Debating Tipu's legacy: is the Karnataka govt honouring a bigot?

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The decision

• Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has announced that the state govt will honour Tipu Sultan

• He says the 18th-century Mysore ruler\'s birthday will be celebrated in a \'befitting manner\'

• Tipu fought four wars against the East India Company and also against the Marathas

The debate

• The BJP and right-wing Hindu thinkers call Tipu a bigot

• This is because he razed temples and churches and converted Hindus and Christians to Islam

• Others say there\'s enough evidence that Tipu was a liberal ruler

• Playwright-actor Girish Karnad feels the anti-Tipu sentiment was spread by the British

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced that the state government plans to celebrate Tipu Sultan's birthday on 20 November in a 'befitting manner'.

This has rekindled the old debate on the 18th-century warrior's controversial but fascinating legacy.

State BJP leaders are up in arms, opposing any attempt to what they call 'glorify a traitor' and a 'murderer of Hindus'. They have accused Siddaramaiah of trying to shore up his dwindling image in the second half of his administration by 'appeasing' the Muslims, who form nearly 15% of the state's population.

"Having shown a poor record in the first 30 months of his government, Siddaramaiah wants to play to his core 'Ahinda' (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and scheduled castes) constituency to regain political control," said a senior BJP leader.

Siddaramaiah, who hails from the same place as the 'Tiger of Mysore', knows that Tipu is widely admired by the Muslims and liberal Hindus as well. But he also knows that the state has failed to give him due recognition for over 200 years for the fear of angering those on the far right.

Efforts to revive his legacy

Former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman and Congress leader K Rahman Khan made a valiant attempt to launch a university named after Tipu when the UPA government was in power. He had the blessings of Sonia Gandhi for this venture too, but it failed to take off, as the BJP vehemently protested.

Efforts to name Bengaluru International Airport after Tipu Sultan also came to naught, as it was eventually named after Kempegowda, the 16^th century founder of Bengaluru.

Last year, however, the Siddaramaiah government managed to present a tableau at the Republic Day parade, hailing the contribution of Tipu Sultan to the freedom struggle. Now he wants to do more.

Reasons for historical interest

While some people consider Tipu a brave 'patriot' who foresaw the designs of the East India Company in the early stages itself and tried to drive them away from the country, others see him as a 'religious bigot' who killed or converted lakhs of Hindus in an attempt to build an Islamic state.

Though Tipu lived for a short period (1750-1799), he has fascinated historians and fiction writers so much that Tipu's legend has been told and retold copiously, often with facts merging with lore.

The Karnataka govt plans to celebrate the 18th century ruler's birthday in a 'befitting manner'

He is said to have fought fearlessly against the British, the Marathas and other local chieftains to rapidly expand his kingdom. He also collaborated with the French and the Afghans when horses were the only fast mode of transport, and his administrative skills were far ahead of his time.

Pushed into the battlefield by his father, the ruler Hyder Ali, when he was barely 15 years old, Tipu took up the reins after Hyder Ali's death in 1782 and continued his conquests across the Deccan region. At one time, his kingdom spread up to the Krishna river in the north, the eastern ghats in the east and Arabian Sea in the west.

Battles with the British

Tipu engaged in wars with the East India Company's forces at least four times, registering a notable victory in the Second Anglo-Mysore war. He again engaged them in conflict in 1789 by attacking the British-allied province of Travancore. He unnerved the British by using rocket artillery, which even his enemy had not been able to master.

The Third Anglo-Mysore War was a bitter experience for him as he lost a number of previously conquered territories, including Malabar and Mangalore.

He sent his emissaries to Turkey, Afghanistan and France in an attempt to rally the opposition to the British. He had built up a good equation with Napoleon, then commander-in-chief of the French army, who sent his officers to train Tipu's soldiers.

In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the British took the help of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who contributed 40,000 soldiers to their army of 20,000. Heavily outnumbered, Tipu was killed on 4 May 1799, while defending his capital of Srirangapatna.

Bigot or liberal?

There are a legion of stories of Tipu's 'brutalities' and forced conversions of Hindus and Christians during his conquest of parts of Kerala, Kodagu and Mangalore. He allegedly destroyed hundreds of temples and churches and drove around 80,000 Christians from Mangalore to Srirangapatna. Of these, around 20,000 died on the way.

Tipu's supporters, however, say that these are exaggerated stories and there is enough evidence to show that he was a liberal ruler. They point out that he appointed many Brahmins in his court, Dewan Purniah being his principal advisor.

After a Maratha army pillaged Shankaracharya's southern bastion, Sringeri, it was Tipu who came forward with a generous contribution to help rebuild the mutt. He also sent donations and contributions to several other temples, which he would not have done had he been a bigot, say his supporters.

Countering this argument, state BJP leader Madhusudhan says, "That Tipu destroyed hundreds of temples, killed and converted thousands of Hindus is beyond doubt. Even French historians have recorded this... if he started making some donations to temples, it was later in his career, on the advice of Purniah, as he faced a series of crises and he was ready to appease any god."

BJP leaders are up in arms, opposing an 'attempt to glorify a traitor and a murderer of Hindus'

Well-known playwright Girish Karnad, who has written a play 'Dreams of Tipu Sultan' (Tippuvina kanasugalu in Kannada) is among the strong votaries of the Mysore ruler.

Karnad's fictional depiction captures the last days as well as the historic moments in the life of Tipu, through the eyes of an Indian court historian and a British Oriental scholar.

Defending his play, Karnad once said, "For me, Tipu was the greatest Kannadiga. He was a thinker and a visionary, who represented the best of Karnataka. Unfortunately, he's been misunderstood by the people of his own country and a lot of untruths were spread about him."

On the alleged forced conversions, Karnad's take was, "This was largely influenced by what was written at the behest of the British, who were out to destroy Tipu as they saw him as a major threat to their empire in its nascent stage."

Dr SL Bhyrappa, another important Kannada writer, says Karnad is indulging in "a whitewash of history" to please certain vested interests.

The facts and their interpretation

Tipu had the habit of meticulously maintaining a diary and there are well-preserved records of his correspondences with various people. These do not leave much to doubt as far as Tipu's zeal for conversions is concerned.

Writer Vikram Sampath, who has written a book on Mysore rulers, refers to one of Tipu's letters written on 19 January 1790 to one Burduz Zamaun Khan saying, "Don't you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus have converted to Islam?"

In another letter, written around the same time to one Syed Abdul Dulai, Tipu says, "With the grace of Prophet Muhammad and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are now converted to Islam. I consider this as jihad to achieve that object."

But Sampath, writing in Mint, firmly expresses the view that Tipu should not be judged by today's standards. "We have thrust Tipu (and other rulers like him) to the scrutiny of 'secularism', 'communalism', and 'nationalism' - terms that were non-existent in 18^th century India."

He further notes that, "Judging characters of the past by the yardsticks and definitions of today is being grossly unfair on them because the facts don't fit our straitjacket."

Clearly, debate over Tipu Sultan cannot be easily settled.