Tipu Sultan: Difference between revisions

| caption      = Portrait of Tipu Sultan by an anonymous Indian artist in Mysore, c. 1790–1800

| successor    = [[Krishnaraja Wodeyar III| Krishnaraja III]] <br/>  <small> (as [[Maharaja of Mysore|Maharaja]] of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]]) </small>

| religion    = [[Sunni Islam]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncfIAAAAQBAJ&q=sunni+ottoman+tipu+sultan&pg=PA194|title = The Persian Gulf in History|isbn = 9780230618459|last1 = Potter|first1 = L.|date = 5 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uX4fEAAAQBAJ&q=sunni+ottoman+tipu+sultan&pg=PA8|title=Noncooperation in India: Nonviolent Strategy and Protest, 1920-22|isbn=978-0-19-758056-1|last1=Hardiman|first1=David|date=March 2021}}</ref>

| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1751|12|1}}<ref name=N18_20210719/>{{sfn|Hasan|2005|p=6}}

| birth_place  = [[Devanahalli]], [[Kingdom of Mysore| Sultanate of Mysore]] <br/> (modern-day [[Karnataka]], [[India]])

| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1799|5|4|1751|12|01}}{{sfn|Hasan|2005|p=6}}

| death_place  = [[Srirangapatna]], [[Kingdom of Mysore| Sultanate of Mysore]] <br/> (modern-day Karnataka, India)

| Hijri Date Of Birth = 20th day of Muhaaram 1163 AH

'''Tipu Sultan''' (''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 |archive-date=16 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116055952/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/7-lesser-known-facts-you-should-know-about-tipu-sultan/1/433548.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 1 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|date=28 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref> also known as 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 Indian Muslim ruler of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] based in [[South India]].<ref>{{cite book |title=India, Modernity and the Great Divergence |url= https://www.google.ca/books/edition/India_Modernity_and_the_Great_Divergence/TdrzDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Tipu+Sultan+indian+muslim+ruler&pg=PA318&printsec=frontcover |page=67 |author= Kaveh Yazdani|date=2017 |publisher=Brill }}</ref> He was a pioneer of [[rocket artillery]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Colley |first1=Linda |title=Going Native, Telling Tales: Captivity, Collaborations and Empire |journal=Past & Present |date=2000 |issue=168 |page=190 |jstor=651308 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/651308 |issn=0031-2746}}</ref><ref name=DalrymplePg243>Dalrymple, p. 243</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jamil |first1=Arish |title=Why Mysore? The Idealistic and Materialistic Factors Behind Tipu Sultan's War Rocket Success |url=http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume5/gunpowder-age-v-jamil.pdf |website=Emory Endeavors in World History - Volume 5 |publisher=Emory College of Arts and Science |access-date=21 May 2022}}</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 Srirangapatna (1799)|Siege of Srirangapatna]].<ref name=Narasimha/>

Tipu Sultan was born on 10 November 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>

Tipu Sultan's mother tongue was [[Urdu]]. The French noted that "Their language is Moorish[Urdu] but they also speak Persian."<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Muslims_and_Citizens/uF_SDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=moors+urdu&pg=PA31&printsec=frontcover |title= Muslims and Citizens:Islam, Politics, and the French Revolution|author= Ian Coller |date=2020 |page=31}}</ref> ''Moors'' at the time was a European designation for Urdu: "I have a deep knowledge [''je possède à fond''] of the common tongue of India, called ''Moors'' by the English, and ''Ourdouzebain'' by the natives of the land."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Europe_s_India/71h7DgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=follow+theme+in+their+conversation,+even+though+i+have+a+deep+knowledge+%5Bje+possede+a+fond%5D+of+the+common+tongue+of+India,+called+Moors+by+the+English,+and+Ourdouzebain+by+the+natives+of+the+land.&pg=PA259&printsec=frontcover |title= Europe's India: Words, People, Empires, 1500–1800 |author= Sanjay Subrahmanyam |date= 2017|publisher= Harvard University Press |isbn= 9780674977556 }}</ref>

[[File:War coat of Tipu Sultan.jpg|left|thumb|War coat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore c. 1785-1790]]

{{main|Second Anglo-Mysore War}}[[File:Battle of pollilur.jpg|thumb|[[Mural]] of the [[Battle of Pollilur]] on the walls of Tipu's summer palace, painted to celebrate his triumph over the British]][[File:Tipu Sultan%27s cannon.jpg|thumb|Very small Cannon used by Tipu Sultan's forces now in Government Museum (Egmore), Chennai]]In 1779, the British captured the French-controlled port of [[Mahé, India|Mahé]], which Tipu had placed under his protection, providing some troops for its defence. In response, Hyder launched an invasion of the Carnatic, with the aim of driving the British out of [[Madras]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A history of the British army, Volume 3|first=John William|last=Fortescue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GlKAAAAYAAJ&q=cornwallis%20medows%20mysore&pg=PA546|publisher=Macmillan|year=1902|pages=431–432}}</ref> During this campaign in September 1780, Tipu Sultan was dispatched by Hyder Ali with 10,000 men and 18 guns to intercept Colonel Baillie who was on his way to join Sir [[Hector Munro, 8th of Novar|Hector Munro]]. In the [[Battle of Pollilur]], Tipu decisively defeated Baillie. Out of 360 Europeans, about 200 were captured alive, and the sepoys, who were about 3800 men, suffered very high casualties. Munro was moving south with a separate force to join Baillie, but on hearing the news of the defeat he was forced to retreat to Madras, abandoning his artillery in a water tank at [[Kanchipuram]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgalleries.org/tipu/tipu311.htm|title=The Tiger and The Thistle – Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India|work=nationalgalleries.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111064154/http://www.nationalgalleries.org/tipu/tipu311.htm|archive-date=11 November 2006}}</ref>

Tipu Sultan defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi near Tanjore on 18 February 1782. Braithwaite's forces, consisting of 100 Europeans, 300 cavalry, 1400 [[sepoy]]s and 10 field pieces, was the standard size of the colonial armies. Tipu Sultan seized all the guns and took the entire detachment prisoner. In December 1781 Tipu Sultan successfully seized Chittur from the British. Tipu Sultan had thus gained sufficient military experience by the time Hyder Ali died on Friday, 6 December 1782&nbsp;– some historians put it at 2 or 3 days later or before, (Hijri date being 1 [[Muharram]], 1197 as per some records in Persian&nbsp;– there may be a difference of 1 to 3 days due to the Lunar Calendar). Tipu Sultan realised that the British were a new kind of threat in India. He became the ruler of Mysore on Sunday, 22 December 1782 (The inscriptions in some of Tipu's [[regalia]] showing it as 20 [[Muharram]], 1197 [[Islamic calendar|Hijri]]&nbsp;– Sunday), in a simple coronation ceremony.

* [[Siege of Nargund]] during February 1785 won by Mysore

Due to their perpetual battle engagements, Haidar and Tipu required a disciplined standing army. Thus, [[Rajputs]], Muslims and [[Boya (caste)|Bedars]] were enrolled for full time service replacing the local militia called the ''Kandachar''<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mysore Hatti Gopal|date=1960|title=The Finances Of The Mysore State 1799 - 1831 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UJKAAAAMAAJ&q=Kandachar+militia|location=|publisher=Orient Longmans|page=255|isbn=|quote=These were armed militia who served as police officers , helped in the collection of revenue and often garrisoned small forts . They resembled the sibundi in the Company ' s territories . In Mysore they were divided into the huzur kandachar or those who were in the capital and about the Maharaja , and the taluq kandachar or those in the taluqs , the latter being far more numerous than the former.}}</ref> force of agricultural origin which existed in the Mysore army earlier. The removal of the [[Vokkaliga]]s from the local militia which had taken part in wars for centuries and the imposition of higher taxes on them in place of their quit rent led indirectly to the implementation of [[Ryotwari]] system. Now the [[Ryot#Ryotwari system|Ryots]] could not rely upon slaves for their agricultural activities since their slaves were enrolled in the army in some places. Besides paying higher taxes they had to endure the additional responsibility of feeding the slaves and financing their marriages. This led to the weakening of the system of slavery in [[Mysore]].<ref>{{cite book |editor=R. Gopal|date=2010|title=Tipu Sultan: The Tiger of Mysore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDT0UsWn7mUC&q=vokkaliga+kandachar|location=Mysore|publisher=Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Karnataka|page=279|oclc=813417527|quote=Since Haidar and Tipu were perpetually engaged in battles , they formed a disciplined standing army . Thus , instead of the local militia called the Kandachar force of agricultural origin which existed in the Mysore army earlier, Haidar and Tipu enrolled to their army forces the able tribal men , Muslims and Rajputs on full time service. In this way, Haidar and Tipu removed the Vokkaligas of the agricultural base from the local militia which took part in wars for centuries and in place of their quit rent , they imposed higher taxes and thus became indirectly responsible for implementation of Ryotwari system. The Ryots were not liberated from the shackles of Kandachar service; the slaves who were with them were enrolled in the army in some places. As a result, the Ryots removed from the military service could not even rely upon slaves for their agricultural activities. Hence these ryots had to endure the greater responsibility of feeding the slaves and of financing their marriages besides paying the higher taxes. So in the plains of Mysore the system of slavery was loosened.}}</ref>

{{See|Mysore silk|Economic history of India}}

Tipu had several wives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howes |first=Jennifer |date=October 2021 |title=Tipu Sultan's female entourage under East India Company rule |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/tipu-sultans-female-entourage-under-east-india-company-rule/D60AA908187F73DCDBC3F2EDAA235CE5 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |language=en |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=855–874 |doi=10.1017/S135618632000067X |s2cid=229455847 |issn=1356-1863}}</ref> 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]].

#[[Shezada Hyder Ali|Shahzada Sayyid Shareef Hyder Ali Khan Sultan]] (1771&nbsp;– 30 July 1815)

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