Tipu Sultan (1782-99)

Tipu Sultan(1782-99), popularly known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery. During his reign, he instituted a variety of administrative reforms, including a new currency system and calendar, as well as a new land revenue system, which sparked the rise of the Mysore silk industry. He commissioned the military handbook Fathul Mujahidin and enlarged the iron-cased Mysorean rockets. During the Anglo-Mysore Wars, he used the rockets to counter British and allied advances, notably the Battle of Pollilur and the Siege of Srirangapatna. 

Early Life

• Tipu Sultan was born at Devanahalli, in the present-day Bangalore Rural district, on December 1, 1751.
• Hyder, who was illiterate, made a point of providing his oldest son with a prince’s education and early exposure to military and political events.
• Tipu was granted independent command of significant diplomatic and military missions when he was 17 years old.
• He served as his father’s right hand in the battles that propelled Hyder to the throne of southern India.
• Tipu’s father, Hyder Ali, was a military commander in the Kingdom of Mysore who became the de facto king of Mysore in 1761, and his mother, Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa, was the daughter of Mir Muin-ud-Din, the governor of Kadapa Fort.
• Tipu was given an early education in topics such as Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Kannada, Quran, Islamic law, horsemanship, shooting, and fencing by Hyder Ali.
• Tipu Sultan received military training from French commanders who worked for his father.
• He fought alongside his father against the British in the First Mysore War in 1766 when he was 15 years old. At the age of 16, he led a cavalry corps in the invasion of Carnatic in 1767.
• He also made a name for himself during the First Anglo-Maratha War, which lasted from 1775 until 1779.

Reign

• During his reign, Tipu Sultan constructed the groundwork for the famed Krishna Raja Sagara Dam, which spans the Cauvery River.
• He also completed his father Haidar Ali’s Lal Bagh project, as well as roads, public buildings, and ports along the Kerala coast.
• Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, France, Turkey, and Iran were among the countries with whom he did business.
• Under his command, the Mysore army proved to be a school of military science to Indian rulers.
• The British’s reputation as an unbeatable power was tarnished by Tipu Sultan’s severe blows to them in the First and Second Mysore Wars.
• Tipu Sultan is credited with developing the world’s first combat rocket.
• Two of these rockets are on exhibit in the Woolwich Museum Artillery in London, where they were seized by the British at Srirangapatna.
• The majority of Tipu Sultan’s campaigns were a resounding success. He was able to conquer all of the little kingdoms in the south.
• He was one of the few Indian monarchs to beat British forces, having conquered the Marathas and the Nizams on multiple occasions.
• He was a capable administrator who expanded the tax base, connected money from specific parcels of land to support institutions, and enlisted the help of erstwhile opponents to earn their trust.
• He was also a supporter of science and technology, and is regarded as India’s “pioneer of rocket technology.”
• He wrote a military manual (Fathul Mujahidin) that explains how rockets work.
• Tipu was a great supporter of democracy and a great diplomat who helped the French soldiers at Seringapatam establish a Jacobin Club in 1797.
• Tipu became a member of the Jacobin Club and accepted the moniker Citizen Tipu.
• At Seringapatam, he planted the Tree of Liberty.
• During his reign, Tipu introduced several administrative innovations, including his coinage, a new Mauludi lunisolar calendar, and a new land revenue system, which sparked the growth of the Mysore silk industry.
• He made some attempts to introduce modern industries in India by importing foreign workmen as experts and by extending state support to many industries. He sent emmisssaries to France,Turkey,Iran,Myanmar to develop foreign trade. He also traded with china.
• He even tried to pramote trade with Russia and Arabia by setting up state trading institutions in the port towns.
• Some British historians have described Tipu as a religious fanatic. But this is not born out of facts.Though he was orthodox in his religious views, he was in fact tolerant and enlightened in his approach towards other religions.
• He gave money for the construction of the image of goddess Sarda in the Sringeri temple after it was looted by Maratha horsemen in 1791. He regularly gave gifts to this temple and other temples.
• Tipu Sultan died on May 4, 1799, in Srirangapatna, which is now part of the Karnataka district of Mandya.
• In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, he was defeated. This conflict lasted from 1798 to 1799.