Tipu Sultan’s controversy

Karnataka Government’s decision to cancel Tipu Jayanti had stirred debate on this 18th century ruler of Mysore.

Contributions of Tipu Sultan:

1. Fought First Anglo-Mysore War as teen.
2. Took the lead of Second Anglo-Mysore war amidst his father’s death in 1782.
3. He fought Company forces four times during 1767-99, and gave Governors-General Cornwallis and Wellesley bloody noses before he was killed defending his capital Srirangapatnam in the Fourth Anglo Mysore War.
4. Modernization of Army and Navy
   • Reorganized his army along European lines,
   • using new technology. For example, the first war rocket.
   • Ordered ships with copper-bottoms to increase their longevity.
5. Sophisticated Land Revenue System
   • Based on detailed surveys and classification,
   • the tax was imposed directly on the peasant, and collected through salaried agents in cash,
   • widened the state’s resource base.
6. Modernization of Agriculture
   • Tax breaks for developing wasteland,
   • Built irrigation infrastructure
   • Repaired old dams, and
   • Promoted agricultural manufacturing and sericulture.
7. Developed Mysore as economic power.
   • Under his reign, Mysore overtook Bengal Subah as India’s dominant economic power, with highly productive agriculture and textile manufacturing. Mysore’s average income was five times higher than subsistence level at the time.
8. Trade and Commerce
   • Built a navy to support trade
   • Commissioned a “state commercial corporation” to set up factories.
   • Trading Outposts established. As Mysore traded in sandalwood, silk, spices, rice and sulphur, some 30 trading outposts were established across Tipu’s dominions and overseas
9. Foreign Relations with Afghanistan, Ottoman Turkey, Persia and France.

However, there are concerns against Tipu Sultan

1. Strong territorial ambitions : Invaded and annexed territories outside Mysore.
2. Burnt down towns and villages annexed.
3. Religious Intolerance: razed hundreds of temples and churches, and forcibly converted Hindus.

Conclusion:

Placing a personality in binary terms, i.e. extreme good or bad is neither rational nor progressive. Historical perspectives should be critically analyzed only to study from the past so as to live in a better present and build a better tomorrow.