06-12-2008, 08:39 PM
Mudy, here's another on Tipu Sultan (thanks HH)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->This describes the massacre of Kannada Iyengars by Tipu.
There was a VOI book detailing the atrocities of Haider in Malabar. I also
found a detailed account of that in a book on Tyagaraja the musician.:
Tyagaraja: Life and Lyrics - by William J. Jackson,
For an account of the Nair warriors defense of Kerala from Tipu's invasions
you could check: Rama Raja Bahadur by C. V. Raman Pillai
Deepavali, the festival of lights, is observed as Dark Day even now by their
descendants
Less than three weeks from now will occurs Naraka Chaturdashi, the famous
festival of lights, but Mandyam Iyengars don't celebrate it; they observe
it as a Dark Day. It was on this day over 200 years ago that Tipu Sultan herded
nearly 700 men and women belonging to this community and put them to a cruel
death, according to two Mysore-based scholars who have more than academic
interest in this particular aspect of history.
Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan, whose close relation with the Wadiyars of
Mysore goes back to more than 150 years, have brought out this fact in a paper
they jointly presented at a seminar of significance at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, not too long ago. Their all-important observations went unrecorded in the main due
to poor media coverage of the seminar what was essentially academic in
character. The ongoing animated debate on Tipu, set off by Minister Shankara
Murthy, who has since apologised for what he said, provides an opportunity to
highlight what the two scholars describe as "the forgotten chapter in the
history of Mysore".
In their detailed account of the event, the couple says that the mass killing
of Mandyam Iyengars, related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore (referred
to by the British as Tirumala Row) and living between Mandya and Srirangapatna,
is very much a fact of history, not fiction created by the enemies of Tipu.
Iyengars who belongs to to Bharadwaja gotra, the lineage of the Pradhan, stay
away from Deepavali celebrations because it was on the same day that Tipu
Sultan killed their ancestors. Every child of those families is told about the
bloody event that day, the paper points out.
The heroic role that dowager queen Rani Lakshammanni and her relentless battle
for the restoration of the throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu
Sultan, is not adequately mentioned (except in the three-volume History of
Mysore by Hayavadana Rao). "It is a pity that her persistent effort and
courage despite being confined behind the curtains of the royal palace and constantly threatened by the mercurial temper of Tipu Sultan in bringing about the promise that she had made to her husband Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, finds scant mention by the historians. We do not even have an authentic biography of this
grand dame of Mysore who lived most of her life under house arrest," it says.
Historians have not done justice to the pradhans of Mysore either, Dr Jayashree and Nrasimhan complain, adding that Without Tirumalaiengar and his brother
Narayan Row, Lakshmmanni could not have achieved her cherished goal. "The
history of the pradhans is all the more endearing to us for we belong to Tirumalaiengar's family.
What was the provocation for Tipu to put the 700 members of this family to
sword? Though Lakshammanni begins her quest for the restoration of the throne
from the ascension of Hyder Ali to the throne, she started negotiating with the
British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala Row and Narayana Row. She
had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the
income of the state as their salary in perpetuity, should they succeed in their endeavor. On coming to know of this, Hyder imprisoned all their relatives.
It was in 1790's that Tipu Sultan, on coming to know of the agreement
between Gen. Harris, the then Governor of Madras, and Tirumaliyengar, herded the
latter's relatives for decimation. "There is no mention of this in any
history book, but 200 years after the horror, the Mandyam Iyengars do not celebrate the festival. This itself is a strong indication how true the event is and how
strongly they feel about the cruel end their ancestors met with for no fault of theirs," the couple points out.
Narasimhan, who is the superintendent of Jaganmohan Art Gallery, and his wife
Jayashree identify themselves a a "group of people who are trying to set
down the norms for re-writing of the history of India with an Indian
perspective" as from the Moghul historians downwards to the historians of the colonial and modern period, there seems to be a gradual polarization of presentation, which is "glaringly biased".
"It somehow slips in to a mode where the conquerors are heaped with all
the encomiums and the vanquished is made to shoulder all the opprobrium the
historians see and create," the couple says. Questioning the stand of
noted historian Romila Thapar that history has to be read in between the lines (of
inscriptions), it deprecates the tendency to brush aside folklore and
tradition, "the backbone of Indian history".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->This describes the massacre of Kannada Iyengars by Tipu.
There was a VOI book detailing the atrocities of Haider in Malabar. I also
found a detailed account of that in a book on Tyagaraja the musician.:
Tyagaraja: Life and Lyrics - by William J. Jackson,
For an account of the Nair warriors defense of Kerala from Tipu's invasions
you could check: Rama Raja Bahadur by C. V. Raman Pillai
Deepavali, the festival of lights, is observed as Dark Day even now by their
descendants
Less than three weeks from now will occurs Naraka Chaturdashi, the famous
festival of lights, but Mandyam Iyengars don't celebrate it; they observe
it as a Dark Day. It was on this day over 200 years ago that Tipu Sultan herded
nearly 700 men and women belonging to this community and put them to a cruel
death, according to two Mysore-based scholars who have more than academic
interest in this particular aspect of history.
Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan, whose close relation with the Wadiyars of
Mysore goes back to more than 150 years, have brought out this fact in a paper
they jointly presented at a seminar of significance at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, not too long ago. Their all-important observations went unrecorded in the main due
to poor media coverage of the seminar what was essentially academic in
character. The ongoing animated debate on Tipu, set off by Minister Shankara
Murthy, who has since apologised for what he said, provides an opportunity to
highlight what the two scholars describe as "the forgotten chapter in the
history of Mysore".
In their detailed account of the event, the couple says that the mass killing
of Mandyam Iyengars, related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore (referred
to by the British as Tirumala Row) and living between Mandya and Srirangapatna,
is very much a fact of history, not fiction created by the enemies of Tipu.
Iyengars who belongs to to Bharadwaja gotra, the lineage of the Pradhan, stay
away from Deepavali celebrations because it was on the same day that Tipu
Sultan killed their ancestors. Every child of those families is told about the
bloody event that day, the paper points out.
The heroic role that dowager queen Rani Lakshammanni and her relentless battle
for the restoration of the throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu
Sultan, is not adequately mentioned (except in the three-volume History of
Mysore by Hayavadana Rao). "It is a pity that her persistent effort and
courage despite being confined behind the curtains of the royal palace and constantly threatened by the mercurial temper of Tipu Sultan in bringing about the promise that she had made to her husband Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, finds scant mention by the historians. We do not even have an authentic biography of this
grand dame of Mysore who lived most of her life under house arrest," it says.
Historians have not done justice to the pradhans of Mysore either, Dr Jayashree and Nrasimhan complain, adding that Without Tirumalaiengar and his brother
Narayan Row, Lakshmmanni could not have achieved her cherished goal. "The
history of the pradhans is all the more endearing to us for we belong to Tirumalaiengar's family.
What was the provocation for Tipu to put the 700 members of this family to
sword? Though Lakshammanni begins her quest for the restoration of the throne
from the ascension of Hyder Ali to the throne, she started negotiating with the
British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala Row and Narayana Row. She
had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the
income of the state as their salary in perpetuity, should they succeed in their endeavor. On coming to know of this, Hyder imprisoned all their relatives.
It was in 1790's that Tipu Sultan, on coming to know of the agreement
between Gen. Harris, the then Governor of Madras, and Tirumaliyengar, herded the
latter's relatives for decimation. "There is no mention of this in any
history book, but 200 years after the horror, the Mandyam Iyengars do not celebrate the festival. This itself is a strong indication how true the event is and how
strongly they feel about the cruel end their ancestors met with for no fault of theirs," the couple points out.
Narasimhan, who is the superintendent of Jaganmohan Art Gallery, and his wife
Jayashree identify themselves a a "group of people who are trying to set
down the norms for re-writing of the history of India with an Indian
perspective" as from the Moghul historians downwards to the historians of the colonial and modern period, there seems to be a gradual polarization of presentation, which is "glaringly biased".
"It somehow slips in to a mode where the conquerors are heaped with all
the encomiums and the vanquished is made to shoulder all the opprobrium the
historians see and create," the couple says. Questioning the stand of
noted historian Romila Thapar that history has to be read in between the lines (of
inscriptions), it deprecates the tendency to brush aside folklore and
tradition, "the backbone of Indian history".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->