Tipu Sultan
The lion of Mysore, Sultan Fateh Ali Khan Tipu was born in 1750, in DewanHilli (Bangalore). Haider Ali was desperate to have a male child. Once, he prayed for a son at the tomb of a saint, Tipu Mastan Wali of Arkat. When he was blessed with a son, he named him Tipu, after the name of that saint. Haider Ali himself was illiterate, but took great care of his son’s education. He educated him in Arabic, Persian, Urdu besides English and French. An army officer, Ghazi Khan trained him in soldiering. Haider Ali, while inspecting the army, used to keep Tipu Sultan with him. During his father’s time he took part in many battles and defeated British. At the time of the death of Haider Ali, Tipu Sultan was in Malabar. He got this sad news there. After the mourning ceremony, Tipu Sultan was crowned on 26th December, 1782.
Third Battle of Mysore
British thought that Tipu Sultan was a major hurdle in the way of expansion of their empire. They made an alliance with Nizam Hyderabad and Marhattas and started military campaign in 1790. In order to increase difficulties for Tipu Sultan, internal issues were created in Mysore. Meanwhile the British captured Bangalore and lay siege to Saringapatam. Due to adverse conditions, the Sultan was unable to fight; under compulsion he made an agreement with British According to this agreement the Sultan had to hand over many parts of the state to the British. He also paid millions of rupees as penalty of war. In this way the third battle of Mysore ended in February, 1792. 5.7.2
Fourth Battle of Mysore
The Sultan got fed up with off and on wire pulling and conspiracies of the British. In 1799 in Saringapatam, he decided to have decisive battle with British. Three most important office bearers of Sultan. Pournia, Mir Sadiq and Qamar- ud-Din had backdoor contacts with the British. The Sultan was unaware of these backdoor contacts. Pournia was holding the position of Prime Minister and Mir Sadiq was the Commander in Chief of the army. As General Harris attacked, Mir Sadiq sent a message to him to start artillery shelling on the city on 4th May afternoon. As per the promise, General Harris breached the wall of a bailey of the fort with shelling. In that bailey, Sultan had deployed troops of his personal body guards. On this critical moment, Mir on the pretext of pay distribution, took his soldiers away and the British army entered the city. At this Sultan fought gallantly and was badly injured. These injuries proved fatal and he was martyred He was buried by the side of his great father, Haider Ali. As a result of the fall of Saringapatam, British got countless wealth and jewels. On the news of Sultan’s death, a British officer shouted ” Now the sub-continent is ours.”
