The day was particularly hot when the clock struck one on May 4, 1799. In a flash, 76 Redcoats crossed the four-foot-deep Cauvery, followed by columns of the 73rd and 74th Regiment of Foot, and stormed the fort of Srirangapatnam. It took the attackers just 16 minutes to scale the west-side wall and enter the fort through a breach,
surprising its defenders. About two hours later, the fort had fallen, its most famous defender falling along with his 8,000 comrades-at-arms with several musket and sword wounds. The ‘Tiger of Mysore’, Tipu Sultan, was dead.
Given the political environment in India today, which is much more vicious than it was not too long ago, it is problematic to talk about Tipu Sultan without incurring the wrath of certain sections of the society. Tipu awakens extreme liking among some who see
his uncompromising fight against the British as something worth glorifying. But he also awakens extreme hatred among those who see in him an oppressive Muslim ruler tormenting his majority Hindu subjects on the basis of faith and faith alone.
Tipu’s heavy-handed treatment of those siding with the British and his boastful talk about mass conversions or executions of non-Muslims are often cited as proof by his modern-day detractors. But the truth about him lies somewhere in the middle. Tipu was capable of amazing compassion and generosity, but he was equally capable of amazing cruelty, especially on those he didn’t consider his own.
