07-19-2004, 11:24 PM
[Book Review] [June 12, 2004]
The Mysore Sultans
------------------------
The Mysore Sultans State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan: Documents and Essays
edited by Irfan Habib;
Tulika Books, New Delhi, 2001;
pp 164, Rs 325.
------------------------
A Satyanarayana
In recent years the problem of 18th century socio-economic and political transformation in India has attracted much scholarly attention. There has been a great deal of writing on the history of state formation and political process in 18th century and these studies have contributed new insights. In the general analysis of the nature and character of 18th century India one can identify divergent and conflicting notions and interpretations. Yet there are few comprehensive and systematic regional-level studies, especially on south India. Unless there is a detailed and concrete historical research into different regions of India it is not possible to convincingly and conclusively answer the various issues and questions raised by the debates about the nature and pace of change in 18th century India. It was a unique century `sandwiched' between the political glory of the Mughals and the humiliations of colonial domination. Available studies reveal that the performance of Indian economy varied from region to region: they have indicated that since the middle of 18th century socio-economic transformation varied across the Indian sub-continent incorporating in it different areas of buoyant expansion and areas of stagnation/crisis. Many historical studies have described the 18th century as a period of drastic and far-reaching changes in the course of Indian history. Some have stressed a more evolutionary pattern of change and perceived an important degree of continuity of pre-colonial political and economic structures under colonialism, while others maintain that a fundamental break and disjunction occurred between the Mughal empire and early colonial rule. It was supposed to be a change of such magnitude as to make both state and economy different from what each had earlier been. The dominant mainstream historiography characterised the 18th century as a `chaotic and dark' century. It has been argued that the decline of imperial power had brought about changes in the provincial system, which resulted in chaos, decadence and decline in administrative efficiency. It was an age of `political and moral decay' and the political and economic changes in this century had only a negative value. Thus "with the death of Mughal empire the middle ages in India ended and the modern age began".
In contradistinction to the above interpretations, the present volume under review edited and introduced by Irfan Habib offers new perspectives on the basis of fresh material in terms of translation of manuscripts/documents, memoirs both in Persian and French, hitherto not translated, commentaries on documents and interpretative research articles on various aspects of the history of 18th century Mysore under Tipu Sultan. An endeavour is made in this book to add new contributions and to present to the scholarly world documentary evidence that has not yet received its due in south Indian studies, with special reference to the period of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. It certainly marks a significant step forward
in the collection, exploration and use of source material on the regime of Tipu Sultan. In this volume, four very important documents and three essays are included. The document on War and Peace is Tipu Sultan's own memoir written around 1792. It was translated by William Kirkpatrick. It provides Tipu Sultan's account of the last phase of the second Anglo-Mysore war (1783-84) and his perceptions of events leading to the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784. The diplomatic vision of Tipu Sultan is contained in the briefs for embassies to Turkey and France, 1785-86. It was translated by Iqbal Hussain. The third document on State Intervention in the Economy contain Tipu's orders to revenue collectors, between 1792-97, and it was translated by I G Khan. The fourth one, the memoirs of Lieutenant-Colonel Russel in French concerning Mysore, was translated by Jean-Marie Lafont. Taken together, these documents provide valuable information pertaining to statecraft under Tipu Sultan. They also substantially enhance our knowledge of the political, military and diplomatic events as well as personalities and general forces at work in south India during the late 18th century.
The state of Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan had exceptional and strikingly conspicuous features of its own. Unlike the Mughal state, it introduced and effectively managed the method of direct revenue collection â the chief source of income â abolished absentee landlord system (shambogs) and recognised the rights of ryots. It was perhaps the first Indian state that adopted advanced methods and techniques of European warfare. It was also the foremost Indian state which produced modern firearms within its territories by importing foreign (mainly French) skilled workers as instructors and supervisors. The most significant and remarkable aspect of this indigenous regime was the state's direct intervention in agricultural production, commerce and industrialisation. It also
established factories and state-owned and controlled trading companies and factories outside the territories of Mysore as well as abroad in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf ports. The Mysore state had also the unique distinction of having successfully combined trade with government as it was done by the East India Company during the mercantilist phase. The main object of Tipu Sultan's state policy was the collective well-being of his subjects and in that he was driven by a desire to improve their economic conditions. Hence he was perceived and revered by his subjects as a popular ruler and enjoyed their unstinted support and loyalty. His `short but stormy' rule was eventful and memorable in many respects. The source material and the articles included in the present volume capture the multifarious dimensions of the state and diplomacy of Mysore under Tipu Sultan.
There has been a great deal of writing about the responses of native Indian rulers to British territorial aggrandisement and colonial expansion during the second half of the 18th century. The Bengal nawabs, in particular Sirajuddaula and the Mysore sultans seemed to have a definite policy to overthrow the British and they consistently worked towards it. The memoirs of Tipu Sultan provide a vivid description of his efforts in the second Anglo-Mysore war to defeat the British with the help of the French and the Marathas. The anti-British attitude and perception of the Mysore ruler and his resolve to confront and oust the English power is superbly portrayed in this document. "I want to expel them from India. I want to be a friend of the French in all my life" (p 99). Tipu told a French officer. In spite of the undependable and uncertain nature of alliances with the Marathas and the Nizam, Tipu Sultan was determined to go to war with the British and defeat them. He was also unhappy with the vacillating attitudes and dilatory tactics of the French and their non-cooperation, faithlessness and disloyalty. Yet he was not vindictive and revengeful against them. About a French commander he remarked, "there would have been but little difficulty in putting Cossigny and his companions to death; but, in as much as they (had) eaten (my) salt, I did not think proper to act by them in that manner" (p13).
War and Diplomacy in Mysore
The memoirs of Tipu Sultan and Lieutenant-Colonel Russel are indeed an excellent testimony to the war and diplomatic policies of the Mysore rulers during the second half of the 18th century. They contain valuable information pertaining to the Anglo-Mysore wars and the relations of the French with the Mysore sultans. Russel's memoirs have great military value and it is an authentic statement regarding the involvement of the French commanders in modernising the army of Mysore and fighting along with the Mysore forces. The Russel papers also provide certain rare insights into the colonial policies of the French in India. If this memoirs are read along with Aniruddha Ray's essay on `France and Mysore: A History of Diverse French Strategies', (pp120-40) it is possible to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the whole range of French projects and policies about Mysore during the reign of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. Both of them add more information and insights into French policies towards Mysore than at present available in the pioneering work of Sen's The French in India. From the evidence presented in this volume it is clear that there was no uniform French policy vis-a-vis the Mysore rulers. Ray's study brings out the competing interests and multiple voices in the French policies, especially in a context when France itself underwent far-reaching transformations both internally and externally. The various memoirs and reports of French officers serving the Mysore rulers also reveal that the French government was advised to follow many different and often contradictory policies towards India. For instance, the policies of the French government at the time of Dupleix (1742-54) were substantially different from the policies pursued in the 1780s and 1790s, in particular, during the second and third Anglo-Mysore wars. It has been mentioned in the French official documents that the instructions of Louis XVI in 1781 clearly stated that the object of the French expedition to India was to liberate the Indian rulers from the grip of the English, and not to make any territorial conquests. As Lafont points out, unlike in the 1750s there was no intention on the part of the French in the 1780s to colonise India the way they had done in North America. Following Bussy's instructions (1780-83) the French only aimed to destroy the British power in India by forming a league of Indian princes and restore the territories to the native rulers.
The diplomatic visions of Tipu Sultan were represented in the very revealing briefs/instructions (hukumnamas) to his envoys to Turkey and France in 1785-86. He prepared these briefs to be followed by ambassadors in their negotiations with the Turkish sultan and they were instructed to follow them `in letter and in spirit'. His embassy to Constantinople (Islambol) was intended to promote diplomatic relations with Turkey in order to secure both commercial and military assistance. This document, among other things, throws interesting light pertaining to the generally accepted notion that Tipu tried to secure legitimacy for his rule of Mysore from the Turkish sultan and also his permission to assume the title of independent king as well as the right to strike coins and to have the khutba read in the name of Ottoman caliph. Irfan Habib contradicts the statements of Mohibbul Hasan and Kate Brittlebank that Tipu's ambassadors "were instructed to seek the Ottoman ruler's confirmation, in his role as caliph of legitimacy of Tipu's claim and his rule of Mysore". He remarks, "Nowhere do such instructions occur anywhere in the briefs for his ambassadors. Tipu does not even designate the Ottoman ruler as khalifa (caliph), or recognise his authority outside his dominions in any way whatsoever. Throughout his instructions to his ambassadors he treats the ruler of Islambol (Istanbul) as an equal, not a superior" (p xii). The instructions of Tipu amply make it clear that as an independent ruler he proposed to drive away the British from India with the military and diplomatic support of Turkey and France. In the case of the embassy to Turkey, though he urged Turkish military expedition to India, his main object was commercial. In order to effectively implement a trade blockade against the British East India Company he sought an alternative overseas market. He hoped to secure such markets in west Asia and the Ottoman empire. Hence, he proposed to obtain the port of Basra and its adjoining places on lease (ijara)
Tipu Sultan's instructions to his ambassadors who proceeded to France mainly dealt with issues concerning British occupation of Indian territories as well as the attitudes and activities of the French military commanders in Mysore. He gave a detailed account, with a sense of bitterness, of the indifferent behaviour of certain French officials and the unilateral withdrawal of French help at a very critical time during the second Anglo-Mysore war. Tipu informed the French king Louis XVI about the "breach of promise and acts of disloyalty committed by your servants, since these unreasonable acts have perhaps been committed without your knowledge. Otherwise, this is not (according to) the ways of statesmen and persons of nobility" (p 48). He further proposed mutual military assistance, friendship and a "war of 10 years against the enemy" (the British). These instructions also reflect the anti-British attitude of Tipu Sultan and his commitment to liberate India from the yoke of British domination. He had written to both kings of France and England, about the `deceipt and treachery' as well as the "unlimited atrocities and oppression" committed by the East India Company on Indian people. Compared to many Indian potentates of the 18th century, Tipu Sultan stands as an exceptional personality on account of his consistent and resolute contestation of British dominion over Indian people.
It is evident from Tipu Sultan's instructions that along with diplomatic and military help from Turkey and France he also wished to secure experts and skilled artisans for manufacturing firearms (muskets, guns matchlock, etc,) and luxury items (clocks, glass, chinaware, etc). He also desired to import astronomers, physicians and other technicians. Tipu Sultan sought the expertise of foreign artisans because he wanted to modernise his army and economy. Tipu Sultan's agrarian and economic policies, his keenness to develop commercial ventures, foreign trade, indigenous factories and so on have been attested by the material included in the present volume. On the whole, the memoirs and documents in this volume will certainly help the scholars in putting the history of Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan in a proper perspective and immensely contribute to correct many historiographic inaccuracies and distortions.
In his presidential address to the 49th session of the Indian history congress at Dharwad Barun De dealt with the problems of the study of Indian history with special reference to the 18th century. He opined that the specifics of the socio-economic and political formation deserve a more detailed and systematic examination. He also underlined the need to develop a comprehensive framework to analyse the pattern and pace of political formations, territorial chieftaincies and petty principalities. In fact, such an analysis, he said, will by virtue of its variegated regional and linguistic diversity require reference, exploration and use of original sources, not only in Persian but also in the regional vernacular, English and other European languages. Viewed in this perspective, the present volume under review which contains rare documents and a valuable and a thought-provoking introduction by Irfan Habib sheds new light and adds a mass of specific data pertaining to the socio- economic formation and political culture in the far south of the Indian peninsula. This volume is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the late pre-colonial and early colonial history of south India. It is also a significant addition to the recent historical scholarship on south India as it examines the dynamics of how from the middle of the 18th century the post-Mughal political order represented by the regional states was subjected to an inexorable process of subjugation and annexation by the East India Company.
http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?
root=2004&leaf=06&filename=7300&filetype=html
The Mysore Sultans
------------------------
The Mysore Sultans State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan: Documents and Essays
edited by Irfan Habib;
Tulika Books, New Delhi, 2001;
pp 164, Rs 325.
------------------------
A Satyanarayana
In recent years the problem of 18th century socio-economic and political transformation in India has attracted much scholarly attention. There has been a great deal of writing on the history of state formation and political process in 18th century and these studies have contributed new insights. In the general analysis of the nature and character of 18th century India one can identify divergent and conflicting notions and interpretations. Yet there are few comprehensive and systematic regional-level studies, especially on south India. Unless there is a detailed and concrete historical research into different regions of India it is not possible to convincingly and conclusively answer the various issues and questions raised by the debates about the nature and pace of change in 18th century India. It was a unique century `sandwiched' between the political glory of the Mughals and the humiliations of colonial domination. Available studies reveal that the performance of Indian economy varied from region to region: they have indicated that since the middle of 18th century socio-economic transformation varied across the Indian sub-continent incorporating in it different areas of buoyant expansion and areas of stagnation/crisis. Many historical studies have described the 18th century as a period of drastic and far-reaching changes in the course of Indian history. Some have stressed a more evolutionary pattern of change and perceived an important degree of continuity of pre-colonial political and economic structures under colonialism, while others maintain that a fundamental break and disjunction occurred between the Mughal empire and early colonial rule. It was supposed to be a change of such magnitude as to make both state and economy different from what each had earlier been. The dominant mainstream historiography characterised the 18th century as a `chaotic and dark' century. It has been argued that the decline of imperial power had brought about changes in the provincial system, which resulted in chaos, decadence and decline in administrative efficiency. It was an age of `political and moral decay' and the political and economic changes in this century had only a negative value. Thus "with the death of Mughal empire the middle ages in India ended and the modern age began".
In contradistinction to the above interpretations, the present volume under review edited and introduced by Irfan Habib offers new perspectives on the basis of fresh material in terms of translation of manuscripts/documents, memoirs both in Persian and French, hitherto not translated, commentaries on documents and interpretative research articles on various aspects of the history of 18th century Mysore under Tipu Sultan. An endeavour is made in this book to add new contributions and to present to the scholarly world documentary evidence that has not yet received its due in south Indian studies, with special reference to the period of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. It certainly marks a significant step forward
in the collection, exploration and use of source material on the regime of Tipu Sultan. In this volume, four very important documents and three essays are included. The document on War and Peace is Tipu Sultan's own memoir written around 1792. It was translated by William Kirkpatrick. It provides Tipu Sultan's account of the last phase of the second Anglo-Mysore war (1783-84) and his perceptions of events leading to the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784. The diplomatic vision of Tipu Sultan is contained in the briefs for embassies to Turkey and France, 1785-86. It was translated by Iqbal Hussain. The third document on State Intervention in the Economy contain Tipu's orders to revenue collectors, between 1792-97, and it was translated by I G Khan. The fourth one, the memoirs of Lieutenant-Colonel Russel in French concerning Mysore, was translated by Jean-Marie Lafont. Taken together, these documents provide valuable information pertaining to statecraft under Tipu Sultan. They also substantially enhance our knowledge of the political, military and diplomatic events as well as personalities and general forces at work in south India during the late 18th century.
The state of Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan had exceptional and strikingly conspicuous features of its own. Unlike the Mughal state, it introduced and effectively managed the method of direct revenue collection â the chief source of income â abolished absentee landlord system (shambogs) and recognised the rights of ryots. It was perhaps the first Indian state that adopted advanced methods and techniques of European warfare. It was also the foremost Indian state which produced modern firearms within its territories by importing foreign (mainly French) skilled workers as instructors and supervisors. The most significant and remarkable aspect of this indigenous regime was the state's direct intervention in agricultural production, commerce and industrialisation. It also
established factories and state-owned and controlled trading companies and factories outside the territories of Mysore as well as abroad in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf ports. The Mysore state had also the unique distinction of having successfully combined trade with government as it was done by the East India Company during the mercantilist phase. The main object of Tipu Sultan's state policy was the collective well-being of his subjects and in that he was driven by a desire to improve their economic conditions. Hence he was perceived and revered by his subjects as a popular ruler and enjoyed their unstinted support and loyalty. His `short but stormy' rule was eventful and memorable in many respects. The source material and the articles included in the present volume capture the multifarious dimensions of the state and diplomacy of Mysore under Tipu Sultan.
There has been a great deal of writing about the responses of native Indian rulers to British territorial aggrandisement and colonial expansion during the second half of the 18th century. The Bengal nawabs, in particular Sirajuddaula and the Mysore sultans seemed to have a definite policy to overthrow the British and they consistently worked towards it. The memoirs of Tipu Sultan provide a vivid description of his efforts in the second Anglo-Mysore war to defeat the British with the help of the French and the Marathas. The anti-British attitude and perception of the Mysore ruler and his resolve to confront and oust the English power is superbly portrayed in this document. "I want to expel them from India. I want to be a friend of the French in all my life" (p 99). Tipu told a French officer. In spite of the undependable and uncertain nature of alliances with the Marathas and the Nizam, Tipu Sultan was determined to go to war with the British and defeat them. He was also unhappy with the vacillating attitudes and dilatory tactics of the French and their non-cooperation, faithlessness and disloyalty. Yet he was not vindictive and revengeful against them. About a French commander he remarked, "there would have been but little difficulty in putting Cossigny and his companions to death; but, in as much as they (had) eaten (my) salt, I did not think proper to act by them in that manner" (p13).
War and Diplomacy in Mysore
The memoirs of Tipu Sultan and Lieutenant-Colonel Russel are indeed an excellent testimony to the war and diplomatic policies of the Mysore rulers during the second half of the 18th century. They contain valuable information pertaining to the Anglo-Mysore wars and the relations of the French with the Mysore sultans. Russel's memoirs have great military value and it is an authentic statement regarding the involvement of the French commanders in modernising the army of Mysore and fighting along with the Mysore forces. The Russel papers also provide certain rare insights into the colonial policies of the French in India. If this memoirs are read along with Aniruddha Ray's essay on `France and Mysore: A History of Diverse French Strategies', (pp120-40) it is possible to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the whole range of French projects and policies about Mysore during the reign of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. Both of them add more information and insights into French policies towards Mysore than at present available in the pioneering work of Sen's The French in India. From the evidence presented in this volume it is clear that there was no uniform French policy vis-a-vis the Mysore rulers. Ray's study brings out the competing interests and multiple voices in the French policies, especially in a context when France itself underwent far-reaching transformations both internally and externally. The various memoirs and reports of French officers serving the Mysore rulers also reveal that the French government was advised to follow many different and often contradictory policies towards India. For instance, the policies of the French government at the time of Dupleix (1742-54) were substantially different from the policies pursued in the 1780s and 1790s, in particular, during the second and third Anglo-Mysore wars. It has been mentioned in the French official documents that the instructions of Louis XVI in 1781 clearly stated that the object of the French expedition to India was to liberate the Indian rulers from the grip of the English, and not to make any territorial conquests. As Lafont points out, unlike in the 1750s there was no intention on the part of the French in the 1780s to colonise India the way they had done in North America. Following Bussy's instructions (1780-83) the French only aimed to destroy the British power in India by forming a league of Indian princes and restore the territories to the native rulers.
The diplomatic visions of Tipu Sultan were represented in the very revealing briefs/instructions (hukumnamas) to his envoys to Turkey and France in 1785-86. He prepared these briefs to be followed by ambassadors in their negotiations with the Turkish sultan and they were instructed to follow them `in letter and in spirit'. His embassy to Constantinople (Islambol) was intended to promote diplomatic relations with Turkey in order to secure both commercial and military assistance. This document, among other things, throws interesting light pertaining to the generally accepted notion that Tipu tried to secure legitimacy for his rule of Mysore from the Turkish sultan and also his permission to assume the title of independent king as well as the right to strike coins and to have the khutba read in the name of Ottoman caliph. Irfan Habib contradicts the statements of Mohibbul Hasan and Kate Brittlebank that Tipu's ambassadors "were instructed to seek the Ottoman ruler's confirmation, in his role as caliph of legitimacy of Tipu's claim and his rule of Mysore". He remarks, "Nowhere do such instructions occur anywhere in the briefs for his ambassadors. Tipu does not even designate the Ottoman ruler as khalifa (caliph), or recognise his authority outside his dominions in any way whatsoever. Throughout his instructions to his ambassadors he treats the ruler of Islambol (Istanbul) as an equal, not a superior" (p xii). The instructions of Tipu amply make it clear that as an independent ruler he proposed to drive away the British from India with the military and diplomatic support of Turkey and France. In the case of the embassy to Turkey, though he urged Turkish military expedition to India, his main object was commercial. In order to effectively implement a trade blockade against the British East India Company he sought an alternative overseas market. He hoped to secure such markets in west Asia and the Ottoman empire. Hence, he proposed to obtain the port of Basra and its adjoining places on lease (ijara)
Tipu Sultan's instructions to his ambassadors who proceeded to France mainly dealt with issues concerning British occupation of Indian territories as well as the attitudes and activities of the French military commanders in Mysore. He gave a detailed account, with a sense of bitterness, of the indifferent behaviour of certain French officials and the unilateral withdrawal of French help at a very critical time during the second Anglo-Mysore war. Tipu informed the French king Louis XVI about the "breach of promise and acts of disloyalty committed by your servants, since these unreasonable acts have perhaps been committed without your knowledge. Otherwise, this is not (according to) the ways of statesmen and persons of nobility" (p 48). He further proposed mutual military assistance, friendship and a "war of 10 years against the enemy" (the British). These instructions also reflect the anti-British attitude of Tipu Sultan and his commitment to liberate India from the yoke of British domination. He had written to both kings of France and England, about the `deceipt and treachery' as well as the "unlimited atrocities and oppression" committed by the East India Company on Indian people. Compared to many Indian potentates of the 18th century, Tipu Sultan stands as an exceptional personality on account of his consistent and resolute contestation of British dominion over Indian people.
It is evident from Tipu Sultan's instructions that along with diplomatic and military help from Turkey and France he also wished to secure experts and skilled artisans for manufacturing firearms (muskets, guns matchlock, etc,) and luxury items (clocks, glass, chinaware, etc). He also desired to import astronomers, physicians and other technicians. Tipu Sultan sought the expertise of foreign artisans because he wanted to modernise his army and economy. Tipu Sultan's agrarian and economic policies, his keenness to develop commercial ventures, foreign trade, indigenous factories and so on have been attested by the material included in the present volume. On the whole, the memoirs and documents in this volume will certainly help the scholars in putting the history of Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan in a proper perspective and immensely contribute to correct many historiographic inaccuracies and distortions.
In his presidential address to the 49th session of the Indian history congress at Dharwad Barun De dealt with the problems of the study of Indian history with special reference to the 18th century. He opined that the specifics of the socio-economic and political formation deserve a more detailed and systematic examination. He also underlined the need to develop a comprehensive framework to analyse the pattern and pace of political formations, territorial chieftaincies and petty principalities. In fact, such an analysis, he said, will by virtue of its variegated regional and linguistic diversity require reference, exploration and use of original sources, not only in Persian but also in the regional vernacular, English and other European languages. Viewed in this perspective, the present volume under review which contains rare documents and a valuable and a thought-provoking introduction by Irfan Habib sheds new light and adds a mass of specific data pertaining to the socio- economic formation and political culture in the far south of the Indian peninsula. This volume is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the late pre-colonial and early colonial history of south India. It is also a significant addition to the recent historical scholarship on south India as it examines the dynamics of how from the middle of the 18th century the post-Mughal political order represented by the regional states was subjected to an inexorable process of subjugation and annexation by the East India Company.
http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?
root=2004&leaf=06&filename=7300&filetype=html