Tiger: The Life of Tipu Sultan by Kate Brittlebank ; Published by Juggernaut ; Pages163 ; Price Rs.399/-

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Few historical characters have been praised and excoriated in equal measure as Tipu Sultan. Australian historian Kate Brittlebank has written a brief biography of the Sultan and his times. Tipu who ruled Mysore from 1782 to 1799 was killed by the British on 4 May 1799 during the latter’s battle for the conquest of Mysore. The author has another book   “Tipu Sultan’s Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain”.

 Tipu has been embroiled in controversy. Can one call him tyrant or a wise  ruler; a great thinker or one who was led by his obscure dreams? Can he be described as one dedicated to abolish British control?

An example of how wheels of History turn is that four years ago,   Yeddyurappa had donned Tipu Sultan’s headgear and held a mock sword while praising the ruler’s virtues at a function for seeking the support of Muslim voters. But  two years later the same man led  opposition to the celebration of Tipu Jayanthi.

Even 217 years after his death, Tipu Sultan remains a figure of fascination for Indians. Most Indians know of Tipu Sultan from the TV serial which  was broadcast on Doordarshan from 1990 onwards, with 60 episodes.

The  myth of Tipu  has been exploded  by  communities, such as the Kodavas in Coorg and others in parts of Kerala, who deem  Tipu  a “treacherous tyrant”. Tipu’s policies against various subject communities is well documented and a number of these, such as the campaign against the Kodava, seem especially brutal.

The book under review  takes us from his eventful youth and remarkable  military ventures, his family life and his impressive changes  of fortune, to his death in his final climactic battle against the British.

 Haider Ali had served the Wodeyars and later usurped the kingdom, maintaining the fiction of ruling in the name of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. The Dowager Maharani never accepted this de facto rulership and fought against Haidar and Tipu till the latter’s death.

India was then a seething cauldron of conflicting interests; the French, the English, the Marathas and Haidar and Tipu all fought periodic battles in an ebb and flow of changing fortunes. The complexity and changing nature of the alliances are clearly brought out in the book. Its main focus is to study  Tipu, the man, and how he understood himself and related to the circumstances that surrounded him.

 Tipu  was  an example of someone who stood up to the British. He was a capable, intelligent and energetic ruler. The tiger trope that Tipu used, the babri stripe, the symbols with which he wrapped himself around with are all quite remarkable. Most rulers associated themselves with particular imagery to project their identity, but it is certainly the case that Tipu did so to a greater extent than was usual.

 Tipu had suffered a humiliating defeat in 1792 and two of his sons had been taken hostage. As a devout Muslim, he would have seen the hand of God in these events. He wished to appease God to avoid further disasters. He was appealing to God and fellow Muslim rulers, not to his subjects – the threats against him were external not internal.

  Tipu maintained a dream journal. He wrote down his dreams and interpreted them in a deeply religious light.It is likely that Tipu was keeping this particular record to help him manage the increasingly difficult situation in which he found himself .

 Following Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, the Mughal empire slid into decline, a fragmentation that allowed the rise of “successor states”, the best known being Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad. This decline allowed European trading companies to establish footholds on the subcontinent. In other words, wherever there was a power vacuum, ambitious men seized the opportunity to fill it.

When Hyder died , Tipu was prepared to take on the mantle of king. The tactics he adopted to deal with rebels created  “shock and awe”. Tipu meant business. Executions, mass transportations from Kodagu and the Malabar coast, and forced conversions resulting in the loss of caste were all means of punishment. According to the author  these methods were within accepted norms of statecraft that existed on the subcontinent for centuries. Tipu Sultan acted against the matrilineal traditions of the Nairs as he and his father were affronted by the customs of the matrilineal Nairs: the minimal attire of the women shocked them, as did the practice of polyandry.

He undertook administrative reforms, made donations to religious institutions, including temples, arbitrated in disputes and cared for the welfare of his subjects. The Sri Ranganatha Swami temple, situated near Tipu’s palace on the island of Srirangapatna, continued to flourish. The Sringeri Math was another recipient of his patronage.

  The book focuses on the construction of the myths, the chronological delineation of the events of his reign and the man himself. The events of Tipu’s reign are described in a sympathetic tone, explaining the religious and linguistic bigotry, the mass killings and conversions as political necessities of the time. The author  describes conversions and the forced transfer of populations from Kodagu and Malabar . In one of the most infamous acts of his reign, the Mysore library was destroyed and the books used as fuel for the stables.

Brittlebank spends a great deal of time on the royal symbol of the tiger, which she says resonated with both Hindu and Muslim subjects and helped  Tipu to establish his legitimacy. His keenness in the upgradation of his military equipment has impressed engineers, scientists and others who value advances in technology. The over 2,000 books in Tipu’s personal library, which were sent to Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England and to the College of Fort William and Royal Asiatic Society in Calcutta after his death, show the rich range of his intellectual interests: astronomy, law, mathematics, among others.

This is a well written book—not exactly critical but a good introduction to a controversial historical figure.

P.P.Ramachandran.

08 / 01 / 2017