Evaluating Indian Kings: Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan has been in the news quite often particularly in Karnataka, more so on the occasions of State-sponsored celebrations of his birth anniversary. There, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) regularly creates obstacles to these celebrations and ruckus is usually the result. This time around he is in the news from Maharashtra, Malegaon.

As the newly elected deputy mayor of Malegaon Shan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmad had put up the portrait of Tipu Sultan in her office, the Shiv Sainiks noticed that. They got it removed through the intervention of authorities. Some protests were also held. Following this the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal expressed his opinion against removal of this portrait saying that the contributions of Tipu Sultan to Mysore are equivalent to that of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra.

This statement was opposed by the State Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis said that comparing Tipu to Shivaji Maharaj was an insult to Maharaj. Following this Congress office was stoned by BJP workers and nearly seven people were injured in the mayhem created by this.

The objection of BJP to Sapkal’s statement is that Tipu was a “mass murderer of Hindus”, he tried to convert Hindus to Islam. There are many other charges put against Tipu by Hindu Nationalists. Most of these try to project Tipu as Anti-Hindu and a cruel king. This is far from the truth.

Lots of these myths are part of communal narrative accentuated by the British narratives which are harsher against Tipu in particular. This is due to the fact that he was one of the kings who fought against the British. Tipu had asked Nizam and Peshwas to oppose the armies of East India Company. He foresaw the dangers of British power entrenching in India.

Tipu’s administration was a mixed one with many top officers being Hindus. Purnaiah served him as the Mir Miran (head of a department) and was crucial to his administration. Krishna Rao was his treasurer. Shamaiya Iyengar held a high-ranking ministerial position and Narsimha Iyengar held a position in the postal department. Tipu Sultan reportedly provided grants to the Sringeri Shankaracharya, including for the rebuilding of the temple and the installation of the goddess Sharada. He granted land and endowments to various temples throughout his kingdom. During his reign, the 10-day Dussehra celebrations were an integral part of the social life of Mysore.

In 1791, Maratha forces led by Raghunath Rao Patwardhan attacked and plundered the historic Sringeri Sharada Peetham, causing the Shankaracharya to flee. Upon learning of this, Tipu Sultan expressed deep anger, stating that those who committed such acts would face consequences, and promptly sent funds, gifts, and letters to restore the temple and reconsecrate the idol.  The raid was part of the Third Anglo-Mysore War, during which Maratha forces caused significant destruction to the temple complex, including killing or wounding people and looting property. 

Tipu Sultan, who frequently corresponded with the Sringeri Jagadguru and addressed him with high respect, immediately ordered the Mysore administration to assist in the restoration, demonstrating his patronage of certain Hindu institutions. Evidence of this restoration is found in several letters in Kannada, preserved in the Sringeri monastery records, where Tipu requested the Jagadguru to pray for the prosperity of his kingdom.

Tipu Sultan was a staunch opponent of the British. There is an accusation against him that he persecuted some Hindu and Christian communities. The reason for this persecution, however, was purely political not religious. About these persecutions, historian Kate Brittlebank says that “This was not a religious policy but one of chastisement”. The communities targeted by him were seen as disloyal to the State.

The communities Tipu targeted did not belong only to Hindu stream. He also acted against some Muslim communities like the Mahdavis. The reason was that these communities were in support of the British and were employed as horsemen in the East India Company’s armies. Another historian, Susan Bayly, says that his attack on Hindus and Christians outside his state is to be seen on political grounds as at the same time he had developed close relations with these communities within Mysore.

Sarfaraz Shaikh in his book Sultan-E-Khudad  has reproduced the ‘Manifesto of Tipu Sultan’ in which he declares that he would not discriminate on religious grounds and would protect his empire until his last breath. He had great interest in Rocket technology. This finds appreciative mention in A.P. J Abdul Kalam’s book, Wings of Fire.

It is interesting to note in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s series for children on Indian history, they had published a book on Tipu in the 1970s. BJP’s Yeddyurappa had adorned Tipu’s headgear to solicit votes in 2010 elections in Karnataka. The Indian President Ramnath Kovind sent a eulogising message on the occasion of Tipu Jayanti (2017). He has an RSS background. He praised Tipu by saying that “Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in the development and use of Mysore rockets in warfare.”  Tipu – along with Rani Laxmi Bai – are also depicted as freedom fighters through drawings in Part XVI (page 144) of the original, hand-written and illustrated copy of the Indian Constitution. 

Due to his policies, Tipu was popular among the people of Mysore. There are many folk songs, sung in villages, praising him. It is for this reason that one of our greatest playwrights, Girish Karnad, said that had Tipu been a Hindu, he would have the same status that Shivaji Maharaj has in Maharashtra. This is very close to what Sapkal stated, nothing extra.

This whole incident of opposing the portrait of Tipu in the Deputy Mayors’ office, is one more instance of communal forces latching on to divisive politics. Kings should not be seen just by their religion, their policies towards people of different religions and people’s welfare should be the major criterion for evaluating them. Tipu stands very tall in this scale of religious tolerance. The half-baked propaganda of the communal forces is trying to divide communities.

The major tribute to Tipu was paid by Subhash Chandra Bose. He adopted Tipu’s ‘springing tiger’ as the insignia of Azad Hind Fauj, which fought against the British. The major contribution of Tipu was to forewarn the Indian Kings about the advancing threat of the East India Company, the British. It was for this that he bravely fought against the British and laid down his life in the fourth Anglo Mysore War. The communal forces who are out to demonise Tipu belong to the ideology which did not even a little finger against British rule.  

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.