Tiger of Mysore...Tipu Sultan...the innovator of the worlds first war rocket... We Salute & Pay tribute to Tiger of Mysore...Tipu Sultan on his birth anniversary.... On November 20, 1750, military officer Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore and his wife, Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa, welcomed a new baby boy in Bangalore, their first. They named him Fath Ali, but also called him Tipu Sultan after a local Muslim saint, Tipu Mastan Aulia. Hyder Ali was an able soldier, and won such a complete victory against an invading force of Marathas in 1758 that Mysore was able to absorb the Marathan homelands. As a result, Hyder Ali became the commander-in-chief of Mysores army, later the Sultan, and by 1761 the outright ruler of the kingdom. While his father rose to fame and prominence, young Tipu Sultan was receiving an education from the finest tutors available. He studied such subjects as riding, swordsmanship, shooting, Koranic studies, Islamic jurisprudence, and languages such as Urdu, Persian, and Arabic. Tipu Sultan also studied military strategy and tactics under French officers from an early age, since his father was allied with the French in southern India. In 1766, when Tipu Sultan was just 15 years old, he got the chance to apply his military training in battle for the first time, when he accompanied his father on an invasion of Malabar. The youngster took charge of a force of two to three thousand, and cleverly managed to capture the Malabar chiefs family, which had taken refuge in a fort under heavy guard. Fearful for his family, the chief surrendered, and other local leaders soon followed his example. Hyder Ali was so proud of his son that he gave him command of 500 cavalry, and assigned him rule of five districts within Mysore. It was the start of an illustrious military career for the young man. Tipu used to say it was better to live for two days like a tiger than drag out an existence like a sheep for two hundred years. He had a special reverence for tigers. He kept six in his fortress-city of Seringapatam (now Sriringapatna), 200 miles west of Madras, where his throne was shaped and striped like a tiger. His elite troops wore tiger badges, the hilt of his sword was in the form of a snarling tiger, and his favourite toy was a mechanical tiger straddling a British officer while the victim squealed in terror (it is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum). Tipu ascended the throne of his father after his death in 1782, following the Second Mysore War, to then rule the Kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan was a benevolent and instrumental leader, whose constant valiant efforts against the British oppression in southern India resulted in his name being etched in the annals of Indian history. Muhammmad Falak Ali taught Tipu how to fight. While leading a predominantly Hindu country, Tipu remained strong in his Muslim faith, going daily to say his prayers and paying special attention to mosques in the area. During his rule, he completed the project of Lal Bagh started by his father Hyder Ali, and built roads, public buildings, and ports along the Kerala shoreline. His dominion extended throughout North Bangalore including the Nandi Hills, Kanivenarayanapura, and Chickballapur. His trade extended to countries such as Sri Lanka, Oman, Durrani Afghanistan, France, Ottoman Turkey and Iran. Under his leadership, the Mysore army proved to be a school of military science to Indian princes. The serious blows that Tipu Sultan inflicted on the British in the First and Second Mysore Wars affected their reputation as an invincible power. 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 worlds first war rocket. Two of these rockets, captured by the British at Srirangapatna, are displayed in the 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.Tipu managed to subdue all the petty kingdoms in the south. He defeated the Nizams and was also one of the few Indian rulers to have defeated British armies. However Marathas defeated British many times. He is said to have started new coinage, calendar, and a new system of weights and measures mainly based on the methods introduced by French technicians. He was well versed in Kannada, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English and French.Tipu was supposed to become a Sufi, but his father Hyder Ali insisted he become a capable soldier and leader. Since his childhood, Tipu Sultan pursued his strong interests in academics and various languages. Besides being well-educated Tippu was also adept as a soldier, learning the art of warfare, at the young age of 15, by attending numerous military campaigns, accompanying his father. He was also a devout Muslim who accepted other religions as well, contrary to certain theories describing him as a religious persecutor of Hindus and Christians. Tipu worked hard for the welfare of his subjects and his numerous contributions include his construction of roads, building tanks and dams, several ports along the shoreline, fortifying numerous palaces and forts, promoting overseas trade, commerce and increase in agricultural output. Despite two victories over the British, Tipu Sultan realized that the British East India Company remained a serious threat to his independent kingdom. He funded continuous military advances, including further development of the famous Mysore rockets - iron tubes that could fire missiles up to two kilometers, terrifying British troops and their allies. Tipu also built roads, created a new form of coinage, and encouraged silk production for international trade. He was particularly fascinated and delighted with new technologies, and had always been an avid student of science and mathematics. A devout Muslim, Tipu was tolerant of his majority-Hindu subjects faith. Famed as warrior-king, the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan proved an able ruler in times of relative peace as well. Tipu Sultan, with his dignified personality and simple lifestyle was more than just an ordinary leader. He was greatly respected by his people and earned the trust of various international allies such as the French, the Amir of Afghanistan and the Sultan of Turkey, to assist him in his fight against the British. Tipu Sultan was the founder-member of the Jacobin Club that served allegiance to the French. A true patriot like his father, Tipu visualized the forthcoming danger of the expanding Britishs East India Company. Tipu and his father Haidar Ali proved successful in defeating the British in the First Mysore War in 1766 and in the Second Mysore War of 1782, thus negotiating the Treaty of Mangalore with them. While the British became aware of Tipus growing strength, they made alliances with the neighboring Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas, leading to the Third Anglo-Mysore war in 1790. Despite signing the Treaty of Versailles, the French however deserted Tipu and the combined forces proved immense for Tipu, and he was defeated in this war at his capital of Seringapatam, thus forcing him to sign a treaty in 1792 that witnessed half of his kingdom being confiscated along with a huge war indemnity. After the British broke allegiance with the Nawab, eventually defeating him in 1795, they once again sought to attack Mysore, leading to the Fourth Anglo-Mysore war in 1798. Tipu, being an able military strategist was prepared this time with his longstanding and successful military tactic of rocket artillery in war and a better army to thwart his adversaries. Fighting with all his valor, Tipu Sultan eventually died defending his capital Srirangapattana on 4th May, 1799. Tipu Sultan is buried alongside his father and mother, in a mausoleum built by him in 1784, known as Gumbaz, in his capital city of Srinagapattana. Besides Tipus grand legacy, he also left behind royal memoirs that include his exquisitely ornamented weaponry, the mechanical Tippus tiger, his golden tiger-head throne, Tipus coinage, as well as the famous engraved royal Sword of Tipu Sultan which he fiercely possessed until after he breathed his last. The majestic Sword has even undergone numerous international possession controversies, to finally being brought back to India for public display by industrialist-politician Vijay Mallya, after nearly two centuries. The royal sword even has numerous documentaries and television serials created after it that portray the life of Tipu Sultan. Also famous is Tipus construction of the Daria Daulat Bagh, his summer palace, which is now a national monument and a tourist hotspot. Tipu Sultans patriotic spirit burned brightly within the hearts of future Indian freedom fighters, paving the path for overthrowing the British Rule in the years to come.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 09:16:21 +0000