Tipu Sultan Quotes (1750-1799)

“[Tipu Sultan] also boasted about ‘the destruction in the course of this holy war of eight thousand idol temples, many of them roofed with gold, silver, or copper, and all containing treasures buried at the feet of the idol, the whole of which was royal plunder.’”

“He describes Mysore as that island of the faithful amidst the ocean of the infidels, ‘in the midst of this land of infidels, the Almighty protects this tract of Mahomedan dominion like the Ark of Noah, and cuts short the extended arm of the abandoned infidel.’”

“It is the custom with you, for the eldest of five brothers to marry and for the wife of such brother to be common to all five; hence there cannot be the slightest or remotest doubt of your being all bastards and whoresons. This is about the seventh time that you have acted treasonably towards the sircar, and plundered our armies. I have now [therefore] vowed to the true God, that if you ever again conduct yourselves traitorously or wickedly, I will not revile or molest a single individual among you, but making Ahmedies [i.e. Muslims] of the whole of you, transplant you all from this country to some other; by which means, from being illegitimate, your progeny or descendants may become legitimate, and the epithet of whoresons (born of sinful mothers) may no longer belong to your tribe.”

“In 1788, he actually implemented his threat. In a letter to the Nawab of Kurnool Runmust Khan, Tipu gloats about how gloriously he accomplished this vicious task: …the exciters of sedition in the Coorg country, not looking to the consequences [of such conduct]… raised their heads, one and all, in tumult. Immediately on our hearing of this circumstance, we proceeded with the utmost speed, and, at once, made prisoners of forty thousand…Coorgs, who, alarmed at the approach of our victorious army, had slunk into woods, and concealed themselves in lofty mountains, inaccessible even to birds. Then carrying them away from their native country we raised them to the honor of Islam, and incorporated them with our Ahmadi corps. As these happy tidings are calculated, at once, to convey a warning to hypocrites…”

“He wrote to Zaman Shah, the king of Afghanistan, that "we should come together in carrying on a holy war against the infidels, and for freeing the region of Hindustan from the contamination of the enemies of our religion (Hindus)".”

“Don't you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam? I am determined to march against that cursed Raman Nair (Rajah of Travancore) very soon. Since I am overjoyed at the prospect of converting him and his subjects to Islam, I have happily abandoned the idea of going back to Srirangapatanam now.”

“As early as 13 February 1786, just three years into his rule, Tipu Sultan had already congratulated Badr-u-zaman Khan, who was then the Fauzdar of Nagar: ‘Your two letters, with the enclosed memorandum of the Nair captives have been received. You did right in causing a hundred and five of them to be circumcised, and in putting eleven of the youngest of these into the Asad Ilahi class and the remaining ninety-four into the Ahmadi troop.’”

“Gidwani’s Tipu has a political value today, especially after the Congress Government in 1974, perhaps to oblige the Muslim voters, released a commemoration stamp on Tipu, and described him as a ‘freedom fighter.’…Releasing a 50-Paisa postage stamp commemorating Tipu in July 1974, a minister of Karnataka said that Tipu was ‘a hero’ of Karnataka, ‘the defender of freedom,’ and so on. The chairman of the stamp releasing committee…wanted the writers to ‘present a true and faithful account’ of Tipu. Well… Gidwani has obliged him, rather sneakily, and in the form of a novel.”

“Tipu Sultan is probably the Muhammadan monarch who most systematically engaged in the work of forcible conversion.... early in 1789 Tipu Sultan prepared to enforce his proclamation (for conversion of Hindus) with an army of more than twenty thousand men.... Thousands of Hindus were accordingly circumcised and made to eat beef... most of the Brahmans and Nayars who had been forcibly converted subsequently disowned their new religion.”

“Tipu was not happy with the social conditions of the day. There was wide disparity between different castes. The rigidity of the caste system was intensely high at the time. As far as land relations were concerned, the jagirdari system was prevalent. In Kerala, for example, there were communities where women did not cover the upper part of their bodies. Tipu was concerned about the inequalities in society. Tipu was in contact with the French during the time of the French Revolution. He was aware of events in Europe and was attracted to the maxims of the revolution, which called for equal rights for everyone in the world: liberty, equality and fraternity. He referred to himself as “Citizen Tipu” and saw himself as a revolutionist. In Srirangapatnam, he had a club consisting of 59 French soldiers and himself. In this club, everyone was equal, including the king. Through his friends among the French, he was aware of social movements in Europe. He was influenced by three European movements: Renaissance [Italy], Reformation [Germany] and Revolution [France]. He wanted to blend the salient features of these movements in his reign. Tipu was aware of the role of the French in the American War of Independence [1775-1783]. The French offered crucial support to the Americans. They went to America, fought the war for American independence and came back. Likewise, Tipu was under the assumption that Napoleon would drive the British out of India and go back. That did not happen. That was the reason for his embassy to Louis XVI in 1787 and the invitation to Napoleon in 1798. Tipu Sultan was the first Indian ruler to envisage state control of trade and industry. He established manufacturing and trade centres in several parts of his kingdom and also in Muscat, Jeddah, Basrah and Pegu. Tipu Sultan conceptualised a system of state capitalism that was far ahead of his times. Mysore silk, which has become a recognised industry in Karnataka, had its roots in Tipu’s success in introducing sericulture. Tipu’s army also had iron-cased rockets that were far more advanced than what the East India Company was equipped with at the time. He is also credited with forming a navy with the intention of fighting sea battles as opposed to the merchant navies that other rulers had. He undertook a series of reforms such as the abolition of the jagirdari system. The English saw Tipu as an impediment to their plans of conquering India. The early British sources on Tipu were the ones written by soldiers who had been imprisoned by him during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. This formed the basis for prejudiced accounts of Tipu’s reign that cast him as a despot. There was a constant campaign against Tipu by the English. No one in India had humiliated and dictated terms to the English as Tipu and Hyder had done. The intensity and hostility had gone to such a level that the English regretted that their language was not copious enough to find sufficient epithets to condemn him with.”

“From the foregoing it is quite evident that Tipu vouched a decided hatred against the Christians only after the siege of Bangalore because they rendered both active and pecuniary help to the English who were his enemies, and this infuriated Tipu to such an extent that in his frenzy he resorted to savage Persecution and forcible conversion of the Kanara Christian, to be Mohammedan religion and he makes use of religious pretext to justify their captivity at Seringapatna in 1784.”