Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan, also known as the The Tiger of Mysore (December 10, 1750, Devanhalli – May 4, 1799, Srirangapatnam) was the second son of Haider Ali by his second wife, Fatima or Fakr-un-nissa. He ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from the time of his father's death in 1782 until his own demise in 1799. Tipu was a learned man and an able soldier. He was reputed to be a good poet. He was also a strongly religious man, and practised the Sunni branch of Islam. He was also a fanatic muslim and massacred thousands of Hindus, and considerable number of Christians in North Kerala, Coorg, Mangalore, and other parts of Karnataka. He destroyed about 8000 temples and churches in his invasion of Malabar and converted thousands of terrified villagers to Islam under the thread of death. His atrocities are the stuff of legend in North Kerala to this day. He continued the war against the British begun by his father. He helped ensure the defeat of the British in the Second Mysore War, and negotiated the Treaty of Mangalore with them. However, he was unsuccessful in preventing his neighbours allying themselves with the British, and was defeated in the Third and Fourth Mysore Wars by their combined forces. He died defending his capital Srirangapatnam, on May 4, 1799.

Early Military Career

He was instructed in military tactics by French officers in the employment of his father, Hyder Ali (also transliterated as Haider Ali). He was aged 15 when he accompanied his father Hyder Ali to war against the British in the First Mysore War in 1766. He commanded a corps of cavalry in the invasion of the Carnatic in 1767, aged 16, and he distinguished himself in the First Anglo-Maratha War of 1775–1779.

Related Topics:
French - Hyder Ali - First Mysore War - Carnatic - First Anglo-Maratha War - 1775 - 1779

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