Tipu Sultan: The Tyrant of Mysore

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This book is part of series of books which will 'De-Falsify our existing History'. We have seen, read, and heard about a lot of phony people claiming to be freedom fighters and receiving pensions from the Government. Several of these worthles would not have been born before Independence; yet they succeed in such blatant manipulations. There are instances of portraying certain ruler's & chieftains, as true heroes who fought against the British Empire.

Tipu Sultan, was known to all as Tiger of Mysore. The Image of him holding a tiger crosses the mind, whenever Tipu's name is mentioned, sending across a message he was a fierce fighter.

Is this the Truth? Was Tipu Sultan warrior? Did he fight the British?

Post Freedom, India witnessed several catastrophic changes as a result of which many new icons and ideologies were propagated and their tentacles spread far and wide and even today, the people of India continue to suffer their ill-effects. Tipu is one such heavily-eulogised icon in both our textbooks and popular media.

Sandeep in this book, which has been well researched, establishes the true facts on Tipu Sultan and proves his actual performance as a Chieftain.

Sandeep Balakrishna has been an information technology professional for over 15 years. He is a regular columnist at the Pioneer, Kannada Prabha and on various online media like SIFY and Centre Right India and has been running the Rediscovery of India blog for about 14 years. He is also a translator, and his upcoming English translation of Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa's bestselling novel will available in bookstores. soon be He is currently the CEO of IndiaFacts, an online media initiative to counter media and intellectual bias in public discourse.

This is his first book.

In November 2012, Rahman Khan, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs announced that the Moulana Azad Education Foundation under his Ministry, was setting up five universities across the country. One of them would be established at Srirangapatna and it would be named after Tipu Sultan, the 18th century Mysore ruler. While the project of setting up these universities is not objectionable, the fact that one of them would be named after Tipu once again, showed exactly everything that's wrong with Indian politics and public life.

Guess what else is named after Tipu? A Pakistani missile. This is unsurprising given that Pakistan has been consistent in naming its missiles- Ghaznavi, Ghauri, Abdali, and Babur, all names of medieval Muslim invaders who plundered India, forcibly converted hundreds of thousands of Hindus, and destroyed their ancient culture. The fact that Pakistan, an enemy nation has named its missiles in the honour of such medieval barbarians who vowed to completely Islamize India is pretty revealing.

And here we have an Indian citizen, a Central Minister no less, who wants to establish a university named after Tipu who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the aforementioned medieval marauders. Even worse, Rahman Khan's Government brazened out the act of naming the university after Tipu with: "the life and achievements of Tipu Sultan, who was a great warrior and secular in outlook, have been wrongly interpreted." The politician who issued this ill-informed statement neither knows nor cares whether Tipu was a great warrior or whether he was secular. What he knows is the fact that this statement sends a reassuring message to the constituents of his party's Muslim vote bank.

The myth of Tipu as a great warrior, a humanist and a tolerant ruler is one of the more enduring myths that continue to float around. This myth originated with Bhagawan S Gidwani's spurious historical novel, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, which was made into a television serial by Sanjay Khan and aired on the state-owned channel, Doordarshan. Over the years, this myth acquired widespread currency and today, we see things like "Mysore Tiger Tipu Association," "Tipu Nagar," and "Tipu Colony" in Muslim-dominated localities in major cities and towns of Karnataka. There was also an agitation to rename the Bangalore International Airport after Tipu.

And so we need to remind ourselves again, we need to set the record on Tipu straight before we even name something in his honour. Naming things after dead people is one of the ways to preserve their deeds, their ideals, and their legacy. So what is Tipu's record on these parameters? This book is a humble endeavour to do just that-set the record straight on Tipu starting with his full name: Tipu Sultan.

It is not as if the Myth of Tipu wasn't challenged. When Sanjay Khan mooted the idea of serializing Gidwani's novel on television, the Bombay Kerala Samajam was outraged, and challenged his depiction of Tipu by filing a case in the Bombay High Court. Much later, a prolonged debate occurred in a Kannada newspaper over the life, career, and the true legacy of Tipu. And now, with Rahman Khan's proposal, the issue has come to the forefront yet again.

We have seen, read, and heard about a lot of phony W people claiming to be freedom fighters and receiving pensions from the Government. Several of these worthies would not have been born before Independence, yet they succeed in such blatant manipulations. One portion of this unholy cesspool includes "freedom fighters," who have brutally massacred our own people, destroyed our own culture, and yet are recognized as the pioneers of our freedom struggle! Tipu Sultan happens to be one such infamous name that belongs to this cesspool. And a special brand of Indian secularism continues to render many services to perpetuate his name and fame as a freedom fighter.

Here's a small sample which can often be seen in many of the nooks and corners of Karnataka: hoardings that advertise the cause of the downtrodden, the marginalized and the suppressed by displaying the images of Buddha, Basavanna, Chennamma, Gandhi, and Tipu Sultan. I fail to understand even one aspect that's common between Buddha and Tipu. The former renounced his wealth, position and prosperity forever, lived and taught an elevated path of truth and peace and endeared himself to the entire society while the latter stood for the exact opposite. Yet, our brand of secularism finds many glowing parallels between the two.

In this chaotic state of affairs, my good friend Sandeep Balakrishna has made a bold and serious attempt in unveiling the true colours of Tipu, the "freedom fighter."

Book's Contents and Sample Pages