- Prelims: Freedom struggle, Mysore empire, Tipu Sultan, Maratha etc
- Mains GS Paper I & II: Freedom struggle(significant events), The British conquest in India etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Tipu Sultan was feared and envied not just during his reign (1782-99) by the British, when he became the stuff of folklore in
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Tipu Sultan:
- Born in November 1750, Tipu Sultan was Haidar Ali’s son and a great warrior, also known as the Tiger of Mysore.
- He was a well educated man fluent in Arabic, Persian, Kanarese and Urdu.
- Tipu introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule:
- coinage
- new Mauludi lunisolar calendar
- new land revenue system which initiated the growth of Mysore silk industry.
- Embracing western military methods like artillery and rockets alongside traditional Indian weapons including war elephants
- He ensured his forces could overwhelm his Indian rivals and match the British armies sent against him.
Maintenance of Armed Forces:
- He organized his army on the European model with Persian words of command.
- Though he took the help of the French officers to train his soldiers, he never allowed them (French) to develop into a pressure group.
- He was well aware of the importance of a naval force.
- In 1796, he set up a Board of Admiralty and planned for a fleet of 22 battleships and 20 large frigates.
- He established three dockyards at Mangalore, Wajedabad and Molidabad.
- Fought Against Marathas:
- In 1767, Tipu commanded a corps of cavalry against the Marathas in the Carnatic (Karnataka) region of western India, and he fought against the Marathas on several occasions between 1775 and 1779.
Role in Anglo-Mysore Wars:
Four wars were fought with Mysore
- (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799).
- 1767-69: Treaty of Madras.
- 1780-84: Treaty of Mangalore.
- 1790-92: Treaty of Seringapatam.
- 1799: Subsidiary Alliance.
- In the last – the Battle of Seringapatam – did the Company ultimately win a victory. Tipu Sultan was killed defending his capital Seringapatam.
- Mysore was placed under the former ruling dynasty of the Wodeyars and a subsidiary alliance was imposed on the state.
A powerful hold on history and culture:
- Tipu’s bravery is immortalized by Amar Chitra Katha and became the emblem of anti-colonialism in the Constitution
- Robert Ker Porter, David Wilkie, or Henry Singleton — portray the Last Siege of Seringapatam, the discovery of his body by General David Baird, and the melodramatic portrait of his family’s grief.
Purpose of his portrayals:
- They served to reassure the people of England that the one obstacle to the growth of the British Empire in India had indeed been removed.
- The pictorial versions satisfied a very British need, asserting a badly dented British valor following decades of Mysore opposition to easy conquest.
- When David Wilkie was commissioned to paint his famous painting in 1843
- It was to assure Baird, not Tipu, a place in British history, rescuing him from the shadows of that other hero of Seringapatam, Arthur Wellesley (later, Duke of Wellington).
- In commemorating his death, the British acknowledged Tipu as the worthy and heroic enemy that they defeated.
Mixed afterlife:
- The British chose Mysore city, the erstwhile capital of a remembered dynasty, to prevent contamination from any memories of Tipu Sultan’s defiance.
- Seringapatam was revived as a pilgrimage site for British soldiers and tourists wishing to re-enact the British conquest.
- In 19th century Mysore:
- Tipu was admired in lavanies for his firm stand against the British
- For prohibiting ‘arrack, toddy, ganja, and opium’ as well as ‘gambling or illicit relations’.
- The ballads memorialized Tipu’s valor in other ways, recalling the mendacity of his known enemies, and his trusted lieutenants, such as Mir Sadak.
- Haidar and Tipu subdued the palegars and terrified ‘Hindusthan’.
- Their battle threatened the very gates of London (‘Mysura shajaanana gharjane keli, London palugalu bedaroyithu’).
- The peasant insurgents of 1831 at Nagara remembered Tipu’s reign as peaceful and prosperous.
- 20th century versions:
- Amar Chitra Katha: It tells us why Tipu was given the name ‘Tiger of Mysore’ but failed to engage with three decades of rich historical scholarship.
- Raje Gowda’s community history provides neither sources or footnotes.
- But neither has he adorned his heroes with the mantle of being the true assassins.
Way Forward
- From all historical sources and image analysis, we know that Tipu’s death during the Fourth Anglo Mysore War was unknown to the victors
- When his body was found hours later along with heaps of other bodies at the gateway, he was found to have fought, like a soldier, unto his last.
- General Baird’s heroism was confined to ‘discovering’ the body before it was officially identified by the grieving family.
- In the currently overheated State of Karnataka, the province of the historian has severely shrunk, yielding place to politicians and religious heads who now adjudicate historical truth.
- The promise of historical ‘evidence’ of the existence of such heroes, already substantiated in print, image and high decibel campaigns, further diminishes historical scholarship.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
Why did the armies of the British East India Company – mostly composed of Indian soldiers – win consistently against the more numerous and better-equipped armies of the then Indian rulers? Give reasons.(UPSC 2022) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
