Resurrecting the ghost of Tipu Heighten interest is palpable in the media denigrating the “The Tiger of Mysore” this year .It suits the politicians to dabble in controversies. divert attention and to keep the pot boiling to polarize votes with eye on election,. While the Congress is wooing the minorities as their eternal saviour, the ruling party intends to drive a wedge consolidating Hindutva brigade, No matter how loud is the cacophony and the chorus of dissent, the primary records of history. Secondary sources cannot be wished away or obliterated from permanent memory
Tipu Sultan was named as Fateh Ali Khan, and popularly called as Tipu after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia .He fought the tiger with dagger, after his gun dysfunction ed, and from where he derives his connotation. The devil in Tipu cannot always be painted black. There are aspects of his cunning, deceit, alertness, valour et al. Being the eldest son, quite early he was grounded in education,exposure to military and political affairs under the tutelage of French. He was an accomplished scholar,poet and fluent in Urdu, Kanada,Arabic,Persian. He was known for his administrative reforms, revenue innovations, first to use rocket artillery against the British. Thus ushered in technological, military innovations and economic reforms making Mysore an economic power house. He is credited with building of roads, ports,, public buildings,, besides new coinage system weight and measures , calendar. He was uncompromising in his tirade against religious minorities making common cause with the British and hence his cruelty was germane to this aspect in particular. The observations and accounts of British historians cannot be trusted due to their inane bias. The massacre at Coorg and Mangalore has genesis in this hypothesis, the accounts highly exaggerated in terms of numbers of casualties. He was a staunch Muslim and lived every bit to the propagation of religious fanaticism, earning the epitaph of bigot for the massacre of Hindus. He is known to have paraded the decapitated Heads of Brahmins to strike terror, Hindu Muslim, including Christians tensions did exist and hence was called Muslim tyrant pitched as he was against Hindu Nationalism. Grants were paid to select Hindu temples, ,land donations, gold, silver “defender of Hindu Dharma” His finger ring confiscated by Bristish after his death had RAM etched on it. The folklore is exclusively devoted to his memory and to none other rulers He fought first Anglo Mysore war at 15 years along with his father and was commended for his valour He was victorious in First and second Anglo Mysore wars and forced to sign a treaty in the third war. He lost in the fourth war bringing his reign to an end, There is no denying the fact the East India Company’s expansionist plans were checkmated for over decades in the South Due to stiff resistance offered by him he was then even venerated as National Hero There was no idea of India at that time, He was protected his Kingdom and turf. against common enemy and was seen in that context by weak forces of Nizam, Marathas etc For all these years he was honoured and celebrated figure, even by the Yedurapa, now on the either side of hedge. Tipu with all his weakness of tyranny served an useful purpose in the annals of history to contain the formidable forces of East India Company. It depends on what the focus is to day on his achievements and failures and what is accentuated to discredit Tipu His footprints are part of History and will remain so Nelson Lopes Chinchhinim
