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The Muslim King of Mysore, Tipu Sultan
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On November 20, 1750, the Muslim king of Mysore, Fath Ali Khan, known popularly as Tipu Sultan, was born in Devanahil, near the city of Bangalore in southern India. He was the son of Hyder Ali Khan the founder of the Muslim kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan, like his father, was a staunch opponent of the British presence in India, and had tried to form alliances in vain with local rulers for driving them out.
He also appealed for help from the rulers of Iran, Afghanistan, the Ottoman Empire and even France, to break the British hegemony. He was in personal contact with Napoleon Bonaparte, and following the latter's conquest of Egypt, the British fearing that he may sail to India, attacked Mysore without any provocation in violation of the peace treaties they had signed.
The result was the 4th Anglo-Mysore War in which during the Battle of Seringapatnam, Tipu Sultan was martyred while defending his capital on 4th May 1799 at the age of 49. He was an enlightened ruler and patronized Arabic and Persian literature. He also experimented with the manufacture of artillery rockets, which greatly alarmed the British. Among the reliable history books of the Muslim Dynasty of Mysore is the “Nishan-e Hyderi” in Persian, written by a migrant Iranian scholar to his court, Mir Hussain Ali Khan Kirmani.
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