Tipu Sultan

10-22-2006, 07:07 PM

Folks,
A short report by my friend Vijendra Rao has been rejected by his editor for fear that the paper will be considered pro-RSS. My father told me that there has been a huge debate in the Kannada newspaper "Vijaya Karnataka" on Tipu Sultan, with Girish Karnad and his ilk arrayed on one side, and the very well known Kannada writer and philosophy professor S. L. Bhyrappa and others on the other.

I believe it is time for a good/authentic book on Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. I have just begun reading Abraham Eraly's books on the Mughals. A similar major effort must be made to write about Tipu to bring out the warts and all.

Ramesh

Did Tipu massacre 700 Iyengar men, women & kids?
Deepavali, the festival of lights, is observed as Dark Day even now by their descendants

PM Vijendra Rao

Less than three weeks from now will occur 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 belong 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 thratened 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 cheirshed 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 withthe 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 endeavour. 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 hisotry 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 polarisation 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 shouler all the opprobrium the histoirans see and create," the couple says. Questioning the stand of noted historian Romilla Thapar that history has to be read in between the lines (of inscriptions), it depcrecates the tendency to brush aside folklore and tradition, "the backbone of Indian history".

10-22-2006, 08:38 PM

I don't know how "authentic" the writings of the British are, but this apparently comes from a BOOK WRITTEN AROUND THAT TIME, so it is "authentic" as it gets, because the author did not hold a tenure-track position in a South Asia Department at the time, and hence cannot be automatically assumed to be a liar.

This is of course from the most authentic source existing today on the internet on "South Asian" history - SABHA, the South Asian Best Historians Association

http://www.sabha.info/history.html

Please see the links under "Kindness of Tippu Sultan".
Am posting only the titles here - these are authentic copies of pages from authentic texts published in the authentic years indicated. Some of them are from Londonistan ("Bilayat") where, as we know,
QUOTE Chote-chote bacche bhi Angrezi mein baat karte hain

QUOTETippoo loved by his people (The Times, 15 Nov 1790)
How Tippoo fought for freedom (The Times, 26 Jul 1788)
Tippoo's humane treatment of non-Muslim prisoners (The Times, 10 Apr 1792)
Tippoo's treatment of women and children (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo's treatment of Hindu temples (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo makes an example of infidels (The Times, 31 Dec 1791)
Tippoo's kindness towards infidels of Carnatic (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo's kindness towards infidels of villages (The Times, 01 Dec 1791)
Universally loved and respected by troops (The Times, 05 Oct 1786)
Advantage of being Tippoo's friend (The Times, 22 Dec 1790)
Hyder Ali, the gift of God (The Times, 03 Mar 1791) 

U get mah drift?

BTW, I AM NOT ASSOCIATED with SABHA. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lmaosmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='lmaosmiley.gif' /> I am mere web postor peasant onlee.

10-22-2006, 09:10 PM

Ramesh, what is Girish Karnad saying in the debate?

Bharatvarsh · 10-22-2006, 11:39 PM

There is already a book that exposes Tipu for what he was, here it is:
QUOTETIPU SULTAN VILLAIN OR HERO?

http://voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/
It's another matter that by and large Hindus are not aware thanks to Doordarshan and other channels relentless propaganda to portray this basta*d as a patriot.

10-23-2006, 03:11 AM

Source

QUOTETipu himself left behind personal accounts of his atrocities against the Hindus. These details can be found in two autobiographies: Sultan-ut Tawarikh and Tarikh-i-Khudadadi, housed in the India Office Library, London. Noted historian KM Panicker chanced upon Tipu's correspondence at the India Office Library. These have since been published. Take a letter (March 22, 1788) written to Abdul Khadar: "Over 12,000 Hindus were honoured with Islam ... Local Hindus should be brought before you and then converted to Islam. No Namboodri should be spared." 

In a letter (December 14, 1788), he said to his army commander in Calicut: "You should capture and kill all Hindus. Those below 20 years may be kept in prison and 5,000 from the rest should be killed hanging from treetops". Writing on January 19, 1790, to Badroos Saman Khan, he said: "I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam. I am now determined to march against the cursed Raman Nair." Tipu issued orders in different parts of Malabar: "All means, truth or falsehood, fraud or force, should be employed to effect their (Hindu) universal conversion to Islam" (Historical Sketches of the South of India in an attempt to trace the History of Mysore, Mark Wilks Vol II, page 120).

Tipu corresponded with Zaman Shah, grandson Ahmad Shah Abdali and ruler of Afghanistan before the Third Mysore War (1792) and continued to do so till 1798. These letters were translated by Kabir Kausar in The History of Tipu Sultan. In one place, he wrote: "My exalted ambition has for its object a holy war ... In the midst of this land the Almighty protects this trace of Muhammadan dominion like the Ark of Noah and cuts short the extended arm of the abandoned infidel". In a letter dated February 5, 1797: "We should unite in carrying on a holy war against the enemies of our religion.... Thine armies shall ... render us victorious."

What Fra Bartolomaco, a Portuguese traveller and historian, saw in Malabar in 1790, he recorded in Voyage to East Indies: "Most of the men and women were hanged in Calicut ... That barbarian Tipu Sultan tied naked Christians and Hindus to the legs of elephants ... till the bodies ... were torn to prices. Temples and churches were ordered to be burnt down, desecrated and destroyed ... I myself helped many victims to cross the Varappuzha river" (pgs 141-142). 

The sword of Tipu Sultan carried an inscription in Persian: "My victorious Sabre is lightening for the destruction of the unbelievers. Thou art our Lord, make him victorious who promotes the faith of Muhammad. Confound him, who refuses the faith of Muhammad and withold us from those who are so inclined" (History of Mysore, CH Rao, Vol III, p 1073). The Mysore Gazetteer also provides details about Tipu's destruction of over 800 temples in South India. Who should we believe - Mr Nadwi or what Tipu Sultan's own accounts and other contemporary records?

10-23-2006, 03:52 AM

THE SWORD OF TIPU SULTAN
Making darkness by closing one's eyes

V.M. KORATH
Former Editor of Mathrubhoomi

Historical novels are usually an admixture of historical facts and imagination. As such they are not expected to truthfully portray all the historical events. However, authors of historical novels have the moral responsibility to present historical facts without blatant distortions.

Mr. Bhagwan Gidwani, the author of the controversial novel, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, does not seem to be bound by any such ethical obligations; he does not have any qualms even to deliberately falsify historical facts. Therefore, a tele-serial based on such a novel also cannot be otherwise.

Mounting opposition to this controversial serial also stems from this basic reason.

PSUEDO-RESEARCH

Mr. Gidwani claims that his novel is the result of thirteen years of historical research. He asserts that he has studied and scrutinized all the historical documents available from various sources in India and abroad. Then, why did not this researcher make any effort to visit Kerala, particularly Malabar region, the main area of Tipu Sultan's cruel military operations for a decade, or to scrutinize the historical evidence available from Malabar regarding the atrocities committed by Tipu Sultan, or to study the ruins of temples destroyed in Malabar during that period?

AUTHOR'S CREDIBILITY

When a serious author is collecting historical data for writing a historical novel on Tipu Sultan, does he not have ail obligation or responsibility to at least visit the Malabar region, the main area of the operations of Tipu Sultan, and try to understand the significance of his activities there? The mere fact that Mr. Gidwani did not bother to do so, is itself sufficient reason for suspecting the credibility and credentials of the author.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FATHER

The major part of Tipu Sultan's rule was spent in conducting military operations for subjugating Malabar. Wars of territorial conquest waged in Malabar by Hyder Ali Khan, with the assistance of Ali Raja of Arackal and his Mappila followers of Cannanore, were intended more for spreading the Islamic faith by killing and forcible conversion of Hindus coupled with widespread destruction of Hindu temples, than for expanding his kingdom.

Hyder Ali Khan had expressed his satisfaction for these cruel achievements. A broad picture of atrocities committed against the Hindu population of Malabar by the army of Hyder Ali Khan along with the local Mappilas can be had from the diary notings of a Muslim officer of the Mysore army as edited and published by the then surviving son of Tipu Sultan, Prince Ghulam Muhammed (Cited in Malabar Manual, William Logan).

Before his efforts to conquer the entire Malabar region could succeed, Hyder Ali Khan died in December, 1782. Tipu Sultan who succeeded his father, considered it his primary duty to continue this unfinished jÃ®hÃ¢d started by Hyder Ali Khan. However, the Islamic fanaticism of Tipu Sultan was much worse than that of his father. His war-cry of jÃ®hÃ¢d was "Sword" (death) or "Cap" (forcible conversion). This makes very clear the character of Tipu Sultan's military operations started in 1783. The intensity and nature of sufferings which the Hindu population had to bear during the nightmarish days of Padayottakkalam (military regime) were vividly described in many historical records preserved in the royal houses of Zamorin and Kottayam (Pazhassi), Palghat Fort and East India Company's office. There is no apparent reason to disbelieve them. It is absurd and against reason to describe all this evidence as being forged for the purpose of creating enmity between Hindus and Muslims (as presumed by Dr. C.K. Kareem and others).

During the cruel days of Islamic operations from 1783 to 1791, thousands of Nairs besides about 30,000 Brahmins had fled Malabar, leaving behind their entire wealth, and sought refuge in Travancore State (according to the commission of enquiry appointed by the British soon after Tipu Sultan's death).

This report was prepared exclusively for the information of the British authorities and not for writing a book, or for discrediting or defaming Tipu Sultan. Therefore, according to the learned historian, Dr. M. Gangadharan, there is no point in disbelieving the validity of this report (Mathrubhoomi Weekly, January, 14-20, 1990): "Besides, there is enough evidence that a few members of Zamorin family and many Nairs were forcibly circumcised and converted into Muhammadan faith as well as compelled to eat beef."

So far as the history of Malabar region is concerned, the most dependable book for basic historical facts is definitely the Malabar Manual written by William Logan. Serving in various administrative positions including that of a Collector for 20 years upto 1886, he had gone through and extensively researched a variety of documents for preparing his well-acclaimed book. The present edition has been scrutinized, edited and published by the reputed Muslim historian, Dr. C.K. Kareem, with the support of Cochin and Kerala universities. Therefore, the authenticity of its contents cannot be doubted.

There are plenty of references in the Malabar Manual about the cruel military operations and Islamic atrocities of Tipu Sultan in Malabar-forcible mass circumcision and conversion, large-scale killings, looting and destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples, and other barbarities.

If one accepts even a small portion of the Islamic atrocities described in this monumental work of history, then Tipu Sultan can be depicted only as a fanatic Muslim bigot. The historical works of Col. Wilks (Historical Sketches), K.P. Padmanabha Menon and Sardar K.M. Panicker (Kerala History), Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai (research articles) and others, also do not project Tipu Sultan in any better light. One of the leading Congressman of pre-independence days, K. Madhava Nair, observes on page 14 of his famous book, Malabar Kalapam (Mappila outrage):

"The communal Mappila outrage of 1921 in Malabar could be easily traced to the forcible mass conversion and related Islamic atrocities of Tipu Sultan during his cruel military regime from 1783 to 1792. It is doubtful whether the Hindus of Kerala had ever suffered so much devastation and atrocities since the reclamation of Kerala by the mythological Lord Parasurama in a previous Era. Many thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted into Muhammadan faith."

Since the same Congressman admitted that Tipu had not discriminated between Hindus and Muslims in Mysore and administered his country well, his observations about Kerala could be accepted as impartial comments.

In 1789, Tipu Sultan marched to Kozhikode with an army of 60,000, destroyed the fort, and razed the town to the ground. Gunddart says in his Kerala Pazhama that it is just not possible to describe the cruel atrocities perpetrated by the barbarian Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode.

William Logan gives in his Malabar Manual a long list of temples destroyed by Tipu Sultan and his army.

Elankulam Kunjan Pillai has recorded the situation in Malabar as follows:

"Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins. There were around 7000 Namboodiri houses of which more than 2000 houses were destroyed by Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode alone. Sultan did not spare even children and women. Menfolk escaped to forests and neighbouring principalities. Mappilas increased many fold (due to forcible conversion).

"During the military regime of Tipu Sultan, Hindus were forcibly circumcised and converted to Muhammadan faith. As a result the number of Nairs and Brahmins declined substantially."

Atrocities committed in Malabar during the days of Tipu Sultan's cruel military regime have been described in great detail in the famous works of many reputed authors-Travancore State Manual of T.K. Velu Pillai and Kerala Sahitya Charitam of Ulloor Parameshwara Iyer.

Is it not absurd to condemn what all these respected authors have written about the atrocities of Tipu Sultan and label it as a deliberate attempt to defame him? All the historical documents of that period clearly indicate that Tipu Sultan's attack on Malabar had some purpose other than simple territorial conquest. That purpose was to Islamicise the whole of Malabar by forcibly converting all the Hindus there.

THIS WAS AN ISLAMIC WAR

Even if we concede, for the sake of argument, that all those who call Tipu Sultan a fanatic Muslim are pro-British and all the historical data is meant only to create hatred between Muslims and Hindus, the letters written by Tipu Sultan himself help us to understand his real character. Some of these letters, obtained from India Office Library, London, were published in Bhasha Poshini magazine of Chingam 1099 (corresponding to August, 1923) by Sardar K.M. Panicker.

The letter dated March 22, 1788, to Kantancheri Abdul Kadir, and the letter dated December 14, 1788 to his army commander in Kozhikode, do not require further explanation about Tipu's real intentions in Malabar.

Still, if some people want to describe Tipu Sultan as an apostle of peace and religious tolerance, let us leave them alone - those large-hearted admirers of Tipu! However, there is quite a large number of people who are not that large-hearted, especially the descendants of those Hindus who were killed by the sword of the bloodthirsty Tipu while resisting forcible conversion and humiliation.

TIPU'S RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE-A POLITICAL GIMMICK

Tipu had committed a variety of atrocities on the Hindus in Malabar - barbarous mass-killing, wholesale forcible circumcision and conversion, and widespread destruction and plunder of Hindu temples. Being fully aware of this background, if Tipu is projected as a lover of Hindu religion and traditions and not as an intolerant Muslim fanatic, by citing some "new evidences' obtained by certain motivated historians and apologists of Islam such as the alleged land-grants to a few Hindu temples and Sringeri Mutt and protection of Sree Ranganatha Swami temple near the palace, then at the most they could be treated only as scandalous exceptions. Even this was part of a political strategy. Writing in Mathrubhoomi Weekly (January 14-20, 1990), Dr. M. Gangadharan says. "In the socio-religious-political conditions prevailing in Mysore of Tipu's days, such things could not be avoided. The financial assistance to Sringeri Mutt meant for conducting religious rites to ward off evil spirits, was clearly specified in the letter sent by Tipu Sultan. As such, these cannot be accepted as evidence of Tipu's respect for Hindu religion."

SAME SITUATION IN MYSORE ALSO

The orchestrated propaganda that Tipu Sultan was tolerant and fair-minded towards the Hindus in Mysore is also without any foundation, as explained in history of Mysore written by Lewis Rice as well as M.M. Gopalrao. According to Lewis Rice, during the rule of Tipu Sultan, only two Hindu temples inside the Sreerangapatanam Fort were having daily pujas while the assets of all other temples were confiscated. Even in administrative matters,

Muslim bias was blatantly evident, especially in the matter of taxation policy. "Muslims were exempted from all taxes. Even those who were converted to Islamic faith were also allowed the same concessions," says Gopal Rao. In the case of employment, Hindus were eliminated to the maximum extent possible. During the entire period of 16 years of Tipu Sultan's rule, the only Hindu who had occupied any important official position was Purnaiyya.

NIGHTMARISH DAYS OF PADAYOTTAM (MILITARY REGIME)

However, Tipu and his Padayottam were a nightmare, especially for the Hindus of Malabar, whatever may be the arguments provided by Gidwani or the secularist historians who have specialized in proving a wolf to be a goat. There is no point in making it dark by closing one's eyes.

Under these circumstances, a TV serial glorifying Tipu Sultan as a magnanimous person can only remind the Hindus of Malabar about the nightmare experienced by their forefathers during the cruel military regime of Tipu Sultan. That can, in turn, shatter the prevailing communal harmony and peace in Kerala.

Opposition to the proposed TV serial on Tipu Sultan is not inspired by religious sentiments alone. It is also not against anybody's freedom to make a tele-serial based on a novel. It is the people's objection and anger against the Government's attempts to project a historical personality by suppressing, distorting and falsifying authentic historical evidence about his life and deeds. The official media like television and radio networks have certain basic obligations towards the public. Not to misguide the people, especially by falsification and distortion of recorded history, is the most important obligation. Therefore, projection of a tele-serial based on Gidwani's scandalous novel is outside the broad framework of basic guidelines and objectives. That should not be allowed.

Kesari (Malayalam Weekly), February 25, 1990

10-23-2006, 03:54 AM

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE OF TIPU SULTAN
LATE P.C.N. RAJA

INTRODUCTION

Tipu Sultan had, ruled his kingdom only for sixteen-and-a-half years, from December 7, 1782 to May 4, 1799. The territory of Malabar was under his effective control only for a short period of eight years. If he had not secured the assistance of the wily Purnaiyya, there would not have been so many Muhammadans in the states of Kerala and Karnataka. Hindus also would not have become less prosperous, and fewer in number.

When that Brahmin Prime Minister, Purnaiyya, presented to Tipu Sultan 90,000 soldiers, three crore rupees, and invaluable ornaments made of precious stones, he was tempted to rule as the Emperor of the South India. Tipu did not consider the Hindu rulers of Maharashtra, Coorg and Travancore or the Muslim ruler Nizam as impediments. He was afraid of only the British. He had convinced himself that he could easily become the Emperor of South India if he could somehow vanquish the British. Because of his intense and-British attitude, the so-called progressive and secular historians have made a vain attempt to paint Tipu Sultan as a great national hero.

Opposition to foreign powers need not always be due to love for one's country. To achieve his selfish goal and to face the British forces, Tipu Sultan sought the assistance of another foreign power, the French, who were manoeuvring to establish their own domination in the country. How is it possible, therefore, for Tipu Sultan to be an enemy of foreign forces when he himself had sought help from Napoleon who was then a prisoner in St. Helena Island and also the French King, Louis XVI?

Besides, he also wanted to establish Islamic rule in the country; to achieve that he had to first defeat the British. For this purpose, Tipu Sultan solicited the assistance of Muslim countries like Persia, Afghanistan and Turkey. It is true that Tipu did not harm the Raja of Cochin or anyone for that matter who surrendered and pledged loyalty to him. But how does that make him a friend of Hindus?

Tipu and the Nizam were the only Muslim rulers in the Deccan at that time and hence he wanted to avoid any dispute with the Nizam. He insisted that the Nizam should agree to give his daughter in marriage to his son. But the Nizam, considering Tipu as an upstart with no aristocratic heredity, refused the offer. (According to Bhagwan Gidwani, Hyder Ali Khan had suggested earlier to the Nizam that he should agree to the marriage of his daughter to the young Tipu, then in his teens.) As if to spite the Nizam, Tipu Sultan got another of his sons married to the daughter of Arackal Bibi of Cannanore mainly to secure the loyalty of Malabar Muslims for subjugating the entire Malabar region. The result was for everybody to see in due course. It may be noted that the family of Arackal Bibi, though converted to Islam, followed the matriarchal system a system which the Muslim fanatic, Tipu, wanted to reform.

HE WANTED TO BE A PADISHAH

He wanted to become an Emperor after defeating the British. He wanted to achieve his ambition after consulting the astrologers. There were a few Brahmin astrologers in Sree Ranganatha Swami Temple. They predicted that if some of the suggested remedial rituals were performed, Tipu would achieve his cherished ambition. Believing that he could become the undisputed ruler of the whole of South India, after defeating the British, he performed all the suggested rituals in the Sree Ranaganatha Swami Temple, besides giving costly presents to the astrologers. This act is being widely interpreted by secularist historians as love and respect for Hindu religion and traditions! They also doubt if there were any Hindu temples which were desecrated or destroyed by Tipu Sultan and his Islamic army in Malabar.

The reputed historian, Lewis Rice, who wrote the History of Mysore after going through various official records, stated as follows: "In the vast empire of Tipu Sultan on the eve of his death, there were only two Hindu temples having daily pujas within the Sreerangapatanam fortress. It is only for the satisfaction of the Brahmin astrologers who used to study his horoscope that Tipu Sultan had spared those two temples. The entire wealth of every Hindu temple was confiscated before 1790 itself mainly to make up for the revenue loss due to total prohibition in the country."

There are people who proclaim to the world that Tipu Sultan's rule was fair and progressive in his own state of Mysore. It would be appropriate to have a look at what a Mysorean, M.A. Gopal Rao, stated a few years ago in one of his articles: 'In a deliberately designed taxation scheme, the religious prejudice of Tipu Sultan became quite clear. His co-religionists, Muslims, were exempted from house tax, commodity tax and also the levy on other items of household use. Those who were converted to Muhammadanism, were also given similar tax exemptions. He had even made provisions for the education of their children. Tipu Sultan discontinued the practice of appointing Hindus in different administrative and military jobs as practised by his father, Hyder Ali Khan, in the past. He had deep hatred towards all non-Muslims. During the entire period of sixteen years of his regime, Purnaiyya was the only Hindu who had adorned the post of Dewan or minister under Tipu Sultan. In 1797 (two years before his death) among the 65 senior Government posts, not even a single Hindu was retained. All the Mustadirs were also Muslims. Among the 26 civil and military officers captured by the British in 1792 there were only 6 non-Muslims. In 1789, when the Nizam of Hyderabad and other Muslim rulers decided that only Muslims would be appointed henceforth in all Government posts, Tipu Sultan also adopted the same policy in his Mysore State. Just because they were Muslims, even those who were illiterate and inefficient, were also appointed to important Government posts. Even for getting promotions, one still had to be a Muslim under Tipu Sultan's regime. Considering the interest and convenience of only Muslim officers, all the records relating to tax revenue, were ordered to be written in Persian rather than in Marathi and Kannada as followed earlier. He even tried to make Persian the State language in place of Kannada. In the end all the Government posts were filled by lazy and irresponsible Muslims. As a consequence the people had to suffer a great deal because of those fun-seeking and irresponsible Muslim officers. The Muslim officers, occupying important posts at all levels, were all dishonest and unreliable persons. Even when people complained to him with evidences against those officers, Tipu Sultan did not care to inquire about the complaints lodged."

EVEN THE PLACE-NAMES WERE CHANGED

Gopal Rao had written all these on the basis of the writings of Tipu's own son, Ghulam Muhammad, and Muslim historians like Kirmani. Even the Hindu names of places, the Sultan could not tolerate. Therefore, Mangalapuri (Mangalore) was changed to Jalalabad, Cannanore (Kanwapuram) to Kusanabad, Bepur (Vaippura) to Sultanpatanam or Faruqui, Mysore to Nazarabad, Dharwar to Quarshed-Sawad, Gooty to Faiz-Hissar, Ratnagiri to Mustafabad, Dindigul to Khaliqabad, and Calicut (Kozhikode) to Islamabad. It was after the death of Tipu Sultan that the local people reverted to old names.

ISLAMIC ATROCITIES IN COORG, BEDNUR, AND MANGALORE

The cruelties which Tipu Sultan committed in Coorg, has no parallel in history. On one occasion, he forcibly converted over ten thousand Hindus to Muhammadanism. On another occasion, he captured and converted to Islam more than one thousand Hindu Coorgis before imprisoning them in the Sreerangapatanam fortress. In the period of confusion and anarchy prevailing in Sreerangapatanam during the last war of Tipu Sultan against the British, all the Coorgi prisoners escaped from the prison and became Hindus again after reaching their native kingdom. Against the solemn oath given to the Raja of Coorg, Tipu Sultan forcibly abducted a young princess from the Coorg royal family and made her his wife against her will.

The atrocities committed by Tipu Sultan in Bidnur in North Karnataka during and after its capture by him, were most barbarous and beyond description. Ayaz Khan who was Kammaran Nambiar from Chirackal Kingdom before his forcible conversion to Islam by Hyder Ali Khan, had been appointed as Governor of Bidnur. Tipu Sultan was jealous of and opposed to Ayaz Khan from the very beginning because Hyder Ali Khan had considered the latter more intelligent and smart. When Ayaz Khan learnt that Tipu Sultan was scheming to kill him secretly, he escaped to Bombay with plenty of gold. Tipu Sultan came to Bednur and forcibly converted its entire population to Islam. The people accepted Islam for the sake of their lives.

After the capture of Mangalore, thousands of Christians were also forcibly sent to Sreerangapatanam where all of them were circumcised and converted to Islam. Tipu Sultan's justification was that during the Portuguese domination, prior to the arrival of the British, many Muslims had been converted to Christianity by their Missionaries. He proudly proclaimed his action as a sort of punishment for the conversion of many Muslims by the Portuguese.

Then he marched upto Kumbla on the northern borders of Kerala, forcibly converting to Islam every Hindu on the way. This time, his argument (repeated by the Muslim and secularist historians of today) was that if all belonged to one religion - Muhammadanism - there would be unity and consequently it would be easy to defeat the British!

INSIDE MALABAR

In Malabar, the main target of Tipu Sultan's atrocities were Hindus and Hindu temples. According to Lewis B. Boury, the atrocities committed by Tipu Sultan against Hindus in Malabar were worse and more barbarous than those committed against the Hindus in Hindustan by the notorious Mahmud of Ghazni, Alauddin Khalji, and Nadir Shah. He disputes in his book Mukherjee's version that Tipu Sultan had converted only his opponents. Normally even a cruel person kills or tortures only his enemies. But that argument does not justify the cruelties committed by him against innocent women and children.

DANCE OF THE ISLAMIC SATAN

According to the Malabar Manual of William Logan who was the District Collector for some time, Thrichambaram and Thalipparampu temples in Chirackal Taluqa, Thiruvangatu Temple (Brass Pagoda) in Tellicherry, and Ponmeri Temple near Badakara were all destroyed by Tipu Sultan. The Malabar Manual mention that the Maniyoor mosque was once a Hindu temple. The local belief is that it was converted to a mosque during the days of Tipu Sultan.

Vatakkankoor Raja Raja Varma in his famous literary work, History of Sanskrit Literature in Kerala, has written the following about the loss and destruction faced by the Hindu temples in Kerala during the military regime (Padayottam) of Tipu Sultan: "There was no limit as to the loss the Hindu temples suffered due to the military operations of Tipu Sultan. Burning down the temples, destruction of the idols installed therein and also cutting the heads of cattle over the temple deities were the cruel entertainments of Tipu Sultan and his equally cruel army. It was heartrending even to imagine the destruction caused by Tipu Sultan in the famous ancient temples of Thalipparampu and Thrichambaram. The devastation caused by this new Ravana's barbarous activities have not yet been fully rectified."

KOZHIKODE MADE A GRAVEYARD

As per the provisions of the Treaty of Mangalore of 1784, the British had allowed Tipu Sultan to have his suzerainty over Malabar. 'In consequence, the Hindus of Malabar had to suffer the most severe enormities the world had ever known in history,' observes K.V. Krishna Iyer, in his famous book, Zamorins of Calicut, based on historical records available from the royal house of Zamorins in Calicut. "When the second-in-line of Zamorins, Eralppad, refused to cooperate with Tipu Sultan in his military operations against Travancore because of Tipu's crude methods of forcible circumcision and conversion of Hindus to Islam, the enraged Tipu Sultan took a solemn oath to circumcise and convert the Zamorin and his chieftains and Hindu soldiers to Islamic faith," he adds.

L.B. Boury writes: "To show his ardent devotion and steadfast faith in Muhammaddan religion, Tipu Sultan found Kozhikode to be the most suitable place. It was because the Hindus of Malabar refused to reject the matriarchal system, polyandry and half-nakedness of women that the 'great reformer' Tipu Sultan tried to honour the entire population with Islam." To the Malabar people, the Muslim harem, Muslim polygamy and the Islamic ritual of circumcision were equally repulsive and opposed to the ancient culture and tradition in Kerala. Tipu Sultan sought a marriage alliance with the matriarchal Muslim family of Arackal Bibi in Cannanore. Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins and had over 7000 Brahmin families living there. Over 2000 Brahmin families perished as a result of Tipu Sultan's Islamic cruelties. He did not spare even women and children. Most of the men escaped to forests and foreign lands.

Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai wrote in the Mathrubhoomi Weekly of December 25, 1955: "Muhammadans greatly increased in number. Hindus were forcibly circumcised in thousands. As a result of Tipu's atrocities, strength of Nairs and Chamars (Scheduled Castes) significantly diminished in number. Namboodiris also substantially decreased in number."

The German missionary Guntest has recorded: 'Accompanied by an army of 60,000, Tipu Sultan came to Kozhikode in 1788 and razed it to the ground. It is not possible even to describe the brutalities committed by that Islamic barbarian from Mysore." C.A. Parkhurst also noted that 'Almost the entire Kozhikode was razed to the ground."

TEMPLES DESTROYED

Thali, Thiruvannur, Varackal, Puthur, Govindapuram, Thalikkunnu and other important temples in the town of Kozhikode as well as those nearby were completely destroyed as a result of Tipu's military operations. Some of them were reconstructed by the Zamorin after he returned following the defeat of Tipu Sultan in Sreerangapatanam and the Treaty of 1792.

The devastation caused by Tipu Sultan to the ancient and holy temples of Keraladheeswaram, Thrikkandiyoor and Thriprangatu in Vettum region was terrible. The Zamorin renovated these temples to some extent. The famous and ancient Thirunavaya Temple, known throughout the country as an ancient teaching-centre of the Vedas, revered by the devotees of Vishnu from Tamil Nadu, and existing before the advent of Christ, was also plundered and destroyed by Tipu's army (Malabar Gazetteer). After dismantling and destroying the idol, Tipu converted the Thrikkavu Temple into an ammunition depot in Ponnani (Malabar Manual). It was the Zamorin who repaired the temple later. Kotikkunnu, Thrithala, Panniyoor and other family temples of the Zamorin were plundered and destroyed. The famous Sukapuram Temple was also desecrated. Damage done to the Perumparampu Temple and Maranelira Temple of Azhvancherry Thamprakkal (titular head of all Namboodiri Brahmins) in Edappadu, can be seen even today. Vengari Temple and Thrikkulam Temple in Eranadu, Azhinjillam Temple in Ramanattukara, Indyannur Temple, Mannur Temple and many other temples were defiled and damaged extensively during the military regime.

Tipu Sultan reached Guruvayoor Temple only after destroying Mammiyoor Temple and Palayur Christian Church. If the destruction caused by Tipu's army is not visible today in the Guruvayoor Temple, it is mainly because of the intervention of Hydrose Kutty who had been converted to Islam by Hyder Ali Khan. He secured the safety of the temple and the continuation of land-tax exemption allowed by Hyder Ali earlier, besides the renovation and repairs done by the devotees later. According to available evidences, fearing the wrath of Tipu Sultan, the sacred idol of the Guruvayoor Temple was removed to the Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple in Travancore State. It was only after the end of Tipu's military regime, that the idol was ceremoniously reinstated in the Guruvayoor Temple itself. Even today, daily pujas are conducted in Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple where the idol of Guruvayoor Temple was temporarily installed and worshipped.

Damages caused to the nearby temples at Parampathali, Panmayanadu and Vengidangu are visible even today. The deplorable state of the architecture of the sanctum sanctorum of Parampathali Temple destroyed during the military operations of Tipu Sultan is really heart-rending. The atrocities committed in Kozhikode during the nightmarish days of the military occupation are vividly described in the works of Fra Bartolomaeo who had travelled through Kerala at that time. How cruelly Tipu Sultan, ably assisted by the French Commander M. Lally, had treated the Hindu and Christian population can be clearly understood from his writings.

TALKING RECORDS OF KERALA HISTORY

Govinda Pillai says in his famous book, History of Literature; "During Malayalam Era 965 corresponding to 1789-90, Tipu Sultan crossed over to Malabar with an army of uncivilised barbarians. With a sort of fanatical love for Islamic faith, he destroyed many Hindu temples and Christian churches which were the custodians of precious wealth and religious traditions. Besides, Tipu Sultan abducted hundreds of people and forcibly circumcised and converted them to Islam - an act which was considered by them as more than death."

A small army of 2000 Nairs of Kadathanadu resisted the invasion of the huge army of Tipu Sultan from a fortress in Kuttipuram for a few weeks. They were reduced to starvation and death. Tipu Sultan entered the fort and offered to spare their lives, provided they accepted conversion to Islam. The unfortunate lot of 2000 Nairs were then forced to eat beef after being converted to Islamic faith, at the end of usual religious ritual of mass circumcision. All the members of one branch of Parappanad Royal Family were forcibly converted to Muhammadan faith except for one or two who escaped from the clutches of Tipu Sultan's army. Similarly, one Thiruppad belonging to Nilamboor Royal Family was also forcibly abducted and converted to Islam. Thereafter, it was reported that further conversions of Hindus were attempted through those converts. In the end, when the Kolathiri Raja surrendered and paid tribute, Tipu Sultan got him treacherously killed without any specific reason, dragged his dead body tied to the feet of an elephant through the streets, and finally hanged him from a tree-top to show his Islamic contempt for Hindu Rajas.

It may be mentioned here that the entire Wodayar Royal Family of Mysore had been humiliated and kept in prison by Hyder Ali Khan and Tipu Sultan in their capital city, Sreerangapatanam. Even the Palghat Raja, Ettipangi Achan who had surrendered, was imprisoned on suspicion and later taken to Sreerangapatanam. Nothing was heard of him subsequently. Christians in Palghat fled out of fear. Tipu Sultan terrified the entire Hindu population in Malabar, stationing his army contingents in different regions for the purpose. The tax initially imposed by Hyder Ali Khan was forcibly collected by Tipu Sultan. Standing crops were confiscated. This act provoked even some influential Mappila landlords to revolt against Tipu Sultan.

Hyder Ali Khan had exempted temples from the payment of land tax. But Tipu Sultan forced the temples to pay heavy taxes. The famous Hemambika Temple at Kalpathi of the Palghat Raja who had surrendered to Hyder Ali Khan, the Kachamkurissi Temple of the Kollamkottu Raja who had deserted the Zamorin and sided with Hyder Ali Khan, and also the Jain Temple at Palghat suffered serious damages due to the cruel policies of Tipu Sultan.

Many Nair and Brahmin landlords fled the country leaving their vast wealth behind. The Mappilas forcibly took possession of their lands and wealth. Tipu Sultan did not object to their actions. Most of the Mappila landlords of today claim that they purchased the ownership of the landed properties from Nairs and Brahmins after paying heavy compensation. These blatant lies are being repeated by them in spite of the fact that practically nothing was paid to the Hindu landlords then or later. (The same Islamic treachery was repeated during the Mappila riots of 1921.)

In any case, Tipu Sultan succeeded in mass killing, converting lakhs of Hindus to Islamic faith, driving thousands out of their traditional homes, and finally making the rest extremely poor. Many Hindus belonging to lower castes accepted conversion to Islam under duress. However, many others, especially the Thiyyas, fled to Tellicherry and Mahe for safety.

When the British established their rule in Malabar and the Hindu landlords made efforts to recover their landed properties, illegally occupied by the local Mappilas, Mullahs started preaching to their fanatic followers that "killing of Hindu landlords was a sacred Islamic act," leading to frequent Mappila outrages in Malabar. http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch02.htm#1 - 1

In Cherunad, Vettathunad, Eranad, Valluvanad, Thamarassery and other interior areas, local Mappilas unleashed a reign of terror on the Hindu population, mainly to retain the illegally occupied land and to establish their domination over Hindus as during Tipu's regime. Fearing the organised robberies and violence, people could not even travel freely in the Malabar hinterland of predominantly Mappila population.

Lt. Col. E. Phitiyan, Andriansi, Mayan, K.P. Padmanabha Menon Sadasyathilakan T.K. Velu Pillai, Ullur Parameshwara Iyer, and other prominent people have described vividly the various types of atrocities committed by Tipu Sultan during the days of his Islamic rule in Malabar. There is no count of the wealth looted from Hindu temples and taken away by him to Sreerangapatanam. It is, therefore, very pitiable that a few shameless Hindus of today have come forward to orchestrate the nefarious propaganda of the fanatic Muslims, namely, that it was the imperialist divide-and-rule policy of the British that was responsible for blaming the Muslims for various atrocities committed against Hindus. This Big Lie was surreptitiously entered subsequently in history books and related records. It is obvious that these "Hindus" are speaking on the theme of Hindu-Muslim unity and praising the 'secular' credentials of the Muslim League, Tipu Sultan and Aurangzeb to the sky, not sincerely for the sake of Hindu-Muslim amity but only because of their inherent cowardice. They even proclaim that the notorious Mappila outrage of 1921 was part of the freedom struggle!

CONCLUSION

A few observations about the attack of Tipu Sultan on the Travancore State would be appropriate in this context. If the Nedunkotta had not been constructed earlier mainly to stop the danger from the powerful Zamorin, the same fate would have befallen the helpless Travancore State as well. Because of the above fortification, Tipu Sultan could wreak vengeance only in Angamally, Alwaye, Varapuzha, Alangod and other towns on the northern borders of Travancore State. That is what the Dewan of Travancore, Madhava Rao, had written in the history of Travancore. It may be emphasized here that he had relied on the original local records, not the ones published by the European historians. He wrote: "Whatever cruelties, the local Mappilas were desirous of indulging in the land, Tipu Sultan and his army of Muslim converts did. The ancient and holy temples were heartlessly defiled or burnt down. The ruins of those temples destroyed by Tipu's fanatic army are the existing evidences of the atrocities committed by Muslims in the country. Christian churches also had to suffer widespread destructions. However, Tipu Sultan spared only the territories of Cochin Raja who had surrendered to Hyder Ali Khan in the beginning itself. Still, when Tipu Sultan and his army entered Parur and started firing at Kodungallur, the Cochin Raja sent a letter to the Travancore Raja requesting him 'to protect me and my family'." (A copy of the original letter was also published in the book.)

These are the recorded facts about the atrocities unleashed by Tipu Sultan during his military regime notoriously known as Padayottakalam. Poets have written a number of poems about the sufferings of the people and the land during those nightmarish days. The following was written by a member of the Katathanad Royal Family about the consequences of Padayottakalam:

"Oh Shiva! Shiva Lingam (idol) has gone (destroyed) from the temple, and also the Lingam (manliness) from the land:"

(This is the English translation of the Malayalam article by P.C.N. Raja first published in Kesari Annual of 1964. The late Raja was a senior member of the Zamorin Royal Family.)

10-23-2006, 03:55 AM

TIPU'S OWN TESTIMONY

C. NANDAGOPAL MENON
(The writer is convenor of Bombay Malayalee Samajam)

"If you love me, should you not put up with my weakness sometimes?" - Tipu Sultan is purported to have asked Mir Sadik who was one of his ministers. This is a remark invented by Bhagwan S. Gidwani in his controversial novel, The Sword of Tipu Sultan.

Across-section of the new generation of historians and novelists is of the opinion that all the available documents and history books on Tipu Sultan originate from the British and, therefore, they cannot be relied upon, the ostensible policy of the British being to 'divide and rule'. Pointing to the correspondence between Shrimad Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Shri Sankaracharya of Sringeri Mutt and Tipu Sultan during 1791-92 and 1798, they argue that Tipu was an apostle of secularism and as such respected Hindu religious heads and places of worship. Tipu is also identified as among the first nationalists who fought against the British to liberate the country.

However, the arguments fall apart if one goes through various letters and edicts issued by Tipu Sultan to various public functionaries, including his principal military commanders, the governors of forts and provinces, and diplomatic and commercial agents.

William Kirkpatrick, who compiled many of Tipu's letters, writes in his book, Selected Letters of Tipoo Sultan (published in 1811): "Tipoo knew his will to be a law the propriety of whichâ¦ would never be questioned or doubted by any of his slavesâ¦ He probably measured the sentiments in question by a different standard from that with which we estimate them. Thus the various murders and acts of treachery which we see him directing to be carried into execution, were not criminal, but on the contrary just, and even meritorious, in his eyes."

GREAT VICTORY

Kirkpatrick continues: "The Koran taught him that it was not necessary to keep faith with infidels, or the enemies of the true religion, in which case it was not difficult for him to persuade himself that it was right to include all who opposed or refused to cooperate in his views for the extension of that religion; or, in other words, for his own aggrandisement."

This observation of Kirkpatrick is found to be valid when one goes through the letter of January 19, 1790, sent to Budruz Zuman Khan by Tipu himself. It says: "Don't you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam? I am determined to march against that cursed 'Raman Nair' very soon (reference is to Rama Varma Raja of Travancore State who was popularly known as Dharma Raja). Since I am overjoyed at the prospect of converting him and his subjects to Islam, I have happily abandoned the idea of going back to Srirangapatanam now" (K.M. Panicker, Bhasha Poshini, August, 1923).

In a letter dated 8th Eezidy (February 13, 1790) addressed to Budruz Zuman Khan, Tipu writes: "Your two letters, with the enclosed memorandums of the Naimar (or Nair) captives, have been received. You did right in ordering a hundred and thirty-five of them to be circumcised, and in putting eleven of the youngest of these into the Usud Ilhye band (or class) and the remaining ninety-four into the Ahmedy Troop, consigning the whole, at the same time, to the charge of the Kilaaddar of Nugrâ¦" (Selected Letters of Tipoo Sultan by Kirkpatrick).

In a letter dated January 18, 1790 to Syed Abdul Dulai, Tipu writes: "With the grace of Prophet Mohammed and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are converted to Islam. Only on the borders of Cochin State a few are still not converted. I am determined to convert them also very soon. I consider this as Jehad to achieve that object" (K.M. Panicker, Bhasha Poshini).

THEY SPEAK VOLUMES

The translation of the great seal of Tipu found in Major Alex Dirom's comprehensive account of the Third Mysore War published as early as 1793 in London, reads as follows:

"I am the Messenger of the true faith.
"I bring Unto you the Edicts of Truth.
"From CONQUEST and the Protection of the Royal Hyder comes my tide of SULTAN and the world under the Sun and Moon is subject to my Signet."

The letters and the seal speak volumes of the mind of the man who wantonly roamed and terrorised South India and the southeastern borders of Maharashtra for a decade. It cannot be said that he did so because the Hindus were assisting the British.

The contention of a secularist section of historians and novelists that Tipu was a patriot since he fought the British, has no validity. The renowned historian, Dr. I.M. Muthanna, says in his Tipu Sultan X-Rayed that Tipu was a traitor as he invited the French to invade India. The letter, dated April 21, 1797, written by Tipu and classified as No. 4 in the Persian File of Records, and quoted by Muthanna in his book, reads:

"Citizen Representatives:

"Since I manifested my friendship in writing to you, my messengers have arrived with the following intelligence which will not be displeasing to you.

"The Nizam, an ally of the English, and the Chief of the Mughals, is very ill and his age leaves no prospect of his recovery. He has four children who are disputing the right of succession. One of them is much attached to me, (he) is the favourite of the chiefs of the people and is expected to succeed him.

"I inform these events in order to prove to you that it is now the moment for you to invade India. With little trouble we shall drive the British out of India. Rely on my friendship.

"Your ally (Sd) Tipu Sultan."

That was Tipu's expression of love for India!

The world-famous Protuguese traveller, Fr. Barthoelomeo, not a Britisher, writes in his book Voyage to East Indies: "First a corps of 30,000 barbarians who butchered everybody on the wayâ¦ followed by the field-gun unit under the French Commander, M. Lallyâ¦ Tipu was riding on an elephant behind which another army of 30,000 soldiers followed. Most of the men and women were hanged in Calicut, first mothers were hanged with their children tied to necks of mothers. That barbarian Tipu Sultan tied the naked Christians and Hindus to the legs of elephants and made the elephants to move around till the bodies of the helpless victims were torn to pieces. Temples and churches were ordered to be burned down, desecrated and destroyed. Christian and Hindu women were forced to marry Mohammadans and similarly their men were forced to marry Mohammadan women. http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch03.htm#1 - 1 Those Christians who refused to be honoured with Islam, were ordered to be killed by hanging immediately. These atrocities were told to me by the victims of Tipu Sultan who escaped from the clutches of his army and reached Varappuzha, which is the centre of Carmichael Christian Mission. I myself helped many victims to cross the Varappuzha river by boats."

COW-SLAUGHTER

"The Padayottam military occupation period won't be forgotten by the Malayalis for generations. It was this invasion, between Malayalam era 957 to 967 (1782 to 1792) that turned Malayalam upside down," says P. Raman Menon, biographer of Shaktan Tampuran, the King of Cochin during Tipu's invasion. He adds: "There was hardly any cowshed left in Malayalam where the Mysore Tiger did not enter." The reference is to the mass cow-slaughter carried out by Tipu's army on his orders.

In 1783-84, 1788 and 1789-90, Tipu personally led the attacks on Malayalam (Kerala), besides sending his army contingents to various resistance spots during the intervening period. Well-known Muslim historian, P.S. Syed Muhammed, author of Kerala Muslim Charitram (History of Kerala Muslims), has this to say about these invasions: "What happened to Kerala because of Tipu's invasion, reminds one of the invasion of Chengez Khan and Timur in Indian history."

Vadakunkur Raja Raja Varma writes in Kerala Samskrita Sahitya Charitram (History of Sanskrit Literature in Kerala): "The number of temples destroyed during Tipu's invasion is countless. It was the hobby of Tipu and his army to put the temples on fire destroy the idols and indulge in cow-slaughter. The memory of destruction of the Talipparampu and Trichambaram temples aches the heart."

According to the Malabar Gazetteer, the important temples in the towns of Tali, Srivaliyanatukavu, Tiruvannur, Varakkal, Puthur, Govindapuram, and Talikunnu were destroyed by Tipu's ravaging armies. Even the Tirunavaya Temple known all over India as a centre of Rig Veda teaching was destroyed. Tipu personally ordered the destruction of Calicut which was the capital of the Zamorin Rajas.

The record books maintained at the Vadakumnatha Temple of Trichur, Zamorins of Calicut by K.V. Krishna Iyer, and Malabar Manual by William Logan also list hundreds of temples destroyed during Tipu's invasion.

FAITH IN ASTROLOGY

It is common knowledge that Tipu had immense faith in astrology. He used to keep a number of astrologers in his court who were asked to calculate the time auspicious for his invasions. It was at the appeals of these astrologers and his own mother that Tipu spared two temples out of more than a dozen within Srirangapatanam Fort. Moreover, by the end of 1790, Tipu was facing enemies from all sides. He was also defeated at the Travancore Defence Lines. It was then that in order to appease the Hindus of Mysore, he started giving land-grants to Hindu temples.

This view finds endorsement in the biography of the Diwan of Travancore, Life History of Raja Kesavadas by V,R. Parameswaran Pillai. Pillai writes: "With respect to the much-published land-grants I had explained the reasons about 40 years back. Tipu had immense faith in astrological predictions. It was to become an Emperor (Padushah) after destroying the might of the British that Tipu resorted to land-grants and other donations to Hindu temples in Mysore including Sringeri Mutt, as per the advice of the local Brahmin astrologers. Most of these were done after his defeat in 1791 and the humiliating Srirangapatanam Treaty in 1792. These grants were not done out of respect or love for Hindus or Hindu religion but for becoming Padushah as predicted by the astrologers."

Sanjay Khan, producer of the controversial TV serial on Tipu, contended in the beginning that there was no distortion in his serial (based on Gidwani's novel). He has now admitted in an interview to The Week that "Gidwani's novel may not be historically correct".

Indian Express (Bombay), March 10, 1990

Footnotes:
http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch03.htm#1a - 1 A non-Muslim marrying a Muslim woman becomes a Muslim under the "law" of Islam. Marrying a Muslim woman without getting converted to Islam invites death penalty under that "law".

10-23-2006, 03:57 AM

TIPU SULTAN: AS KNOWN IN KERALA

RAVI VARMA

INTRODUCTION

Of late there has been a concerted attempt to distort and falsify recorded Indian history, very often even by painting dark periods of Indian history as glorious and progressive, to suit the selfish and perverted interests of the ruling clique. One of these attempts relates to the life and deeds of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Most of his active life as Sultan of Mysore was spent in Kerala, waging wars of territorial annexation and Islamic conversions. Therefore, the true character of Tipu Sultan can be best judged from his activities in Kerala. The following is an earnest attempt to present Tipu Sultan as known from the available records of Kerala history.

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

There is ample evidence, available in many authentic records of his military operations in Kerala, to show that Tipu Sultan of Mysore was a fanatic Muslim tyrant who was responsible for the destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples, large-scale forcible conversion of the Hindus, and perpetration of unimaginable brutalities on the Hindu population in Kerala. All the available records such as Malabar Manual of William Logan, Historical Sketches of Col. Wilks, Voyage to East Indies of Fra Bartolomaeo, histories of Kerala written by K.P. Padmanabha Menon and Sardar K.M. Panicker, historical research papers of Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, official reports of the English Company, and the records of Chirackal, Zamorin and Palghat royal families besides those from Trichur, Guruvayoor, Thirunavaya and Perumanam temples, clearly and conclusively depict Tipu Sultan as the most intolerant cruel, and fanatic Muslim ruler in the South. His main object, like his father Hyder Ali Khan's, was to subjugate the whole of Kerala and convert its Hindu population to Islamic faith by force. Tipu Sultan's notorious jihÃ¢d - Islamic war-slogan - was SWORD (death) or CAP (Islamic honour, i.e. forcible conversion), a cruel option for a hapless Hindu population. For this, his most dependable and obedient accomplices were his equally cruel and treacherous co-religionists - the Mappilas (local Muslim converts) of North Malabar.

NATIONAL INSULT

The ruins of hundreds of Hindu temples destroyed, and heavy concentration of Mappilas, all along the invasion routes of Tipu's army, are standing and conclusive proofs of the brutalities and atrocities committed by the fanatic Tipu Sultan in Kerala. He was, all through, waging a cruel Islamic war against the Hindu population of Kerala, with a large Muslim army under Muslim field commanders ably assisted by the French, and with powerful field-guns and European troops. The period of Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali Khan from 1766 to 1792 is the darkest period in Kerala history for all types of Islamic atrocities including forcible conversions. In spite of all these, historical documents and records are being deliberately suppressed, distorted and falsified in order to project this fanatic Tipu Sultan of Mysore as a liberal and magnanimous Muslim king. Worse still, this Muslim tyrant from Mysore is being glorified and projected as a national hero like Chhatrapati Shivaji, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Rana Pratap Singh, and Pazhassi Raja of Kerala. To perpetuate the memory of this tyrant Tipu Sultan, the Central Government has released a postal stamp. Doordarshan has sanctioned a video serial to glorify the deeds and life of Tipu Sultan. And a special rehabilitation programme is being worked out for the benefit of the descendants of Tipu Sultan in Calcutta. It is an insult to our national pride and also to the Hindus of Kerala. At this rate, who knows that tomorrow our secular Government and the motivated Muslim and Marxist historians of Jawaharlal Nehru, Aligarh and Islamia universities will not project as national heroes villains like Mahmud Ghaznavi who destroyed the Somnath Temple, Babar who destroyed the Sri Rama Temple at Ayodhya, and Aurangzeb who destroyed the Vishwanath Temple at Kashi and the Sri Krishna Temple at Mathura? What a shame! What a degradation!

SOURCE REFERENCE

Now, let us turn to the facts of history, compiled and presented in Malabar Manual of William Logan published over a hundred years ago. William Logan was Collector of Malabar and worked in various capacities for over twenty years in Kerala, before 1886. The highly acclaimed Malabar Manual was the result of his strenuous research and study of various official records, oral history, and legends of Kerala. Because the facts presented here are mainly from the Malabar Manual as edited by Dr. C.K. Kareem, http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch04.htm#1 - 1 himself a Muslim, and published by the Charitram Publications of Trivandrum with the assistance of Kerala and Cochin universities, we are sure, they will be more acceptable as authentic and unbiased than any other version of Kerala history.

To give the background of Tipu Sultan's wars and Islamic atrocities in Kerala, it would be better to start from Hyder Ali Khan, Tipu's father.

HYDER ALI KHAN

After the decline and disintegration of the Vijayanagaram Empire, Raja Wodeyar enlarged his small principality into a mighty kingdom and established the Wodeyar Dynasty with Srirangapatanam as its capital (1578-1761). Lord Shree Ranganatha Swamy was the family deity of the Wodeyar family and, therefore, a magnificent temple dedicated to this God was constructed there. Since then, the capital city came to be known by the name of the presiding deity of the place. The last king of the Wodeyar Dynasty was Krishna Raya who was overthrown by Hyder Ali Khan, his army chief stationed in Dindigal, with the help of the wily Purnaiyya. Hyder Ali imprisoned all the royal family members in Srirangapatanam. Later on, he declared himself the Sultan of Mysore with Srirangapatanam as capital in 1761 (p. 456 of Malabar Manual). It may be noted here that Hyder Ali Khan's father was a Punjabi Muslim settled in Mysore and serving as a soldier with the rank of 'naik' in the army.

INVASION OF KERALA BY HYDER ALI

During that period, there were a number of small kingdoms in Malabar. Among them, the important ones were those of Kottayam (Pazhassi) Raja, Kolathiri (Chirackal) Raja, Kadathanad Raja in North Malabar, and Zamorin in South Malabar. There was also a Muslim ruler under Kolathiri Raja. He controlled the sea trade through Cannanore port. The seniormost male member of the Arackal Muslim family was known as Ali Raja while the seniormost female member was referred to as Arackal Bibi. The family originated from the Hindu royal family of Chirackal or Kolathiri. Though converted to Islam years back, the Arackal family followed their original matriarchal system as prevalent in Kerala. And though Ali Raja was a subordinate chieftain under Kolathiri Raja, he used to disobey the authority of Kolathiri quite often.

When Hyder Ali Khan overran Mangalore and reached the northern borders of Malabar, Ali Raja invited and persuaded him to subjugate the Hindu Rajas of North Malabar and offered his assistance. But it was only after regrouping and equipping his army with more powerful field-guns that Hyder Ali Khan launched the long-expected Malabar invasion in 1766. After reaching Cannanore, he appointed Ali Raja as his Naval Chief (High Admiral) and the Raja's brother Sheik Ali as Chief of Port Authority (Intendant of Marine). After that, Ali Raja and his brother served Hyder Ali Khan on land and sea and aided all his military operations with a body of over 8,000 Mappilas (Muslim converts - name derived from Macca Pillai, Ma-Pillai). None of the Hindu Rajas in Malabar at that time was under the tutelage of the British or any other European power. The English Company, with its headquarters in Madras and Bombay, had only some pockets of influence in Mangalore and Tellicherry. The Kerala coast was under the influence of the Dutch and the French who were established in Cochin and Mahe respectively. Thus Hyder Ali's invasion of Kerala was not to fight and defeat the British, but to subjugate the independent Hindu kingdoms and for conversions to Islam. Neither Hyder Ali Khan nor Tipu Sultan is known to have attacked any of the British establishments in Kerala at any time.

ATROCITIES UNDER HYDER ALI

During his southward march of conquest and plunder, Hyder Ali allowed Ali Raja and his barbarous Mappilas to act as army scouts and also to commit all sorts of atrocities on the Hindu population of Malabar. The Kolathiri Raja could not offer much resistance against the huge army of Hyder Ali which was equipped with heavy field guns. On the other hand, Ali Raja who had been made a tributary chieftain in Cannanore, seized and set fire to the palace of the old Kolathiri Raja. The latter escaped with his followers and sought protection of the British in Tellicherry. Hyder Ali now entered Kottayam (Pazhassi) Raja's territory where he encountered resistance. There were casualties on both sides. But the Kottayam Mappilas betrayed and deserted their Hindu king and assisted Hyder Ali Khan (p. 460).

The first serious resistance encountered by the invading army of Hyder Ali Khan was in Kadathanad. The devastation caused by him during his wars in Kerala was typical of fanatic Muslim invaders anywhere in India. A broad picture of his Islamic atrocities as described by a Muslim officer of Mysore army in his diary and as edited by Prince Ghulam Muhammad, the eleventh and only surviving son of Tipu Sultan, is given below. (Prince Ghulam Muhammad was later on exiled to Calcutta by the British after the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799.)

'Nothing was to be seen on the roads for a distance of four leagues, nothing was found but only scattered limbs and mutilated bodies of Hindus. The country of Nairs [Hindus] was thrown into a general consternation which was much increased by the cruelty of the Mappilas who followed the invading cavalry of Hyder Ali Khan and massacred all those who escaped without sparing even women and children; so that the army advancing under the conduct of this enraged multitude [Mappilas] instead of meeting with continued resistance, found villages, fortresses, temples and every habitable place forsaken and deserted (p. 461).

"Wherever he (Hyder Ali Khan) turned, he found no opponent; and every inhabitable place was forsaken and the poor inhabitants who fled to the woods and mountains in the inclement season experienced anguish to behold their houses in flames, fruit-trees cut down, cattles destroyed and temples burnt. By means of Brahmin messengers despatched to woods and mountains, Hyder Ali Khan promised pardon and mercy to the Hindus who had fled. However, as soon as the unfortunate Hindus returned on his promise of mercy and pardon, Hyder Ali Khan, like all the other Muslim tyrants of North India, saw to it that they were all hanged to death, their wives and children reduced to slavery (p. 468).

"Before quitting the country (Kerala) Hyder Ali Khan by a solemn edict declared the Nairs deprived of all (social and political) privileges and (ordered) not to carry arms. This ordinance was found to make the submission of the proud Nairs absolutely impossible because they would have thought death preferable to such humiliations and degradation. Therefore, Hyder Ali Khan by another ordinance, consented to restore all social and political privileges including carrying of arms, to the Nairs who embraced the Mohammadan religion. Many nobles had to embrace Islam; but a significantly large section (Nairs, Chieftains and Brahmins) chose rather to take refuge in the kingdom of Travancore in the South than to submit to the last ordinance" (p. 469).

It may be noted here that when Hyder Ali Khan reached Calicut with his huge army, destroying everything on the way and forcibly converting to Islam every Hindu warrior defeated or captured, the ruling Zamorin, after sending away all his family members to Travancore State, committed self-immolation by setting fire to his palace and ammunition depot nearby, in order to escape personal humiliation and possible forcible conversion to Islam.

TIPU SULTAN

Hyder Ali Khan had thus attempted and to some extent succeeded in converting a sizeable section of Hindus, especially Nairs and Thiyyas, to Islam by force and treachery. However, as soon as he left Malabar, all Hindu Rajas, Chieftains and Nairs revolted and asserted their independence. He died in December, 1782, and his son, Tipu Sultan, succeeded him in Srirangapatanam. Tipu was also a fanatic Muslim king, but more cruel and inhuman than his father in his Islamic wars and conversions in Kerala.

By the time Tipu became the Sultan of Mysore towards the end of 1782, all the Rajas and Chieftains of North Malabar had revolted and declared their independence. The British had also become more powerful. The immediate object of Tipu's early military operation was to subjugate and retake the principalities which had revolted against the Mysore suzerainty immediately after the departure of Hyder Ali Khan from Malabar. So far, the Brahmins who were by nature quiet and honest, were usually and customarily sent as messengers to high places. But because of Tipu's orders to "seize, circumcise and convert the Brahmins to Islam", they started refusing to carry his messages to Malabar. They refused to oblige even the British who had extended and promised full protection to them. It had been confirmed from Calicut that 200 Brahmins had been "seized, confined, made Muslims and forced to eat beef and do other things contrary to their customs" (p. 507).

ISLAMIC BRUTALITIES

According to the official report of Col. Fullarton of the British forces stationed in Mangalore, worst type of brutalities on Brahmins were committed by Tipu Sultan in 1783 during his siege of Palghat Fort which was being defended by the Zamorin and his Hindu soldiers. "Tipu's soldiers daily exposed the heads of many innocent Brahmins within sight from the fort for Zamorin and his Hindu followers to see. It is asserted that the Zamorin rather than witness such enormities and to avoid further killing of innocent Brahmins, chose to abandon the Palghat Fort" (p. 500).

As he proceeded with his Islamic wars against the Hindu population in Kerala, Tipu Sultan committed many more brutalities. The Rajas were unable to resist. But they did not like to be mute witnesses to brutalities perpetrated by the Muslim army of Tipu. As a consequence, the Kadathanad and Kottayam Rajas sent requests to the English Company at Tellicherry for protection, stating that "they could no longer trust Tipu Sultan and beseeching the Company to take the Brahmins, the poor and the whole kingdom under their protections" (p. 507).

But the British did not render any help to the Hindu Rajas. Tipu's brutalities were against all sections - Brahmins, Nairs and Thiyyas of Hindu community, not excluding even women and children. Even Christians were not spared.

"It was not only against the Brahmins who were thus put in a state of terror of forcible circumcision and conversion; but against all sections of Hindus. In August, 1788, a Raja of the Kshatriya family of Parappanad and also Trichera Thiruppad, a chieftain of Nilamboor, and many other Hindu nobles who had been carried away earlier to Coimbatore by Tipu Sultan, were forcibly circumcised and forced to cat beef. Nairs in desperation, under the circumstances, rose up against their Muslim oppressors under Tipu's command in South Malabar and the Hindus of Coorg in the North also joined them (p. 507).

"The revolt in the South Malabar was led by Ravi Varma of the Zamorin family. Though Tipu conferred on him a jaghire (vast are of tax-free land) mainly to appease him, the Zamorin prince, after promptly taking charge of the jaghire, continued his revolt against the Mysore power, more vigorously and with wider support. He soon moved to Calicut, his traditional area of influence and authority, for better co-ordination. Tipu sent a large Mysore army under the command of M. Lally and Mir Asrali Khan to chase and drive out the Zamorin prince from Calicut. However, during the above operations, Ravi Varma assisted not less than 30,000 Brahmins to flee the country and take refuge in Travancore" (p. 508).

It may be pointed out here that almost all female members and many male members of different royal families such as Chirackal, Parappanad, and Calicut, and chieftains' families like Punnathoor, Nilamboor, Kavalapara, Azhvancherry Thamprakkal etc., fled to Travancore to escape the brutalities of Tipu's army and temporarily settled down in different parts of Travancore. Even after the fall of Tipu Sultan's regime in Srirangapatanam, many of these families, wholly or partly, preferred to stay back in Travancore because of the Mappilas' atrocities in the past.

The continued resistance and revolt by the Nairs and other chieftains enraged Tipu Sultan who gave strict orders to his army under M. Lally and Mir Asrali Khan to "surround and extricate the whole race of Nairs from Kottayam to Palghat" (p. 508). After entrusting Calicut to a powerful army contingent, he instructed it "to surround the woods and seize the heads of all Nair factions". He then proceeded to North Malabar to suppress the spreading revolt under Kadathanad and Pazhassi Rajas. Prior to this, Tipu had sent a formal request to the English Company at Tellicherry asking them "not to give protection and shelter to Nairs fleeing from South Malabar" (p. 509). A similar letter had been sent to the English Company in Tellicherry by Hyder Ali Khan in 1764 before he launched his Malabar invasion (Kerala History by A.S. Sreedhara Menon, p. 372). These letters clearly show that neither Hyder Ali nor Tipu was at war with the British.

It was at Kuttipuram, the headquarters of the Kadathanad Rajas, that the huge army of Tipu Sultan with a large number of field-guns surrounded an old fort defended by a small contingent of Nairs. After several days of resistance, and finding it difficult to defend the fort any longer, the Nairs submitted to the usual terms of surrender - "a voluntary profession of the Mohammadan faith or a forced conversion with deportation from the native landâ¦ In short, either way they had to embrace Mohammadan faith!â¦ The unhappy Nair captives gave a forced consent and on the next day, the Islamic initiation rite of circumcision was performed on all male members, closing the ceremony after every individual of both sexes was forced to eat beef"(p. 510).

If this was not an Islamic war, what else was it? Do forcible circumcision and feeding of beef form any part of normal wars of territorial aggression? The War that Tipu Sultan waged in Kerala, was a cruel Islamic war against the Hindu population, mainly for conversion of Hindus by force. Yet there are degenerate Hindus in Kerala who admire Tipu Sultan as a hero!

The doings of Tipu Sultan were held out as an example which other detachments of the Mysore army followed. An original order sent to various army contingents by Tipu was found among the records from Palghat Fort, after its capture by the English Company in 1790. It has been reproduced as a footnote on page 510 of the Malabar Manual: "It directed (all military detachments) that every being in the district should be honoured with Islam, that they should be traced to their hiding places, and that all means, truth or falsehood, fraud or force, should be employed to effect their universal conversion to Islam."

While escaping from Tipu's army, one of the princes of the Chirackal Royal family in North Malabar was captured and killed in an encounter after a chase of few days. As per the accounts of Tipu's own diary and as confirmed by the English Company records, the body of the unfortunate prince was treated with great indignities by Tipu Sultan. "He had the dead body of the prince dragged by elephants through his camp and it was subsequently hung up on a tree along with seventeen of his followers who had been captured alive" (p. 512). Another chieftain, Korangoth Nair, who had resisted Tipu, was finally captured with the help of the French and hanged.

Such was the treatment meted out to Hindu nobles, chieftains and their followers by Tipu Sultan of Islamic faith. He was no different from other Muslim tyrants who had played havoc in North India such as Mahmud Ghaznavi, Nadir Shah, Timur, Aurangzeb and Kala Pahar of Bengal.

After solemnising the marriage http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch04.htm#2 - 2 between the daughter of Arackal Bibi and his son, Abdul Khalic, and conferring a portion of the Chirackal principality on her, Tipu Sultan proceeded to the South to subjugate Travancore and convert more Hindus to Islam. The persuasions and threats he delivered to the Zamorin and the Cochin Raja to wage wars against Travancore, either directly or on his behalf, did not succeed because Tipu was regarded by all Hindu Rajas and nobles as a fanatic Muslim. The Cochin Raja, though a tributary to Mysore, avoided meeting Tipu, fearing forcible conversion when invited for a special meeting. At the same time, he continued to send his tribute to Tipu as usual while secretly assisting Travancore to build and strengthen the long defence line (Nedunkotta Fort) through Cochin territory against the Mysore army (p. 516).

INVASION OF TRAVANCORE

Travancore had an alliance (Treaty of Mangalore) with the English Company according to which "an aggression against Travancore would be viewed as equivalent to declaration of war against the English" (p. 566). The Dutch who were afraid of Tipu also agreed to transfer the Kodungallur Fort to Travancore, mainly as a strategy to involve the more powerful British in case of war with Travancore on that account. Since Cochin was considered a tributary to Mysore, Tipu objected to the transfer of Kodungallur Fort which was part of Cochin territory before its occupation by the Dutch. Therefore, Tipu Sultan demanded of Travancore to (i) allow free access to Kodungallur because the Travancore defence line had stretched and passed through Cochin territory, and (ii) surrender all Hindu Rajas and nobles from Malabar who had taken refuge in Travancore. But the demand was rejected. That was his pretext for waging a war against the Travancore State. In the meantime, the Cochin Raja, who was under the guidance and protection of the weak Dutch, openly shook off his tributary links with Tipu and aligned with Travancore after the firm offer of support and protection by the British. It may be noted here that Tipu never fought against the British in Kerala. He fought only against the Hindu Rajas. His hostilities against the British were stepped up only when his ally, the French, waged wars against the British in Europe or his own kingdom was threatened.

TIPU CRIPPLED AND DEFEATED

The Travancore Raja replied to Tipu explaining that he did what he did as per the advice of the British (p. 517). That provoked Tipu. He launched an attack against Travancore but was defeated in January, 1790. According to Mr. Powney who was the Resident Representative of the English Company in Travancore, Tipu's attack was not only effectively stopped by the Travancore army, Tipu himself fell down from the rampart, was seriously wounded, and was rendered permanently lame during the counter-attack by the Travancore forces.

Tipu and his army were camping on the banks of the Alwaye river before launching the attack on the Travancore defence lines (Nedunkotta Fort). The Travancore army was no match for the huge Mysore army and the monsoon season was four or five months away. Therefore, under the guidance of Raja Kesavadas, the Prime Minister of Travancore, a temporary bund was constructed way up on the stream by a team headed by Kalikutty Nair. When the Mysore army launched its assault and Nedunkotta was penetrated, the temporary bund was breached in the midst of heavy fighting, causing an unexpected flood which drowned many Mysore soldiers and rendered the gunpowder wet and useless. The result was panic and confusion in the Mysore army. The triumphant Nair forces of Travancore inflicted heavy casualties on the- invading army. But the valiant Kalikutty Nair was also drowned in the sudden surge of water and became a martyr.

That was the first time, January 1, 1790, when Tipu Sultan tasted a humiliating defeat. It is recorded in Travancore history and also confirmed by the local folklore that as the wounded Tipu was lying unconscious in the battlefield he was rescued by a Nair soldier who quietly carried the unconscious Sultan to the Mysore military camp during the night and left quickly (p. 518). The brave Nair soldier could have easily killed the unconscious Tipu as many Muslims have done to a Hindu in similar circumstances; but his Hindu values of life prompted him to deposit the helpless victim near the Muslim camp.

According to authentic historical records, the Nair forces of Travancore attacked the Mysore army which was crossing the defence fortification, and inflicted heavy casualties on it. The sudden and unexpected attack made the Mysore Army panicky, and in the confusion Tipu Sultan fell down from the ramparts of the fort into the ditch below along with his palanquin. The fall made him permanently lame. Later on, the Travancore forces recovered from the ditch the sword, the pallanquin, the dagger, the ring and many other personal effects of Tipu and presented them to the Dharma Raja. Some of Tipu's personal weapons and ornaments were sent to the Nawab of Arcot on his request (Travancore History by P. Sankunny Menon, published by Kerala Bhasha Institute, Trivandrum, pp. 191-92).

TIPU'S SECOND DEFEAT

Tipu retreated and sent for reinforcements from Coimbatore and Srirangapatanam. He also "recalled all his Muslim troops despatched earlier to different parts of South Malabar to hunt down and forcibly circumcise the Hindus and convert them" (p. 518). After regrouping and reinforcing his army, Tipu mounted another attack in March 1790 in order to demolish the Travancore defence line. He reached upto Veropally (Varapuzha) near Alwaye. Meanwhile, following firm assurance of support and protection by the English Company who had by this time extended their military power and political influence to the entire West Coast and South India, some of the important Malabar Rajas such as Pazhassi Raja, Kolathiri Raja and Kadathanad Raja, returned to their respective kingdoms and asserted their independence from Mysore suzerainty. The Cochin Raja shook off his tributary link with Mysore. The Zamorin and the Palghat Raja were promised help by the British in their opposition to the Mysore Sultan, with the promise of restoring their lost territories to them after the defeat of Tipu. All the Hindu Rajas and nobles had thus joined hands with the British against the war efforts of Tipu mainly because of his Islamic atrocities against the Hindus in Kerala. Revolt against the Mysore occupation forces broke out all over Malabar and spread to Coorg with the return of the chieftains to their respective areas. Before the end of 1790, the British captured Palghat Fort and secured the communication channel from Coimbatore to the West Coast for assisting the Travancore forces against the Mysore army. All along, Tipu's forces assisted by the Mappilas were devastating and plundering the entire country as per the recorded version of Martab Khan, Commander of the Mysore army.

By the time Tipu Sultan launched his second attack and demolished parts of Nedungotta in May 1790, heavy monsoon rains caused the Alwaye river to flood the countryside. Since the Mysore army was not accustomed to fighting during rainy season, it was easy for the Travancore army to defeat Tipu's army. That was the second defeat Tipu suffered near Alwaye in 1790.

In the meantime, Lord Cornwallis, the Governor General, himself assumed the command of the British forces and pushed forward towards Srirangapatanam, headquarters of Tipu Sultan. Simultaneously, the Maratha and the Nizam's forces also advanced from different directions. The final assault was mounted and Srirangapatanam surrounded in January-February 1791 by a combined army consisting of the British, Maratha and the Nizam's forces. Tipu Sultan, who-rushed to Srirangapatanam, abandoning his military operations against Travancore, was forced to sign a treaty in 1792 ceding the entire West Coast and half of his other possessions to the Allies, thus relieving the Hindus of Kerala from further Islamic brutalities.

ROLE OF THE BRITISH

It may be noted here that the Maharaja of Travancore had kept the British Governor of Madras informed about the political developments and the imminent military operations of Tipu Sultan against Travancore. But the then Governor of Madras, Mr. Holland, in spite of the obligations under the Treaty of Mangalore, specifically instructed the British contingents sent to the Travancore borders, not to assist the Travancore forces in case of war. When the Governor General, Lord Cornwallis, heard about Travancore's victory over Tipu's forces, he assumed at first that it was due to the active assistance rendered by the English Company. But later on, he came to know about the dubious actions and the corrupt character of Mr. Holland. The Governor of Madras was believed to be in the pay of Tipu Sultan. So he was relieved of his responsibilities and Lord Cornwallis himself assumed command of the Madras Army. The military operations against Srirangapatanam culminated in Tipu's surrender and the Treaty of Srirangapatanam signed in 1792. But as far as Tipu's defeat and humiliation on the borders of Travancore were concerned, the British played no role; the entire credit for the victory goes to the strategy of Raja Kesava Das and the valiant soldiers of the Travancore army. The British not only did not keep their solemn promise to the Malabar kings and chieftains, but also insisted that Travancore should pay heavily for the British "help".

DEATH OF TIPU SULTAN

The death scene of Tipu Sultan in 1799 has been completely distorted in Gidwani's infamous novel. He projects Tipu as a hero and a martyr. But as per recorded documents and official versions, Tipu, deserted by his generals and surrounded by the Allied forces, mounted a horse and tried to escape in the night like a coward. He was hit in the crossfire between his personal guards and tile enemy forces, and fell down from the rampart in the midst of dead bodies of common soldiers. Later in the evening, a search was made for Tipu's body with the help of torches. His body was finally recovered by one of his slaves and identified by the Khilledar (Tipu Sultan X-rayed by Dr. I.M. Muthanna, p. 386).

Another version (by C.R.N. Murthi) is that while a bullet hit Tipu who was lying helplessly in a semi-conscious state, one of his lieutenants tried to rob the emerald chain from his turban. Tipu seized a sword and cut off the leg of the robber who, in turn, shot his master dead (Tipu Sultan X-rayed by Dr. I.M. Muthanna, p. 392).

END OF THE USURPER DYNASTY

It may be recalled here that the members of the overthrown Wodeyar Royal Family were kept prisoners in their palaces all through the reign of Hyder Ali Khan and Tipu Sultan. Tipu did not kill them because of his fear of a popular uprising against him. His eleventh and only surviving son, Prince Ghulam Muhammad, was exiled by the British to Calcutta and the Mysore Kingdom which had been usurped by Hyder Ali Khan, was restored to the Wodeyars. However, Prince Ghulam Muhammad was allowed to take away with him a part of the wealth looted from Malabar and carried to Srirangapatanam by Tipu. He was also given a substantial pension by the English. Even today, the family trust created by Ghulam Muhammad out of this looted wealth is the largest Muslim trust in Calcutta.

TIPU'S ATROCITIES

During the notorious Padayottakkalam from 1783 to 1792, Tipu Sultan had committed a variety of atrocities against the Hindus and Christians in Kerala. Some of them as narrated by the Christian victims are vividly described by the famous traveller and historian, Fra Bartolomaco, in his well-known book, Voyage to East India. Following is the verbatim description of the atrocities by a Christian victim as given in the book:

"First a corps of 30,000 barbarians who butchered everybody on the way, followed by the Field-Gun Unit under the French Commander, M. Lally. Tipu Sultan was riding on an elephant behind which another army of 30,000 soldiers followed. Most of the men and women were hanged in Calicut. First mothers were hanged with children tied to the necks of their mothers. That barbarian Tipu Sultan tied the naked Christians and Hindus to the legs of elephants and made the elephants move about till the bodies of the helpless victims were tom to pieces. Temples and Churches were ordered to be burnt, desecrated and destroyed. Christian and Hindu women were forced to marry Muhammadans and similarly their men were forced to marry Muhammadan women. Those Christians who refused to be 'honoured' with Islam, were ordered to be killed by hanging then and there. The above version of the atrocities was obtained from the sorrowful narration by the victims who escaped from Tipu's army and reached Varapuzha (near Alwaye) which is the centre of Carmichael Christian Mission. I myself helped many victims to cross the Varapuzha river by boats" (Cited in Cochin History by K.P. Padmanabha Menon, p. 573).

It may be noted here that Fra Bartolomaeo was in the West Coast around March, 1790. Evidence of Tipu's atrocities against Christians are also available from the records of churches in Mangalore, Calicut and Varapuzha.

TIPU'S FANATICISM

It would be very relevant to reproduce here some of the letters which, Tipu Sultan had sent to his army commanders in different parts of Kerala and outside. Following are from the research articles published by Sardar K.M. Panicker in the Bhasha Poshini magazine of Chingam 1099 of the Malayalam Era corresponding to August, 1923. They were obtained by him from The India Office Library in London during his intensive research regarding Kerala history. Tipu's real character is revealed here.

1. Letter dated March 22, 1788, to Abdul Kadir: "Over 12,000 Hindus were 'honoured' with Islam. There were many Namboodiris (Brahmins) among them. This achievement should be widely publicised among the Hindus. There the local Hindus should be brought before you and then converted to Islam. No Namboodiri (Brahmin) should be spared. Also they should be confined there till the dress materials sent for them, reach you."

2. Letter dated December 14, 1788, to his Army Chief in Calicut: "I am sending two of my followers with Mir Hussain Ali. With their assistance, you should capture and kill all Hindus. Those below 20 may be kept in prison and 5,000 from the rest should be killed by hanging from the tree-tops. These are my orders."

3. Letter dated December 21, 1788, to Sheik Kutub: "242 Nairs are being sent as prisoners. Categorise them according to their social and family status. After honouring them with Islam, sufficient dress materials may be given to the men and their women."

4. Letter dated January 18, 1790, to Syed Abdul Dulai: "With the grace of Prophet Muhammed and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are converted to Islam. Only a few are still not converted on the borders of Cochin State. I am determined to convert them also very soon. I consider this as Jehad to achieve that object."

5. Letter dated January 19, 1790, to Badroos Saman Khan: "Don't you know that I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over 4 lakh Hindus were converted to Islam. I am now determined to march against that 'Cursed Raman Nair' without delay. (Reference is to Rama Varma Raja of Travancore State who was popularly known as Dharma Raja for giving shelter in his state to all those who fled Malabar.)

Thinking that he and his subjects would be soon converted to Islam, I am overjoyed and hence abandoned the idea of returning to Srirangapatanam."

The last two letters quoted above were written after the first major defeat of Tipu Sultan near Alwaye on January 1, 1790. All these letters clearly betray the real character of Tipu Sultan whom a Kerala Muslim historian, Dr. C.K. Kareem, describes as of 'Sufi' traditions! If this is Sufism, what about Koranic Islam?

TEMPLES DESTROYED BY TIPU

The Mysore Gazetteer says that the ravaging army of Tipu Sultan had destroyed more than 8000 temples in South India. The temples of Malabar and Cochin principalities had to bear the brunt of plunder and destruction. The History of Cochin by K.P. Padmanabha Menon and History of Kerala by A. Sreedhara Menon narrate some of them:

"In the month of Chingam 952, Malayalam Era (corresponding to August, 1786) Tipu's Army destroyed idols of the famous Perumanam Temple and desecrated all the temples between Trichur and Karuvannur river.

"Irinjalakuda and Thiruvanchikulam temples were also defiled and damaged by Tipu's Army."

Some of the other famous temples looted and desecrated were as follows: Triprangot, Thrichembaram, Thirunavaya, Thiruvannoor, Calicut Thali, Hemambika Temple, the Jain Temple in Palghat, Mammiyur, Parambatali, Venkitangu, Pemmayanadu, Tiruvanjikulam, Terumanam, Vadakhumnnathan Temple of Trichur, Belur Siva Temple, Shri Veliyanattukava, Varakkal, Puthu, Govindapuram, Keraladhiswara, Trikkandiyur, Sukapuram, Maranehei Temple of Aaalvancheiri Tambrakkal, Vengara Temple of Aranadu, Tikulam, Ramanathakra, Azhinjalam Indiannur, Mannur Narayan Kanniar and Vadukunda Siva Temple of Madai.

The Trikkavu Temple of Ponnani was converted into Military Garrison. The Christian Pilgrimage centre of Palayur Church and Varapuzha Church and Mission buildings were among the several churches destroyed by the ravaging army of Tipu.

In the case of Triprayar Temple, the main deity was shifted temporarily to Gnanappilly Mana situated in a remote village, and in the case of Guruvayoor Temple, the idol was shifted to Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple in Travancore State before the barbarian army of Tipu Sultan reached there. However, both of them were brought back and ceremoniously installed after the withdrawal of Tipu from Malabar towards the end of 1790. The Guruvayoor Temple was destroyed only partly because of the pleadings by Hydrose Kutty who was a favourite of Hyder Ali Khan besides being a devotee of Lord Krishna before his conversion. The damage that can be seen even today on the installed presiding deity of Triprayar Temple is believed to have been caused by Tipu Sultan's army.

According to certain personal diary notes of Tipu Sultan, the Chirackal Raja offered to pay over Rs. 4 lakh in gold and silver to save the destruction of the local Hindu temples by Tipu's army. But, true to his character, Tipu replied that "even if the entire world is offered to me, I will not desist from destroying Hindu temples" (Freedom Struggle by Sardar Panicker). It was the reply of a typical Islamic ruler!

TIPU'S LAND-GRANTS AND PUJAS

With this background in mind, we may now have a look at the circumstances that prompted the Islamic bigot, Tipu Sultan, to offer land-grants and financial assistance to some Hindu temples, particularly the Sringeri Mutt.

When the astrologers predicted an approaching malefic period from 1790 onwards and the combined forces of the British, the Nizam and the Marathas started surrounding Srirangapatanam, Tipu Sultan panicked and therefore did some good deeds - offering land-grants and even pujas and feeding Brahmin - mainly to ward off the evil effects and to get assistance from his Hindu subjects in his war efforts. He was reported to have even fallen prostrate before His Holiness Sringeri Shankaracharya and sought the latter's pardon and blessings (Sakthan Thampuran by P. Raman Menon, and History of Mysore by Lewis Rice).

RESULT OF TIPU'S INVASION-HINDU EXODUS

The widespread atrocities committed by the Islamic tyrant and his equally cruel army of Muslim converts in Kerala, can be understood only from the authentic records available from various sources. According to them, about half the Hindu population of Kerala fled the country to the forests or Tellicherry and Travancore State. They included most of the Hindu Rajas and chieftains who could not stand upto the mighty army of barbarians and the powerful field-guns of the French. Important royal families which migrated to Travancore State were those of Chirackal, Parappanad, Ballussery, Kurumbranad, Kadathanad, Palghat and Calicut. The chieftain families which did the same were those of Punnathur, Kavalappara, Azhvancherry Thamprakkal, etc. Even the Cochin royal family moved to Vaikkom Palace near the famous Shiva Temple when Tipu's army reached Alwaye.

Many members of the royal families of Malabar who migrated to Travancore State preferred to stay back even after the withdrawal of Tipu's army and restoration of peace, because of their nightmarish experience and the peculiar psyche of the forcibly converted Muslim population in Malabar. The prominent royal families were (1) Neerazhi Kovilakam, (2) Gramathil Kottaram, (3) Paliyakkara, (4) Nedumparampu, (5) Chempra Madham, (6) Ananthapuram Kottaram, (7) Ezhimatoor Palace, (8) Aranmula Kottaram, (9) Varanathu Kovilakam, (10) Mavelikkara, (11) Ennakkadu, (12) Murikkoyikkal Palace, (13) Mariappilly, (14) Koratti Swaroopam, (15) Kaippuzha Kovilakam, (16) Lakshmipuram Palace, and (17) Kottapuram. The secularist admirers of Tipu Sultan have not even heard about the records available from these Malabar families.

The nightmarish results of Tipu's invasion of Kerala have been aptly described by the former editor of Gazetteer of Kerala and the renowned historian A. Sreedhara Menon. They state as follows:

ISLAMIC WARS

"Hindus http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tipu/ch04.htm#3 - 3 , especially Nairs and chieftains who resisted Islamic cruelties, were the main targets of Tipu's anger. Hundreds of Nair women and children were abducted to Sreerangapatanam or sold as slaves to the Dutch. Nairs were hunted down and killed and also deprived of all traditional and social privileges. Thousands of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Nairs and other respected classes of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam or driven out of their traditional ancestral homes. Thousands sought refuge in Travancore State while hundreds fled to forests and hills to escape Tipu's atrocities which had completely shaken their sense of security."

"The new phase of Mysore administration in Kerala resulted in unending wars. Extreme cruelties of the invading army had badly affected every section of the society, leading to the mass exodus of people from Malabar."

"Many Hindu temples, royal houses and chieftain families were destroyed and plundered. The exodus of Brahmins and Kshatriyas who were the patrons and custodians of traditional arts and culture, resulted in stagnation in the cultural field also."

ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

"Many prosperous towns were destroyed while the local and foreign trade collapsed. Peasants who had to bear the brunt of army cruelties and coercive taxation policies, sought refuge in forests and mountains. In many areas, cultivation of pepper stopped resulting in the collapse of pepper trade. Consequent to the stoppage of foreign trade coupled with the precipitate fall in cultivation and local trade, economy of the country was also shattered; and major sections of the people were reduced to poverty. Thus every section of society was badly affected by the military regime of the mysore rulers."

HINDU-MUSLIM CONFLICTS

"Huge amount of wealth in the form of gold and silver accumulated through centuries of foreign trade, vanished from the country as a result of loot and plunder during the chaotic period of the military regime of Hyder Ali Khan and his son, Tipu Sultan. Another serious development which had long term bad effects was that Malabar Muslims joined hands with the ranks of cruel invading Mysore army and proved their loyalty to Islamic faith by committing various atrocities against Malabar Hindus. This earned them enmity of Hindus. To gain political advantage, they resorted to forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam and also widespread destruction and plunder of Hindu temples. The Mysore administration under the Muslim rulers had not only encouraged such cruelties against the Hindu population but also gave the local Muslim converts special privileges and tax exemptions, leading to serious cleavage and enmity for the first time, between the two communities, Hindus and Muslims, in Kerala."

MAPPILA OUTRAGES OF 1921

According to the widely respected Congressman and freedom-fighter, K. Madhavan Nair, "the notorious Mappila Lahala (Khilafat Riots) of 1921 in Malabar could be easily traced to the after-effects of widespread forcible conversions and cruelties committed by Tipu Sultan during the Padayottakkalam". Thus Tipu Sultan was considered and depicted by all the well-known historians from Kerala and elsewhere as an evil genius and Islamic tyrant, much worse than even the notorious Aurangzeb who beheaded Guru Teg Bahadur, destroyed thousands of Hindu temples including Vishwanath Temple at Kashi and Sri Krishna Temple at Mathura, and forcibly converted lakhs of Hindus in North India.

PROOFS OF ISLAMIC ATROCITIES

Tipu Sultan was like the notorious Kala Pahar - a renegade Brahmin convert from Bengal - who used to celebrate every time he killed or forcibly converted 10,000 Hindus. The darkest period in the history of Kerala was the period of Hyder Ali Khan and Tipu Sultan from 1766 to 1792 - socially, culturally and politically. Ruins of hundreds of Hindu temples destroyed by Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali Khan are the standing witnesses to their brutalities in Kerala. One also finds a heavy concentration of Mappilas along the invasion routes of Tipu's army, including the places of its temporary occupation, as in Mangalore, Cannanoor, Ponnani, Kondotty, Malappuram, Calicut, Kodungallur, Chawakat, Alwaye, Coimbatore, and Dindigal. This is another proof of forcible circumcision and conversion of helpless Nairs, defenceless Thiyyas and poor Cherumans on a mass scale. Even today, the origin of many Kshatriya, Nair and Brahmin families settled in Travancore and Cochin can be traced back to their ancestral families in Malabar - yet another proof of the severity of Tipu's atrocities against Hindus during his Islamic wars in Kerala.

10-23-2006, 06:14 PM

I will be receiving the clippings of reports in Vijaya Karnataka soon and will then be able to post what Karnad and others have said. I am told, briefly, that Karnad replied in a vulgar and ad hominem manner and that there were numerous replies from people who decried his manner.

Ramesh Rao

QUOTE(abdul_bin_mao @ Oct 22 2006, 10:08 AM)I don't know how "authentic" the writings of the British are, but this apparently comes from a BOOK WRITTEN AROUND THAT TIME, so it is "authentic" as it gets, because the author did not hold a tenure-track position in a South Asia Department at the time, and hence cannot be automatically assumed to be a liar.

This is of course from the most authentic source existing today on the internet on "South Asian" history - SABHA, the South Asian Best Historians Association

http://www.sabha.info/history.html

Please see the links under "Kindness of Tippu Sultan".
Am posting only the titles here - these are authentic copies of pages from authentic texts published in the authentic years indicated. Some of them are from Londonistan ("Bilayat") where, as we know,
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE Chote-chote bacche bhi Angrezi mein baat karte hain

QUOTETippoo loved by his people (The Times, 15 Nov 1790)
How Tippoo fought for freedom (The Times, 26 Jul 1788)
Tippoo's humane treatment of non-Muslim prisoners (The Times, 10 Apr 1792)
Tippoo's treatment of women and children (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo's treatment of Hindu temples (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo makes an example of infidels (The Times, 31 Dec 1791)
Tippoo's kindness towards infidels of Carnatic (The Times, 11 Jun 1791)
Tippoo's kindness towards infidels of villages (The Times, 01 Dec 1791)
Universally loved and respected by troops (The Times, 05 Oct 1786)
Advantage of being Tippoo's friend (The Times, 22 Dec 1790)
Hyder Ali, the gift of God (The Times, 03 Mar 1791) 

U get mah drift?

BTW, I AM NOT ASSOCIATED with SABHA. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lmaosmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='lmaosmiley.gif' /> I am mere web postor peasant onlee.
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</div>

10-24-2006, 03:47 AM

http://www.mandyam.com

10-25-2006, 12:05 AM

I am new member and surprised at the posts here. I myslef had posted many on Tipu at churmuri - site promoted by the present Editor of Vijay Times.

Thank god for the blogs and freedom of speech . I yet times wonder we lost freedon on Aug 15, 1947.

In bangalore , there is a college named after the Great Lady known as Maharani Lakshammani College situated in Malleswaram ( MLA College). When the TV serial Sword of Tippu Sultan was being broadcast for the first time, only the Malayali samaj at Bombay fought all the way to Supreme Court. Mr. Wadiyar showed utter timirity in defending his illustrious ancestors. I wrote a letter to the Collge Trusties to either change the name of the college or agitate. There was no response. A madyam Iyengar Mrs. M.A. Parthasrathy - smt. Vedavalli) was a Trustee of the collge !

Only late M.A. Srinivasan in his autobiography has written about the subject .

There is also book " The Mysore Pradhans" written by Mr. M.A. Narayana Iyengar and M.A. Sreenivasachar published in 1902.

Prof. KNV Sastri founder Director of the MLA college has written an article " Why is the college Named after Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni ? - The Answer and also another article " Maharani Laskmi Ammanni ( 1742-1810) ( compiled from M.A.Srinivasachar's and M.Shama Rao's writings in 1902 and 1921 respectively ). Both were obviously published in the College publications.

Again Dr. Sastri has written another article - Pradhana Tirumala Rao ( C1740-1815)

some of the other articles on the subject:

* mahAmAtrushri lakshammanni- ( kannada) by B.Ramakrsihna rao ( palace controller)

* Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni- By C.Hayavadana rao ( 1902 -in Madras Review)

* maisUrina rAjyalaskhmiyaru- bu bellave Venkatanarayanappa ( 1940)

* maisUru rAjyalaskhmi mahArAni laskshmmmaNNi - by B.K.Sreenivasaraja Urs ( in a souvenir brought out by Ursu Association, BAgalore in 1999).

* Even Mark Wilks has some kind words about the Great Lady - in his book ( based on his personal interaction with her)

But Iam yet to see a portrait of the Maharani any where . May I request Mr. Narsimhan to let us know if the JCRW Art gallery has any ?

Bharatvarsh · 02-20-2007, 11:32 PM

QUOTEFriday, October 06, 2006
Girish Karnad, SL Bhyrappa, Tipu Sultan and others

Girish Karnad is a multi-faceted personality. He is one of the few Jnanapeetha award winners of the country - he is one of the seven award winners from Karnataka. He is a popular playwright, movie director and actor. In fact, I don't think any of the Jnanpeeth awardees across the country is as popular an actor as Girish Karnad. He has acted in movies of several languages - including Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. None can disagree with the fact that Girish Karnad is a really talented man. But, alas! He is human. To err is human and to show that he is human, Girish has erred! Not that he has not proved his erring er.. human credentials before...

Any man is entitled to his opinion and Girish Karnad deserves to have his. Several men of his age have been enamoured of socialism and Girish Karnad is no exception. However, those men were honest. I would not have written this blog had he held his opinions honestly. I thought the earlier incidents were exceptions - but this time he has shown that he is not an honest man and lives for his political ambitions only, whatever those may be.

Anybody in India in the last couple of weeks is sure to have come across the controversy courted by DV Shankaramurthy, the education minister of Karnataka when he said that Tipu Sultan was anti-Kannada and that he should not be celebrated as a national hero. I tend to agree with him and you can find my thoughts about the matter here.

Now, Girish Karnad could have kept quiet like several other litterateurs who did. But he did not. He called for an open debate with the minister and firmly contested that Tipu Sultan was a national hero. Of course Karnad had already written a play titled - "The Dreams of Tipu Sultan" in which he portrayed Tipu Sultan as a magnanimous character and national hero. Since these things did not go together, Girish Karnad had to protest. He was accompanied in this task by the usual "secular" suspects - BK Chandrashekhar and GK Govinda Rao.

But this time, Karnad had not counted on SL Bhyrappa, arguably Kannada's finest novelist, writing a piece about this in the popular Kannada daily Vijayakarnataka. Bhyrappa argued quite eloquently that Tipu should not be celebrated as a hero. The most important thing that Bhyrappa mentioned was in his last paragraph. He said that relationships between communities, (Hindu and Muslim in this context) should not be built on false foundations - but on solid truths. Calling Tipu a national hero basically attempts to whitewash the atrocities that he had committed in the name of religion. True attempts at reconciliation should focus on the truth, forgiveness should follow and only then could a real relationship develop. Bhyrappa, in my opinion, is right on the money here. He also provided good historical proof about Tipu's atrocities. He also castigated Karnad for making a hero out of Tughlaq in a play of the same name while history said something else. Bhyrappa urged Karnad to pay attention to history whenever historical characters were used in creative endeavors. He also accused Karnad of misusing art to serve an ideology whereas art ideally has to be beyond all -isms.

This piece begged for a response from Karnad and sure enough, there was one in the Vijayakarnataka published a few days later. But, unfortunately, Karnad's piece was not a real response at all. In his piece, Karnad failed to answer any of Bhyrappa's concerns. Instead, he accused Bhyrappa of becoming a "dhiDIr"(quick) historian overnight. About the liberties taken with Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Karnad replied that Tughlaq was just a figment of the writer's imagination. And since any writer had the freedom to do that, Karnad was justified in doing what he did.

Now, I ask Girish Karnad - if Tughlaq was just a purely fictional character, then why did Karnad have to call him Tughlaq? He could have called him Abdul Hasan or even Imran Khan!! The name Tughlaq has historical significance. So when people watch Karnad's play, they end up thinking that Mohammed Bin Tughlaq was actually a very kind and considerate ruler whereas history mentions the exact opposite! It then becomes obvious that Karnad wanted to get into the good books of Marxists and the Minority by pandering to their ideology and religion respectively.

Karnad also did not answer the important question of whether art should be subservient to any ideology be it religious or political. Art ideally, in my opinion, is above such ideological squabbles and is mainly for enjoyment by the connoisseur.

Karnad then resorted to hit and run and name calling tactics - typically employed by several left-leaning folks. This is known as vitanDAvAda in Samskrit/Kannada. When one cannot face an issue or argue well, vitaNDa is resorted to. Karnad had directed a couple of movies based on Bhyrappa's novels - "vamshavRuksha" and "tabbaliyu nInAde magane". Since Bhyrappa wrote against Karnad's ideas, the latter came out and said that those movies Karnad directed were Karnad's weakest creations. The fact that those movies won Girish Karnad a foothold in the parallel cinema circle and some awards were conveniently forgotten. Karnad used those movies when he wanted and now when he was confronted with something unpleasant, he resorted to name calling. This was just dishonest!

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh did a good piece refuting Karnad in Vijayakarnataka, which now has become a veritable battlefield for fighting several battles - minorityism vs non-minorityism, the role of art in ideology, literary vs historical portrayal and others. Dr. Ganesh brought focus back to the crux of Bhyrappa's article (the last paragraph that talks about how relationships have to based on foundations of truth and not otherwise) and showed how Girish Karnad had failed miserably to write a rebuttal to that.

Another point that is worth a mention here is that unlike Karnad, Bhyrappa is no "dhiDIr" historian. Having read several of Bhyrappa's works, I know the attention to detail paid by Bhyrappa to historical facts. Just read his "sArtha" and "parva" to understand that. Though there are a few debatable points in his novels, Bhyrappa tries very hard to portray the facts as they are. He studies a subject for several years before he actually commences writing. Bhyrappa's immense talent and creativity then lies in how he creates and manipulates characters in that setting.

Karnad, on the other hand, probably knows his history too. But, if he really feels that ideology is above art, he's probably OK with creativity being used to even distort historical facts. Evidence to this can be seen in how Karnad has twisted the stories of yayAti and yavakrIDa (I agree that is not "history" but still...) to suit his needs. But there is a big debate over whether history lies mainly in facts or solely in the interpretation of those facts. Karnad may just be reinterpreting the facts, albeit a bit too freely.

Even with all this, Karnad's criticism, unfortunately I feel, stops with the Hindu society and does not extend to other (deserving?) parts of Indian society (including Islamists and Christists). Is this because he knows that to get "rAjAshraya", he needs to pander to the Marxists and Minorities? It could also be because Hindus normally don't protest and when they do, they do a pretty crude job of it. So it is easy to malign the Hindus and get kudos whereas it is not the same with the other sections. There it is! It finally boils down to economics and incentives. Karnad has plenty of incentive to criticize the Hindu society and not otherwise.

Could it be possible to say that Karnad and his likes have sprung forth mainly or only because of prevailing conditions in society? In that case, it could be that Karnad has unwittingly chosen to do what he does!

http://rand-rambler.blogspot.com/2006/10/g...ipu-sultan.html

Bharatvarsh · 02-20-2007, 11:46 PM

QUOTEThursday, May 12, 2005
Tipu Sultan again

I am almost done reading a well researched book on Tipu. It is by Prof HD Sharma - the original being in English. I read a Kannada translation - which was good but the translation of the letters written by Tipu are difficult to read. There is a translation touch to it - you can feel that it is a translation. The author has done some extensive research and has a good reference list at the end of the book. He has referred to the India Office archives in London where most of Tipu's correspondence and effects lie.

The book is not big at all. It is close to 200 pages. A simple gist of the book is as follows.

Tipu was a bigot on the same level as Mahmud Ghazni, Aurangzeb, Mohammed bin Tughlaq and Alla-ud-din Khilji. So, if we already know what the others have done, Tipu has matching deeds.

According to the book, Haider Ali, Tipu's father surprisingly comes out as a good leader and a king, in spite of some of his bad deeds. I was surprised as a lot of people from Chitradurga (where Haider Ali defeated Madakarinayaka, the local chieftain) loath Haider while being indifferent about Tipu.

Tipu's political life is in two phases one from 1767-1792 and the second one from 1792-1799. The phase break came because of Tipu's defeat in the Third Mysore war after which he became neurotic.

In the first phase of his life/rule, Tipu comes across as a ruthless, tyrannical despot with a level of bigotry that would make even Osama bin Laden look to Tipu with awe. Haider Ali for all his faults had a few merits. He hired the local Hindu people to look after his army and administration. Diwan Purnaiah was the most important of the lot. Haider was clever enough to recognize talent and use it and not be clouded by affiliation to religion. He kept religion and politics separate and in that aspect he was truly a secular ruler.

There are claims to Tipu's having many Hindu officials. They were the ones who remained after Haider's death and Tipu's ascent to the 'throne'. Tipu actually removed several Hindu officials and replaced them with Muslim ones, even though they were illiterate.

Tipu perpetrated horrors in the Malabar region and in the state of Travancore where he forcibly converted thousands of Hindus and Christians to Islam. The rest were killed. In fact, a note written by Tipu orders one of his commanders to kill 5000 people to instill fear in the people. It is estimated that Tipu destroyed at least 8000 Hindu temples. He was a very religious Muslim and read from the Quran every day and followed its edicts quite literally.

Haider Ali had at least bothered to put on the mask of a regent while pretending to serve the Wodeyar King of Mysore. With Tipu, even the mask was lost. Tipu imprisoned the Royal Family of Mysore and ill treated them. He even took a few Hindu women associated with his administrative officials and other royal families forcibly into his harem. In fact, he had Diwan Purnaiah's niece in his harem. This is to show the 'good' feeling Tipu had for his ministers.

He had a lot of people killed in Srirangapatna and Melkote also because they seemed to support the Wodeyar family. It is believed that he had the supporters of the royal family hanged (at least 800 families including women and children) from the trees in a tamarind grove close to the Sri Ranganatha temple. To give an idea of the horrible punishments Tipu meted out, he had a commander very close to Haider Ali, Krishna Rao, killed by dropping him alive in a pan of boiling oil. Tipu then took the wife of Krishna Rao forcibly into his harem. To compound it, the execution of Krishna Rao was based on flimsy reasons. The royal family of Travancore was subjected to similar ignominies when the bodies of the royal family members were subject to humiliating treatments.

However, there are records to show his devotion towards Hindu Temples. This happened because of the change in mind after his defeats to the British - which was more out of fear than any wisdom. He consulted astrologers and sought their advice more readily than from his maulvis and imams. Even then, Tipu did not stop to solicit help from several Muslim rulers around the world. These messages had a common refrain - "Let's make India a Muslim country and let's kill the "atheists"". Atheists referred to non-Muslims and Muslims like the Nizam of Hyderabad. In fact, the inscription on his famous sword expresses similar emotions.

There were a few positive qualities of Tipu also. 5'8" in height (not a positive quality, just mentioned it), he was a simple dresser and loved his wives and children a lot. He was a brave warrior and very energetic and enthusiastic. He actually banned the sale of intoxicants in his kingdom. He was well trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Kannada and the other local languages and loved to engage in letter writing very frequently. He even kept a journal of his dreams. He was supposed to be an excellent horse rider. He respected his mother a lot and made at least a show of listening to her.

Towards his end, we see Tipu becoming a nervous wreck requesting for many pujas and yajnas to be performed to ward off evil. He continued to write letters to France, Egypt, Turkey and Afghanistan requesting for help - but none arrived. He died on May 4 1799 when he was trying to retreat to his palace from the Srirangapatna fort. He did not die fighting as expressed by many historians. He was buried next to his father and mother. The British, the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad proved to be real enemies to Tipu.

To sum up, Tipu was not a freedom fighter and neither was he secular because he did not have such ideas at all. He was quite a selfish ruler who could stoop down to any level if permitted by the political conditions. He was a bigot heavily influenced by Islamic theological training at a young age (In fact, Haider Ali deplored this teaching). Also, Tipu was never trained in any religion other than Islam contrary to what is reported in TV serials and popular books. His tyrannical rule adversely affected tens of thousands of families in Kerala and the Malabar region and even in his own kingdom. His death gave a lot of relief to families across South India. That probably is the reason why the British were welcomed in Karnataka.

One of these days, I will go to Srirangapatna and spend the entire day there looking at the different places associated with Tipu's life.

http://rand-rambler.blogspot.com/2005/05/t...ltan-again.html

Bharatvarsh · 02-20-2007, 11:52 PM

QUOTEWednesday, March 23, 2005
Srirangapatna and Tipu Sultan

I had written this post up as a very longish one - but Firefox crashed on me and I hadn't saved a draft! I wasn't inclined on typing the whole thing up again - but I will try typing a much shorter version of what I wanted to say. IE otoh is far more reliable. Firefox 1.0 is not stable at all.

This post was inspired by a trip to the Mysore-Srirangapatna area. We went from Bangalore to Kengal, from there to Nimishamba and Chamundi Hills and then returned to Bangalore via Srirangapatna. We had a brief refreshing stopover at Gosai Ghat where the kAverI river flows softly.

The region we visited last Sunday was once ruled by Tipu Sultan - the son of Haider Ali who managed to vest power from the ruling Wodeyars of Mysore. Tipu Sultan was called the Tiger of Mysore before he fell to British bullets during the fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799. He is widely acknowledged in several parts of India and by modern Indian historians as the first freedom fighter who fought against the British.

When we reached Srirangapatna, it was around 7PM. The last pUja of the evening was being performed and the main deities - shrI ranganAtha and shrI-ranganAyakI were resplendent. The atmosphere was charged with devotion towards the Emperor and Empress of the Universal Stage. The pillared hall brought back memories of a bygone era when devotees thronged the temple and illuminated the then electricity-free temple with their devotional fervor. As luck would have it, there was a power cut when we were inside the temple and it made us see how life was without electricity. But the Lamp in the Deity's Sanctum Sanctorum provided us with much needed light - just as the Almighty is the only source of Light during troubling darknesses of life.

When returning to Bangalore, I saw remnants of fortifications around the temple town and this immediately brought Tipu to mind. The interesting thing is that Tipu, though much loved and respected in the Old Mysore area which he ruled, is widely reviled in other parts of South India. It is especially so in Kerala where the mention of Tipu's name brings terror and sadness to the locals' hearts even now. Tipu is supposed to have had thousands of people - Hindus and Christians - hanged from trees to give a very public display of his authority and tyranny. He is also notorious for converting a large chunk of the local Hindus to Islam by the sword - which is the reason for a substantial Muslim population in Kerala today.

But he has committed an equally if not graver atrocity closer home. This was in the temple town of Melkote.

Melkote is a centre of Vishishtadvaitic learning (Vishishtadvaita being one of the principal schools of Vedanta philosophy). This was the place to which Ramanujacharya regarded as the founder of the Vishishtadvaita philosophy sought refuge in from the persecution of the Shaivite Chola rulers. A temple dedicated to Cheluvanarayana Swamy ( a form of Vishnu) flourishes there even today. Known as a center of learning in those days, Tipu caused the place to become almost desolate.

A branch of Iyengars known as Mandyam had made Melkote their home. They had apparently pledged allegiance to the Hindu kings of Mysore. They were quite a learned sect too. On Deepavali day in 1783, Tipu's army descended on the town and massacred close to eight hundred people. What the immediate reason was, I don't know. But this kind of a massacre - just thinking about it - chills me to the bone.

On the way back from Srirangapatna, this incident haunted me - I don't know for what reason. I thought of what a happy day it might have been when Melkote was getting ready for the festive occasion. When Tipu's army went there, most people might not have bothered to run for their lives as they themselves were a non-violent bunch. When this kind of killing began - how horrified they must have been! Most of the families were destroyed and the temple apparently became a ghost town - houses without people, tanks running dry, uncultivated land! During those years, eight hundred was a pretty large number for the population of a town. How mean and cruel must Tipu have been to inflict such a horror on his own subjects!

In sad memory of that horrible incident, Mandyam Iyengars apparently do not celebrate Deepavali even today. I can imagine their state of mind when they realize that their forefathers were butchered at the hands of an inhuman band of soldiers.

This incident is enough in my mind to conclude that Tipu was a bloodthirsty tyrant. But there have apparently been worse incidents attributed to Tipu in Kerala. He is not well-regarded by people of Chitradurga whose ruler Madakarinayaka was killed by Tipu's army.

Yet, Tipu is regarded highly as a 'secular' king and even as a freedom fighter. Why, even my father regards Tipu as quite a good human being. It is not the case that my father does not know. Tipu had a Hindu, Purnaiah as his Diwan (Chief Minister). He had quite a few Hindus in his army. There is proof to show that he had donated land and money to the temples of Srirangapatna, Nanjangud and even Sringeri. The novel - the sword of Tipu sultan - by Bhagwan Gidwani was written with Tipu as its hero. And so were plays and novels in Kannada. So there is data which can be construed to show that Tipu was a good human being. So was Tipu a schizophrenic then?

I need to get more information that conclusively proves Tipu as a tyrant or as a well-intentioned ruler. I suppose I have to ask more knowledgeable people about that.

But the image of a festive town turning into a graveyard in a single day continues to haunt me.

http://rand-rambler.blogspot.com/2005/03/s...ipu-sultan.html

02-21-2007, 03:35 AM

QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Feb 20 2007, 02:02 PM)Girish Karnad is a multi-faceted personality. ...Could it be possible to say that Karnad and his likes have sprung forth mainly or only because of prevailing conditions in society? In that case, it could be that Karnad has unwittingly chosen to do what he does!
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It was a mild shock to watch Hindi movie Dor, produced and directed by Nagesh Kokunoor. Particularly concerning was the characterization of Girish Karnad's role, in which he had played a drunken yet proud Suryavanshi (specified!) Rajput, who is ready to sell his widowed daugher-in-law for the sake of his haveli. Characterization as rajput were purely unnecessary and dragged into the script out of artificial compulsions. There were many other such loaded instances in the movie too. Adding two and two, about Karnad, things appear more clearly.

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