Dr Jaishankar releases Vikram Sampath’s book Tipu Sultan- The Saga of the Mysore Interregnum
AMN / NEW DELHI
India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today released Vikram Sampath’s book Tipu Sultan-The Saga of the Mysore Interregnum in New Delhi.
Addressing at the launch event, Dr Jaishankar highlighted that the book aptly captures not just the flavour of a fast-moving and complicated era, but offers insights into politics, strategy, administration, sociology and diplomacy.
Dr Jaishankar said that Tipu Sultan has a reputation as a key figure who resisted the imposition of British colonial control over India. He said that it is a fact that Tipu Sultan’s defeat and death can be considered a turning point when it came to the fate of Peninsular India.
.Jaishankar described Tipu Sultan as a “very complex figure in history.” “Tipu Sultan is actually a very, very complex figure in history. On the one hand, he has the reputation as a key figure who resisted the British colonial control over India, and it is a fact that his defeat and death can be considered a turning point when it came to the fate of peninsular India,” Jaishankar said.
He also pointed out that in Tipu Sultan’s case, a “particular narrative” has been promoted over the years, which has largely focused on his anti-British stance while downplaying other dimensions of his rule.
“History in all society is complicated, and the politics of the day often indulges in cherry-picking facts. To a considerable extent that has happened in the case of Tipu Sultan,” he remarked. According to Jaishankar, this narrative focuses on the “Tipu-English binary” while excluding a broader and more nuanced understanding of his role in history.
The EAM noted that the current political environment in India has allowed for “alternative perspective on
historical figures like Tipu Sultan to emerge. He said, “In the last decade, the changes in our political dispensation have encouraged the emergence of alternative perspectives and balanced accounts. We are no longer prisoners of a vote bank, nor is it politically incorrect to bring out inconvenient truths. There are many more subjects on which the same degree of objectivity is needed.”
Jaishankar discussed the importance of studying history with an open mind and engaging in genuine debates. He emphasized that a pluralistic society and vibrant democracy require objective accounts of history. He suggested that much of India’s past has been edited to suit specific political or ideological purposes. “How much of our past has been airbrushed, how awkward issues have been glossed over, how facts are tailored for regime convenience—these are basic questions which confront us all today,” he said.
Referring to Tipu Sultan’s actions in different regions, Jaishankar noted that opinions about him remain divided. While many remember him for resisting British colonial control, others have strong negative sentiments about his rule, particularly in regions like Mysore, Coorg, and Malabar.
He acknowledged that Tipu Sultan’s resistance to the British was significant, saying, “There can be no doubt that Tipu Sultan was fiercely and almost consistently anti-British. But how much of it was inherent and how much a result of their allying with his local rivals, that is difficult to distinguish.”
The minister also highlighted Tipu Sultan’s alliances with foreign powers, which complicate a straightforward interpretation of his legacy. “To counter British ambitions, Tipu Sultan had no hesitation in collaborating with the French and that makes a ‘straightforward anti-foreign narrative’ very difficult to assert,” he said.
Touching upon
On Tipu Sultan’s foreign policy, Jaishankar said Tipu reached out to the rulers of Turkey, Afghanistan,and Persia for support, often on the basis of shared religious ties. He noted that this reflects the historical context of the time, where the modern sense of nationhood was absent.
About book
Over two centuries have passed since his death on 4 May 1799, yet Tipu Sultan’s contested legacy continues to perplex India and her contemporary politics. A fascinating and enigmatic figure in India’s military past, he remains a modern historian’s biggest puzzle as he simultaneously means different things to different people, depending on how one chooses to look at his life and its events.
Tipu’s ascent to power was accidental. His father Haidar Ali was a beneficiary of the benevolence of the Maharaja of Mysore. But in a series of fascinating events, the Machiavellian Haidar ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds; he ended up overthrowing his own benefactor and usurping the throne of Mysore from the Wodeyars in 1761. In a war-scarred life, father and son led Mysore through four momentous battles against the British, termed the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The first two, led by Haidar, brought the English East India Company to its knees. Chasing the enemy to the very gates of Madras, Haidar made the British sign such humiliating terms of treaties that sent shockwaves back in London.
In the hubris of this success, Tipu obtained the kingdom on a platter, unlike his father, who worked up the ranks to achieve glory. In a diabolical war thirst, Tipu launched lethal attacks on Malabar, Mangalore, Travancore, Coorg, and left behind a trail of death, destruction and worse, mass-conversions and the desecration of religious places of worship. While he was an astute administrator and a brave soldier, the strategic tact with opponents and the diplomatic balance that Haidar had sought to maintain with the Hindu majority were both dangerously upset by Tipu’s foolhardiness on matters of faith. The social report card of this eighteenth-century ruler was anything but clean. And yet, one simply cannot deny his position as a renowned military warrior and one of the most powerful rulers of Southern India.
Meticulously researched, authoritative and unputdownable, Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore’s Interregnum (1760–1799) opens a window to the life and times of one of the most debated figures from India’s history.