year=2007 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-313-0087-9 |page=17 }}</ref> He expanded the iron-cased [[Mysorean rockets]] and commissioned the military manual ''[[Fathul Mujahidin]]''. He deployed the rockets against advances of British forces and their allies during the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]], including the [[Battle of Pollilur (1780)|Battle of Pollilur]] and [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)|Siege of Seringapatam]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]], the [[French First Republic|French]] commander-in-chief, sought an alliance with Tipu Sultan. Both Tipu Sultan and his father used their French-trained army in alliance with the French in their struggle with the British,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Macquarie University |title=French Rocks |url=https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-archive/seringapatam/images/frenchrocks/ |access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=77}} and in Mysore's struggles with other surrounding powers, against the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], [[Sira, India|Sira]], and rulers of [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]], [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]], [[Keladi Nayaka Kingdom|Bednore]], [[Carnatic region|Carnatic]], and [[Travancore]]. Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, rose to power and Tipu succeeded him as the ruler of Mysore upon his father's death in 1782. He won important victories against the British in the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]] and negotiated the 1784 [[Treaty of Mangalore]] with them after his father died from cancer in December 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

Tipu's conflicts with his neighbours included the [[Maratha–Mysore War]] which ended with the signing of the [[Gajendragarh#Treaty of Gajendragad|Treaty of Gajendragad]].{{sfn|Hasan|2005|pp=105–107}} The treaty required that Tipu Sultan pay 4.8 million rupees as a one-time war cost to the Marathas, and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees in addition to returning all the territory captured by Hyder Ali.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxsa3jtHoCEC&q=tipu+48+lacs+maratha&pg=PA175|title=Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj|last=Naravane|first=M. S.|date=2006|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=9788131300343|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&q=gajendragad+1787&pg=PA54|title=Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785-96|last=Sen|first=Sailendra Nath|date=1995|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=9788171547890|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]], a combined force of British East India Company troops supported by the [[Maratha]]s & the Nizam of Hyderabad defeated Tipu. He was killed on 4 May 1799 while [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|defending his stronghold of Seringapatam]].

 

Tipu Sultan was born on 01 December 1751 at [[Devanahalli]],<ref name=N18_20210719/>{{sfn|Hasan|2005|p=6}} in present-day [[Bangalore Rural district]], about {{convert|33|km|0|abbr=on}} north of [[Bangalore]] city. He was named "Tipu Sultan" after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of [[Arcot, Vellore|Arcot]].  Being illiterate, Hyder was very particular in giving his eldest son a prince's education and a very early exposure to military and political affairs. From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. He was his father's right arm in the wars from which Hyder emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.<ref>{{cite news |title=The history of South India is relatively unknown: Rajmohan Gandhi |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/the-history-of-south-india-is-relatively-unknown-rajmohan-gandhi-118120900174_1.html |work=Business Standard India |date=9 December 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Louis XVI Receives the Ambassadors of Tipu Sultan 1788 Voyer after Emile Wattier 19th century.jpg|thumb|[[Louis XVI]] receives the ambassadors of Tipu Sultan in 1788. Tipu Sultan is known to have sent many diplomatic missions to France, the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Sultanate of Oman]], [[Zand Dynasty]] and [[Durrani Empire]].<ref name="islamicvoice.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.99/tippu.htm|title=Islamic Voice|work=islamicvoice.com}}</ref>]]

In 1794, with the support of French Republican officers, Tipu helped found the [[Jacobin Club of Mysore]] for 'framing laws comfortable with the laws of the Republic'. He planted a Liberty Tree and declared himself Citizen Tipoo.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roychoudhury|first=Upendrakishore|title=White Mughals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7BCr-QIWGIC&pg=PA101|date=April 2004|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-303046-1|page=101}}</ref>

[[File:Tipu death.jpg|thumb|left|''The Last Effort and Fall of Tipu Sultan'' by [[Henry Singleton (painter)|Henry Singleton]], c. 1800]]

[[File:Tipu Sultan, Death Place.jpg|thumb|left|The spot in Srirangapatana where Tipu's body was found]]

[[Horatio Nelson]] defeated [[François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers]] at the [[Battle of the Nile]] in Egypt in 1798. Three armies marched into Mysore in 1799—one from [[Bombay]] and two British, one of which included Arthur Wellesley.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Francis |first1=P. Sempa |title=Wellington in India: A Great Commander in Embryo |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/wellington-in-india-a-great-commander-in-embryo/ |website=thediplomat.com |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> They besieged the capital [[Srirangapatna]] in the [[Fourth Mysore War]].<ref>The Parliamentary Register; Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the [House of Lords and House of Commons]-J. Almon, 1793</ref> There were more than 26,000 soldiers of the British East India Company, approximately 4,000 Europeans and the rest Indians; while Tipu Sultan's forces numbered only 30,000. The betrayal by Tipu Sultan's ministers in working with the British and weakening the walls to make an easy path for the British.{{Citation needed|date= April 2018}}

When the British [[Battle of Srirangapatna|broke through]] the city walls, French military advisers told Tipu Sultan <ref name="Tipu's french advisors">{{cite news |title=Tipu Sultan: Here're lesser known facts about 'Tiger of Mysore' |url=https://www.siasat.com/tipu-sultan-herere-lesser-known-facts-about-tiger-mysore-1715508/ |access-date=16 September 2020 |work=The Siasat Daily |date=2 November 2019}}</ref> to escape via secret passages and to fight the rest of the wars from other forts, but he refused.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tipu, the Citizen-Sultan and the Myth of a Jacobin Club in India |url=https://thewire.in/history/the-citizen-sultan-a-jacobin-club-in-india |website=The Wire}}</ref>

Tipu Sultan was killed at the Hoally (Diddy) Gateway, which was located {{convert|300|yd|m}} from the N.E. Angle of the Srirangapatna Fort.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000000138u00000000.html|title= View of the Hoally Gateway, where Tipu Sultan was killed, Seringapatam (Mysore)|access-date=14 June 2009|publisher=British Library Online Gallery}}</ref> He was buried the next afternoon at the [[Gumbaz, Seringapatam|Gumaz]], next to the grave of his father. Many members of the British East India Company believed that [[Nawab of Carnatic]] [[Umdat Ul-Umra]] secretly provided assistance to Tipu Sultan during the war and sought his deposition after 1799.{{Citation needed|date= April 2018}}

Dr [[APJ Abdul Kalam]], the former [[President of India]], in his Tipu Sultan Shaheed Memorial Lecture in Bangalore (30 November 1991), called Tipu Sultan the innovator of the world's first war rocket. Two of these rockets, captured by the British at Srirangapatna, were displayed in the [[Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum|Royal Artillery Museum]] in London. According to historian Dr [[Dulari Qureshi]] Tipu Sultan was a fierce warrior king and was so quick in his movement that it seemed to the enemy that he was fighting on many fronts at the same time.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/11/07/stories/2010110750210500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029152509/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/11/07/stories/2010110750210500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2013 |title=Tipu's legend lives on  |last1=Zachariah  |first1=Mini Pant |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=7 November 2010 |access-date=18 December 2013}}</ref> Tipu managed to subdue all the petty kingdoms in the south. He was also one of the few Indian rulers to have defeated British armies.

Tipu Sultan's father had expanded on [[Mysorean rockets|Mysore's use of rocketry]], making critical innovations in the rockets themselves and the military logistics of their use. He deployed as many as 1,200 specialised troops in his army to operate rocket launchers. These men were skilled in operating the weapons and were trained to launch their rockets at an angle calculated from the diameter of the cylinder and the distance to the target. The rockets had twin side sharpened blades mounted on them, and when fired ''en masse'', spun and wreaked significant damage against a large army. Tipu greatly expanded the use of rockets after Hyder's death, deploying as many as 5,000 rocketeers at a time.<ref name="5000 rockets">{{cite news |title=Over 5,000 'war rockets' of Tipu Sultan unearthed |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/state/over-1000-war-rockets-tipu-684169.html |access-date=16 September 2020 |work=Deccan Herald |date=28 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The rockets deployed by Tipu during the [[Battle of Pollilur (1780)|Battle of Pollilur]] were much more advanced than those the British East India Company had previously seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missiles (up to 2&nbsp;km range).<ref name=Narasimha/>

British accounts describe the use of the rockets during the third and fourth wars.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/how-the-mysorean-rocket-helped-tipu-sultans-military-might-gain-new-heights/|title=How the Mysorean rocket helped Tipu Sultan's military might gain new heights|date=5 August 2018}}</ref> During the climactic battle at Srirangapatna in 1799, British shells struck a magazine containing rockets, causing it to explode and send a towering cloud of black smoke with cascades of exploding white light rising up from the battlements. After Tipu's defeat in the fourth war the British captured a number of the Mysorean rockets. These became influential in British rocket development, inspiring the [[Congreve rocket]], which was soon put into use in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=Narasimha>Roddam Narasimha (1985). [http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750–1850 A.D.] National Aeronautical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Science.</ref>

Like his father before him, Tipu Sultan maintained friendly relations with [[Mohammad Ali Khan]], ruler of the [[Zand Dynasty]] in [[Persia]]. Tipu Sultan also maintained correspondence with [[Hamad bin Said]], the ruler of the [[Sultanate of Oman]].<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QxtpQSa1DXgC&q=tipu+sultan+oman&pg=PA214 | title = Trade and Empire in Muscat and Zanzibar: The Roots of British Domination | isbn = 978-0-415-07997-6 | last1 = Bhacker | first1 = Mohmed Reda | year = 1992}}</ref>

Tipu Sultan appoints Judges from both communities for Hindu and Muslim subjects. '''Qadi''' for Muslims and '''Pandit''' for Hindu in each province. Upper courts also having similar system.<ref name="SocialScientist110"/>

'''Usage of liquor''' and prostitution were strictly prohibited in his administration.<ref name="Sastri">{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K.N.V |title=Moral Laws under Tipu Sultan |date=1943 |publisher=Indian History Congress |page=269 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100038/page/n291 |access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref> Usage and agriculture of [[psychedelic]]s, such as [[Cannabis]], were also prohibited.<ref name="BSN211">{{cite book |author=Naik, B. Shreedhara |title=The society and politics in South Kanara 1500 A D to 1800 A D |page=211 |url=https://sg.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/132248/13/13_chapter%205.pdf |access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref>

Polyandry in Kerala was prohibited by Tipu Sultan. He passed a decree for all women to cover their breasts, which was not practised in Kerala in previous era.<ref name="REMiller">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Rolland E |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |date=27 April 2015 |page=34 |isbn=9781438456027 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjSzCAAAQBAJ&q=history%20of%20india%2C%20miller&pg=PA34 |access-date=28 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Sastri270">{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K.N.V |title=Moral Laws under Tipu Sultan |date=1943 |publisher=Indian History Congress |page=270 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100038/page/n292 |access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref>

On a personal level, Tipu was a devout Muslim, saying his prayers daily and paying special attention to mosques in the area.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 4397149|title = Tipu Sultan: Giving 'The Devil' His Due|journal = Economic and Political Weekly|volume = 25|issue = 52|pages = 2835–2837|last1 = Yadav|first1 = Bhupendra|year = 1990}}</ref> As a Muslim ruler of a predominantly Hindu country, some of his policies have evoked controversy. The mainstream view considers Tipu's administration to have been tolerant.<ref name="mehta">{{cite book|title=Widows, Pariahs, and Bayadères: India as Spectacle|author=Mehta, Binita|publisher=[[Bucknell University Press]]|year=2002|pages=110–111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wK1fAwgOercC&pg=PA110|isbn=9780838754559}}</ref><ref name="pande">{{cite book|title=Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan: Evaluation of Their Religious Policies|author=Pande, B. N. |publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgbXAAAAMAAJ|isbn=9788185220383}}</ref> Regular endowments were made during this period to about 156 Hindu temples,<ref name="chetty2"/> including the famed [[Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna|Ranganathaswami Temple]] at [[Srirangapatna]].<ref name="pande"/>

His religious legacy has become a source of considerable controversy in India, with some groups (including Christians<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMoP4lsmGXoC&pg=PA30|title=The Chaldean Syrian Church of the East|publisher=ISPCK|page=30|year=1983}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Tipu Sultan-The Tyrant of Mysore |last=Balakrishna |first=S. |publisher=Rare Publications |year=2013 |isbn=978-81-927884-7-0 |edition=1st}}</ref> and even Muslims) proclaiming him a great warrior for the faith or ''Ghazi''{{sfn|Brittlebank|1999|pp=1-3}}<ref name="rpersecutor1">{{Cite book | last = Valath | first = V. V. K. | title = Keralathile Sthacharithrangal&nbsp;– Thrissur Jilla | year = 1981 | publisher = Kerala Sahithya Academy | language = ml | pages = 74–79}}</ref> for both religious and political reasons.<ref name="pande"/> On one hand, many sources mention the appointment of Hindu officers in Tipu's administration{{sfn|Hasan|2005|pp=357–358}} and his land grants and endowments to Hindu temples,<ref name="A. Subbaraya Chetty 2002">A. Subbaraya Chetty, "Tipu's endowments to Hindus", pp. 111–115 in [[#Confronting|''Confronting Colonialism'']].</ref><ref name="padiga3">[[#Confronting|''Confronting Colonialism'']], p. 118</ref>{{sfn|Hasan|2005|p=360}} which are cited as evidence for his religious tolerance. On the other hand, various sources describe the massacres,<ref>{{cite book|title=Tipu Sultan: Villain Or Hero? : an Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bk5uAAAAMAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Voice of India|isbn=978-81-85990-08-8|last1=Goel|first1=Sita Ram}}</ref> imprisonment<ref name="Moegling 1855 117">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5ABAAAAQAAJ&q=moegling+coorg|title=Coorg Memoirs: An Account of Coorg and of the Coorg Mission|last=Moegling|first=H|year=1855|page=117}}</ref><ref name="Honor">{{harvnb|Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain)|1842|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ad9PAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA494 494]}}</ref><ref name="acc">{{Citation

  }}</ref> and forced conversion<ref name=cariappa>{{citation |last1=Cariappa |first1=M. P. |last2=Cariappa |first2=Ponnamma |title=The Coorgs and their Origins |publisher=Aakar Books |year=1981 |oclc=641505186|page=48}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Charles|title=The English Cyclopædia: A New Dictionary of Universal Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QuY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA94|year=1858|publisher=Bradbury and Evans|page=94}}</ref><ref name="dajser2">{{cite web|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/achievers_view.asp?a_id=28|title=Deportation & The Konkani Christian Captivity at Srirangapatna (February&nbsp;24, 1784 Ash Wednesday)|publisher=[[Daiji World|Daijiworld Media]]|location=Mangalore|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308124712/http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/achievers_view.asp?a_id=28|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=live|access-date=29 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Wilks545">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEvQL8wHHngC&q=kirkpatrick+coorgs&pg=PA283|title=Historical Sketches of the South of India, in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysoor|last=Wilks|first=Mark|publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme|year=1817|page=545|access-date=12 February 2014|isbn=9788120604919}}</ref>{{sfn|Prabhu|1999|p=213}} of Hindus ([[Captivity of Kodavas at Seringapatam|Kodavas of Coorg]], [[Captivity of Nairs at Seringapatam|Nairs of Malabar]]) and Christians ([[Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam|Catholics of Mangalore]]), the destruction of churches<ref name="Lobo2">[https://archive.today/20140829175532/http://portal.kinnigoli.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:sarasvatis-chi. Sarasvati's Children], Joe Lobo</ref> and temples, and the clamping down on Muslims ([[Mappila|Mappila of Kerala]], the [[Mahdavia]] Muslims, the [[Savanur State|rulers of Savanur]] and the people of [[Hyderabad State]]), which are sometimes cited as evidence for his intolerance.

}}</ref> {{quote|"We proceeded with the utmost speed, and, at once, made prisoners of 40,000 occasion-seeking and sedition-exciting [[Kodava people|Kodavas]], who alarmed at the approach of our victorious army, had slunk into woods, and concealed themselves in lofty mountains, inaccessible even to birds. Then carrying them away from their native country (the native place of sedition) we raised them to the honour of Islam, and incorporated them into our [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmedy]] corps."}}

<ref>{{cite book|last=Sultan|first=Tipu|title=Select letters of Tippoo Sultan to various public functionaries|publisher=Black|year=1811|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/selectlettersoft00tipu/page/228 228]|url=https://archive.org/details/selectlettersoft00tipu}}</ref>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tipu's persecution of Christians even extended to captured British soldiers. For instance, there were a significant number of forced conversions of British captives between 1780 and 1784.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Following their disastrous defeat in the 1780 [[Battle of Pollilur]], 7,000 British men along with an unknown number of women were held captive by Tipu in the fortress of Seringapatnam. Of these, over 300 were circumcised and given Muslim names and clothes and several British regimental drummer boys were made to wear ''[[ghagra cholis]]'' and entertain the court as ''nautch'' girls or dancing girls. After the 10-year-long captivity ended, James Scurry, one of those prisoners, recounted that he had forgotten how to sit in a chair and use a knife and fork. His English was broken and stilted, having lost all his vernacular idiom. His skin had darkened to the swarthy complexion of [[negro]]es, and moreover, he had developed an aversion to wearing European clothes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roychoudhury|first=Upendrakishore|title=White Mughals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7BCr-QIWGIC&pg=PA28|date=April 2004|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-303046-1|page=28}}</ref>

 

 

Assessments of Tipu Sultan have often been passionate and divided. Successive [[Indian National Congress]] governments have often celebrated Tipu Sultan's memory and monuments and relics of his rule while the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] has been largely critical. School and college textbooks in India officially recognize him as a "freedom-fighter" along with many other rulers of the 18th century who fought European powers.<ref name="textbooks">{{cite news |last1=Moudgal |first1=Sandeep |title=Tipu Sultan history lessons can't be erased, says textbook committee chairman |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/tipu-sultan-history-lessons-cant-be-erased-says-textbook-committee-chairman/articleshow/71845989.cms |date=1 November 2019|work=The Times of India }}</ref>

The original copy of the [[Constitution of India]] bears a painting of Tipu Sultan.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ramdas|first=Inayat|date=27 January 2016|title=Bet You Didn't Know All This About the Indian Constitution!|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/bet-you-didnt-know-all-this-about-the-indian-constitution|access-date=27 September 2020|website=TheQuint|language=en}}</ref>

The 14th and current Indian president [[Ram Nath Kovind]] hailed Tipu Sultan in his address to the Karnataka Assembly on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the state secretariat [[Vidhana Soudha]] saying “Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in the development and use of Mysore rockets in warfare. This technology was later adopted by the Europeans.“<ref>{{Cite news|last=Aji|first=Sowmya|title=President Ram Nath Kovind hails Tipu Sultan, sparks war of words between Congress and BJP|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/president-ram-nath-kovind-hails-tipu-sultan-sparks-war-of-words-between-congress-and-bjp/articleshow/61226875.cms|date=26 October 2017}}</ref>

Tipu Sultan is also admired as a hero in Pakistan. Pakistan's Prime Minister [[Imran Khan]] has said that he admires Tipu Sultan as a freedom fighter.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan PM Imran pays tribute to Tipu Sultan on his death anniversary|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-pm-imran-pays-tribute-to-tipu-sultan-on-his-death-anniversary/article27039000.ece|work=The Hindu|date=5 May 2019}}</ref>

Tipu was commonly known as the '''Tiger of Mysore''' and adopted this animal as the symbol (''bubri/babri'')<ref>{{cite web|date=17 August 2011|title=Tipu Sultan and the tiger motif|url=http://toshkhana.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/tipu-sultan-and-the-tiger-motif/|access-date=13 December 2013|work=The Seringapatnam Times|publisher=Toshkhana : wordpress}}</ref> of his rule.<ref name="ModernAsianStudies">{{Cite journal|last1=Brittlebank|first1=K.|year=1995|title=Sakti and Barakat: The ∀ Power of Tipu's Tiger. An Examination of the Tiger Emblem of Tipu Sultan of Mysore|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=29|issue=2|pages=257–269|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00012725|jstor=312813}}</ref> It is said that Tipu Sultan was hunting in the forest with a French friend. They came face to face with a tiger there. The tiger first pounced on the French soldier and killed him. Tipu's gun did not work, and his dagger fell on the ground as the tiger jumped on him. He reached for the dagger, picked it up, and killed the tiger with it. That earned him the name "the Tiger of Mysore". {{citation needed|date=December 2020}} He even had French engineers build a mechanical tiger for his palace.<ref>{{cite book|last=James|first=Lawrence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xygrApPFw_4C&pg=PA67|title=Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India|date=2000|publisher=MacMillan|isbn=978-0-312-26382-9|access-date=12 February 2010}}</ref> The device, known as [[Tipu's Tiger]], is on display in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London.<ref>{{cite news|date=11 April 2004|title=Tippoo's Tiger|publisher=Victoria & Albert Museum|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/Tippoo's_tiger/index.html|url-status=dead|access-date=10 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825074241/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/Tippoo's_tiger/index.html|archive-date=25 August 2006}}</ref> Not only did Tipu place relics of tigers around his palace and domain, but also had the emblem of a tiger on his banners and some arms and weapons. Sometimes this tiger was very ornate and had inscriptions within the drawing, alluding to Tipu's faith – Islam.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tiger Motif|url=https://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/images/tiger/|access-date=12 February 2010|publisher=Macquarie University Library}}</ref> Historian [[Alexander Beatson]] reported that "in his palace was found a great variety of curious swords, daggers, fusils, pistols, and blunderbusses; some were of exquisite workmanship, mounted with gold, or silver, and beautifully inlaid and ornamented with tigers' heads and stripes, or with Persian and Arabic verses".<ref name="Beatson">{{cite book|last=Beatson|first=Alexander|url=http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/tipu.html|title=A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun|publisher=G. & W. Nichol|year=1800|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609104725/http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/tipu.html|archive-date=9 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

However, on 29 July 2019, the next Chief Minister [[B. S. Yediyurappa]], who belongs to the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP), ordered the celebrations cancelled, saying: "Legislators from [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]] had highlighted incidents of violence during Tipu Jayanti." The previous Congress government’s decision to organise the Jayanti was also seen as the party’s move to pander to the minorities.

*[[Bharat Ek Khoj|''Bharat Ek Khoj'']], a 1988 Indian television series based on [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s [[The Discovery of India|''The Discovery of India'']] which aired on [[DD National]], dedicated an episode to [[Tipu Sultan]] with [[Salim Ghouse]] portraying the king.

* Tipu's life and adventures were the central theme of a short-running [[South Indian]] television series ''The Adventures of Tipu Sultan'', and of a more popular national television series ''[[The Sword of Tipu Sultan (TV serial)|The Sword of Tipu Sultan]]'' based on a historical novel by Bhagwan Gidwani.<ref name="pod">{{cite web|author=Swaminathan, Chitra|title=The return of the Sultan|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2006/05/20/stories/2006052000080200.htm|work=Online edition of The Hindu, dated 2006-05-20|accessdate=17 August 2007}}</ref>

Tipu had several wives.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} One of them, ''Sindh Sahiba'', was quite renowned for her beauty and intelligence and whose grandson was ''Sahib Sindh Sultan'' also known as His Highness Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Ahmed Halim-az-Zaman Khan Sultan Sahib. Tipu's family was sent to Calcutta by the British. Many other descendants continue to live in [[Kolkata]].

File:Flintlock Blunderbuss Tipoo Sahib Seringapatam 1793 1794.jpg|A [[flintlock]] blunderbuss, made for [[Tippu Sultan]] in [[Seringapatam]] in 1793-94. Tippu Sultan used many Western craftsmen, and this gun reflects the most up-to-date technologies of the time.<ref name="Moma" />

File:Tippu's cannon.jpg|Cannon used by Tippu Sultan in the battle of [[Seringapatam]] 1799

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: {{citation|editor-last=Chisholm|editor-first= Hugh|year=1911|title= Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=11th|publisher= Cambridge University Press |chapter= Tippoo Sahib|volume=26}}

 

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