Tipu imprisoned the Royal Family of Mysore and ill treated them. Haider Ali had at least bothered to put on the mask of a regent while pretending to serve the Wodeyar King of Mysore. He was a very religious Muslim and read from the Quran every day and followed its edicts quite literally. It is estimated that Tipu destroyed at least 8000 Hindu temples. In fact, a note written by Tipu orders one of his commanders to kill 5000 people to instill fear in the people. Tipu perpetrated horrors in the Malabar region and in the state of Travancore where he forcibly converted thousands of Hindus and Christians to Islam. Tipu actually removed several Hindu officials and replaced them with Muslim ones, even though they were illiterate. They were the ones who remained after Haider's death and Tipu's ascent to the 'throne'. There are claims to Tipu's having many Hindu officials. He kept religion and politics separate and in that aspect he was truly a secular ruler. Haider was clever enough to recognize talent and use it and not be clouded by affiliation to religion. Diwan Purnaiah was the most important of the lot. He hired the local Hindu people to look after his army and administration. Haider Ali for all his faults had a few merits. In the first phase of his life/rule, Tipu comes across as a ruthless, tyrannical despot with a level of bigotry that would make even Osama bin Laden look to Tipu with awe. The phase break came because of Tipu's defeat in the Third Mysore war after which he became neurotic. Tipu's political life is in two phases one from 1767-1792 and the second one from 1792-1799. I was surprised as a lot of people from Chitradurga (where Haider Ali defeated Madakarinayaka, the local chieftain) loath Haider while being indifferent about Tipu. So, if we already know what the others have done, Tipu has matching deeds.Īccording to the book, Haider Ali, Tipu's father surprisingly comes out as a good leader and a king, in spite of some of his bad deeds. Tipu was a bigot on the same level as Mahmud Ghazni, Aurangzeb, Mohammed bin Tughlaq and Alla-ud-din Khilji. He has referred to the India Office archives in London where most of Tipu's correspondence and effects lie. The author has done some extensive research and has a good reference list at the end of the book.
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There is a translation touch to it - you can feel that it is a translation. I read a Kannada translation - which was good but the translation of the letters written by Tipu are difficult to read. It is by Prof HD Sharma - the original being in English. I am almost done reading a well researched book on Tipu.