Tipu Sultan, the tiger of Mysore is often known for being one of the most powerful rulers in the Indian history. He was one among those rare leaders, who bravely opposed to British rulers and government. Tipu sahib was equally loved and hated by the people on different basis. He was loved for being one of the bravest rulers of Indian whereas on the other hand, he was hated for opposing the foreign culture, not for development of own country but with the intention to establish the Islam rule in India. Here are some lesser known and amazing things to know about Tipu Sultan.
1. Tipu Sultan was born on 20 November 1750 Friday, 20th Dhu al-Hijjah at Devanahalli, which is Bengaluru district in today’s date.
2. He was named “Tipu Sultan” after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of Arcot and was also called “Fateh Ali” after his grandfather Fatah Muhammad.
3. From the age of 17, Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. Not only this, but Tipu was his father’s right arm in the wars from which Hydar emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.
4. According to various sources, it is said that various names were changed under the guidance of Tipu. For example, Ratnagiri to Mustafabad, Mangalore or Mangalapuri to Jalalabad, Dharwar to Quarshed-Sawad. Mysore to Nazarabad, Dindigul to Khaliqaba, Dindigul to Khaliqabad, Bepur to Sultanpatanam, Cannanore to Kusanabad, Gooty to Faiz-Hissar,Kozhikode to Islamabad.
5. Since, Hyder Ali had a political alliance with the French, Tipu studied military tactics and strategies from the French. He also got some of the best tutors to teach him shooting, riding and swordsmanship.
6. Muhammad Falak Ali taught Tipu how to fight. While leading a predominantly Hindu country, Tipu remained strong in his Muslim faith, and attended every day prayers and also gave a special attention to all the mosques in the area.
7. During his rule, he completed the project of Lal Bagh which was originally started by his father Hyder Ali. He built roads, public buildings, and ports in his kingdom where his dominion extended throughout North Bangalore including the Nandi Hills and Chickballapur. Slowly, trade of Tipu extended to countries such as Sri Lanka, Oman, Durrani Afghanistan, France, Ottoman Turkey and Iran.
8. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, in his Tipu Sultan Shaheed Memorial Lecture in Bangalore which was held on 30 November 1991, called Tipu Sultan as the innovator of the world’s first war rocket.
9. According to historian Dr Dulari Qureshi, Tipu Sultan was a fierce warrior king and was so quick in his movement that it seemed to the enemy that he was fighting on many fronts at the same time.
10. Tipu Sultan started a new coinage, calendar, and a new system of weights and measures mainly based on the methods introduced by French technicians.
11. During the fourth anglo-mysore war there were over 26,000 soldiers of the British East India Company comprising 4000 Europeans and rest of them were Indians. Due to column supplied by Nizam, the soldiers became 5000 in number whereas Tipu Sultan had only about 30,000 soldiers. The British broke through the city walls, French Military advisers advised Tipu Sultan escape from secret passages and live to fight another day but to their astonishment but Tipu replied “One day of life as a Tiger is far better than thousand years of living as a Sheep”.
12. Tipu Sultan died defending his capital on 4 May and was identified by Wallesley, who felt his pulse and confirmed about this death.
13. In 1786 Tipu Sultan, decided to build a navy consisting of 20 battleships of 72 cannons and 20 frigates of 62 cannons and in the year 1790 and established massive dockyards at Jamalabad and Majidabad under the guidance of Kamaluddin.
14. In 1780, he declared himself to be the Badshah or Emperor of Mysore, and struck coinage in his own name without reference to the reigning Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
15. Tipu strengthened and instituted education in Urdu and Persian among Muslims in the Mysore region. He also made Persian the official language throughout his kingdom.
16. Tipu was commonly known as the Tiger of Mysore and adopted this animal as the symbol of his rule.
17. It is said that Tipu Sultan was hunting in the forest with a French friend and faced tiger in front of him. His gun did not work that time, and the dagger fell on the ground as tiger jumped on him. He reached for the dagger, picked it up, and killed the tiger with it. This made him earn the name “the Tiger of Mysore”.
18. He even had French engineers build a mechanical tiger for his palace and the device, known as Tipu’s Tiger, is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
19. The last sword used by Tipu in his last battle, at Sri Rangapatnam, and the ring worn by him were taken by the British forces as war trophies.
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