TIPU SULTAN

 TIPU SULTAN

                 Tipu Sultan was born on 20 November 1750 at Devanahalli in present day Bangalore Rural district, about 33 km  north of Bangalore city. Tipu Sultan also known as Tipu Sahab or the Tiger of Mysore after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of Arcot(town in india) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a explorer of rocket cannonry.

            Being unlettered, Hyder was very particular in giving his eldest son a prince's education and early exposure to military and political affairs. From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important political and military missions.He was his father's right arm in the wars from which Hyder emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.

           Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, was a military officer in service to the Kingdom of Mysore who had become the in fact ruler of Mysore in 1761 while his mother Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa was the daughter of Mir Muin-ud-Din the governor of the fort of Kadapa. Hyder Ali appointed able teachers to give Tipu an early education in subjects like Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Kannada, Quran, Islamic natural law, riding, shooting and encircle.

          He introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule,including a new specie system and calendar, and a new land revenue system which initiated the growth of the Mysore silk industry. He expanded the iron-cased Mysore an rockets and commissioned the military manual     Fathul Mujahidin. He deployed the rockets against advances of British forces and their allies during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, including the Battle of Pollilur and blockade of Seringapatam. 

          He also embarked on an ambitious economic development program that established Mysore as a major economic power, with some of the world's highest real wages and living standards in the late 18th century.

               Napoleon Bonaparte, the French commander chief to look out for an alliance with Tipu Sultan. Both Tipu Sultan and his father used their French-trained army in alliance with the French in their struggle with the British and Mysore's struggles with other surrounding powers, against the Marathas, Sira, and rulers of Malabar, Kodagu, Bednore, Carnatic, and Travancore.

                Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, rise the  power capturing Mysore and Tipu succeeded him as the ruler of Mysore upon his father's death in 1782. He won  victory against the British in the Second Anglo-Mysore War and arrange the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore with them after his father died from cancer in December 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

               Tipu's conflicts with his neighbours included the Maratha–Mysore War which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Gajendragad. The treaty required that Tipu Sultan pay 4.8 million rupees as a one-time war cost to the Maratha's and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees in addition to returning all the territory captured by Hyder Ali.

               Tipu remain  unforgiving enemy of the British East India Company, sparking conflict with his attack on British-allied Travancore in 1789. In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, he was forced into the Treaty of Seringapatam, losing a number of previously conquered territories, including Malabar and Mangalore. He sent a special mission to foreign states, including the Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan, and France in an attempt to rally opposition to the British.

                In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the imperial forces of the British East India Company were supported by the Marathas. They defeated Tipu, and he was killed on 4 May 1799 while defending his fort of Seringapatam.

     NOTE:

              Tipu is applauded as a secular ruler who fought against British colonialism However, he has been criticized for his repression of Hindus of Malabar and Christians of Bangalore for both religious and political reasons.