“The Body of Tippu Sultan Was Found Here”
A modest and solitary stone tablet engraved with a star and crescent moon informs us of the spot where the ruler of Mysuru was killed in a battle 224 years ago in Srirangapatna, a town in Mandya district of Karnataka.
Some feet away from the gravestone, an official signboard erected by the government under the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to mark 75 years of Independence provides us the story about Tipu라이브 바카라 demise.
“In the Fourth Mysore war the British laid siege to Srirangapatna on 4th May 1799 AD and effectively breached the Fort at Watergate … Tipu moved in posthaste to the spot, and in the fight, fell to the bullet of a British soldier. It was here the body of Tipu Sultan was identified and recovered amidst heaps of the dead soldiers …”
Tipu Sultan라이브 바카라 death has found an unexpected new relevance in 2023. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its bid to retain power in the key southern state, has invented two Vokkaliga characters—Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda—who they claim, without any evidence, killed the Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan in 1799.
While the vilification of the ‘Tiger of Mysore’ by the Hindu right is not new, in this election campaign Tipu has been pushed to an even more central position. For electoral gains, the BJP has tried to resurrect Tipu and forced voters to re-imagine his death.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi라이브 바카라 visit to Mandya on March 12, a huge arch was erected at the district라이브 바카라 entry point by the BJP workers. The arch hailed the two Gowdas. However, after a backlash, the reference was removed overnight.
This gambit particularly annoyed a section of Vokkaligas—a dominant landowning farming caste concentrated in southern Karnataka and in and around the Old Mysore region. The BJP is aggressively wooing them in this election.
While Mandya district, with its dominant Vokkaliga community, is a strong bastion of the Janata Dal Secular and Congress, the BJP has been attempting to make inroads in the region. The latest attempt is a clear bid to pit the Vokkaligas against Muslims while manufacturing new Hindu icons within the community.
The official signboard at Srirangapatna, however, contradicts the ruling party라이브 바카라 fictional account. Historians, opposition leaders and prominent Vokkaliga seers too have shot down the BJP라이브 바카라 fantastical theory calling it fake.
For Local Muslims, Tipu is “Sultan”
A short distance away from바카라 웹사이트Tipu라이브 바카라 dying spot, two imposing minarets and a façade of the Jama Masjid or the Masjid-e-Ala바카라 웹사이트fuse delicately into the spotless blue summer sky. The impressive two-storied structure located within the boundaries of the Srirangapatna Fort was built during the time of Tipu in 1784.바카라 웹사이트The two towers are known to have an internal staircase consisting of about 200 steps.
For the past 18 years, Syed Raus has been teaching English, computer and other subjects to the students who come to the madrasa inside the mosque to gain religious knowledge. Near the courtyard of the mosque, little children are reciting바카라 웹사이트holy Islamic scriptures as part of their summer camp.바카라 웹사이트Apart from that, there is dry silence in the air.
For Raus, Tipu, whom he바카라 웹사이트refers to as “Sultan”바카라 웹사이트in veneration,바카라 웹사이트is an icon whose influence on the바카라 웹사이트socio-economic바카라 웹사이트lives of people here바카라 웹사이트continues beyond바카라 웹사이트his lifetime.바카라 웹사이트Tipu is remembered for his land and social reforms; for introducing and promoting mulberry silk cultivation, a thriving industry today; for breeding and conserving the active and strong cattle breed Amrut Mahal, which he also successfully deployed during battles; laying the foundation of what is today the Krishna Sagar Dam; developing rocket missile technology and most importantly for taking on the East India Company.
“Sultan excelled in all fields, be it technology, administration, or faith. Do only Muslims benefit from all his contributions? No. The entire society does. It is just that while the haters are fewer in number, they are louder. Those who love Tipu, both Hindus and Muslims, are more in number but are silent,” says Raus.
As one drives through the picturesque Old Mysore region, cutting past sugarcane fields and cruising by the waters of the Cauvery, it is difficult to gauge how successful the BJP has been in communalising Tipu into a “Muslim bigot” from a secular, pro-farming community and pro-innovation ruler who died fighting the colonial British.바카라 웹사이트The BJP라이브 바카라 drive against Tipu bothers local Muslims who hold him in high regard.
Tipu: A victim of Politics?
For the BJP, Tipu embodies ‘the Muslim’—the eternal political adversary, a figure Hindus must polarise against, a character the Opposition parties are loyal to in order to appease Muslims.
Senior BJP leader Amit Shah in바카라 웹사이트January바카라 웹사이트declared that the Karnataka election would be a choice between Modi “who built바카라 웹사이트[the Ram] temple” and those “who glorify” Tipu. Those who believe in Tipu cannot do any good for Karnataka, Shah said바카라 웹사이트in February,바카라 웹사이트attacking the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular.바카라 웹사이트
Several other바카라 웹사이트senior바카라 웹사이트BJP leaders have gone on to바카라 웹사이트state바카라 웹사이트that the바카라 웹사이트election would be a battle between Savarkar and Tipu—a battle between바카라 웹사이트the바카라 웹사이트Hindu nationalist ideology versus a바카라 웹사이트‘Muslim’바카라 웹사이트ruler바카라 웹사이트who, in their eyes, oppressed Hindus during his rule. For the RSS-BJP, Savarkar was a Hindu patriot while Tipu was a “Muslim tyrant who converted Hindus in Coorg.”
BJP minister and Karnataka education minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, himself a Vokkaliga, has asked voters to finish off Congress leader Siddaramaiah바카라 웹사이트in the election바카라 웹사이트the same way the two Gowdas slayed Tipu. Another바카라 웹사이트senior바카라 웹사이트BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal referred to Muslim voters as Tipu Sultans and said that in the Bijapur바카라 웹사이트constituency바카라 웹사이트only the followers of Shivaji would prevail.
After seizing power from the Congress-JDS coalition in 2019, one of the first decisions by BJP chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa was to cancel the Tipu Jayanti celebrations started by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress regime in 2015.
But things were not always this unpleasant.바카라 웹사이트In 2012, when Yeddyurappa quit the BJP to form his own party, he had donned Tipu Sultan라이브 바카라 headgear and held a mock sword during a function seeking the support of Muslims.
During the same period,바카라 웹사이트when the BJP라이브 바카라 Jagadish Shettar was chief minister, the state government had released a monograph titled ‘Tipu Sultan—A Crusader for Change’,바카라 웹사이트written by B Sheikh Ali to commemorate the바카라 웹사이트150th year of the Indian Freedom Struggle of 1857. “His concept of Nation State, his novel idea of state entrepreneurship, his advanced military skill, his zeal for reforms, etc makes him a unique leader far ahead of his age,” wrote Shettar in the preface.
Govinda M Karjol, then culture minister of the BJP바카라 웹사이트government, also wrote바카라 웹사이트that the period of 1782-1799 witnessed the “benevolent rule” of Tipu Sultan and praised바카라 웹사이트him for having fought the British “single-handedly” and “valiantly.”
Contrast this with the narrative pedelled by the바카라 웹사이트BJP in바카라 웹사이트the current campaign. If earlier the right-wing groups allegedly resorted to distorting facts, manipulating narratives, and exaggerating grey events바카라 웹사이트about Tipu, today, they have resorted to plain lies바카라 웹사이트and invented stories, believe many historians and progressive thinkers.
The Drama Versus Book Narrative
At the centre of the discussion is a play titled바카라 웹사이트‘Tippu바카라 웹사이트Nija바카라 웹사이트Kanasugalu’ (Real Dreams of Tipu Sultan) by RSS-linked playwright Addanda C Cariappa,바카라 웹사이트which바카라 웹사이트portrays Tipu as a villain who was slain not by the British but by the two Vokkaligas.
This is based on a similarly-titled book by Cariappa. The book라이브 바카라 cover depicts바카라 웹사이트Tipu as a바카라 웹사이트ghastly바카라 웹사이트figure, with strained eyebrows, sharp devilish바카라 웹사이트ears,바카라 웹사이트flaming바카라 웹사이트eyes and a menacing,바카라 웹사이트malevolent, bloodthirsty glare.바카라 웹사이트The actual Tipu was often shown sporting a neatly curved moustache and a clean-shaven chin under his magnificent headgear embroidered with jewels. But Cariappa라이브 바카라 Tipu wears a thick chinstrap beard without any facial hair above the lips, like some conservative Muslims did in the modern era.
The title of the book and the play are considered to be a dig at the famous play ‘The Dreams of Tipu Sultan’ written by acclaimed late actor and playwright Girish Karnad in 1997.
Recently, Karnataka Horticulture Minister Munirathna had announced he would produce a film바카라 웹사이트on the lives of바카라 웹사이트the two Gowdas. But he had to stall the project last month after prominent Vokkaliga seer Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji expressed displeasure and advised Vokkaliga leaders cutting across parties to refrain from raking up the issue that could insult the community.
Debunking BJP라이브 바카라 theory
Locals in Mandya and Mysuru say they have never heard of the two Vokkaligas before the BJP brought them up recently.바카라 웹사이트A section of Vokkaliga progressive thinkers바카라 웹사이트even바카라 웹사이트take it as an affront바카라 웹사이트because they rate Tipu sympathetically. They underline that Uri means flame and Nanje means venom in Kannada as metaphors for the BJP라이브 바카라 devious strategy to communalise the atmosphere and the elections.
The Vokkaliga community never viewed Tipu Sultan as anti-Vokkaliga, says바카라 웹사이트Ugra바카라 웹사이트Narsimha Gowda, a prominent Vokkaliga social activist in Mysuru. “Tipu바카라 웹사이트was for Vokkaliga and for farming communities.바카라 웹사이트My바카라 웹사이트ancestral바카라 웹사이트village is 18 kms from Srirangapatna. My father바카라 웹사이트lived till 93바카라 웹사이트and passed away바카라 웹사이트four years ago. In his lifetime we never heard a negative thing about Tipu Sultan,” says Gowda. He goes on to list the number of policy interventions Tipu had made for the farming communities, including interest-free loans.
Sunanda Jayaram, a Vokkaliga woman farmer leader associated with the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha in Mandya, says her community is not affected by the “fake narrative” about Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. “They thought the Vokkaliga community will get attracted by this. But the community does not see Tipu as a bad ruler,” says Jayaram.
The BJP라이브 바카라 opponents, too, are not buying the theory.바카라 웹사이트H.D. Kumaraswamy, JDS leader바카라 웹사이트and former chief minister, has바카라 웹사이트accused바카라 웹사이트the BJP of stigmatising the Vokkaliga community,바카라 웹사이트to which he belongs,바카라 웹사이트and portraying them as villains forever. Among those who have debunked BJP라이브 바카라 theory is바카라 웹사이트Mysuru-based바카라 웹사이트historian P바카라 웹사이트V Nanjaraj Urs, who last year released a book in Kannada titled ‘Tipu Manyate Sigada Sulthana’ (Tipu: A ruler who did not get his due recognition), highlighting the achievements of the ruler.바카라 웹사이트He believes that the recent theory is not an attempt to distort history but to create false history.
“If Tipu was born a Hindu …”
Close to Malavalli바카라 웹사이트town, where BJP leaders claim the fictional characters lived, is the farm of Syed Ghani Khan바카라 웹사이트in Kiragaval village in Mandya. Kiragaval means a small watch tower.
During the period of Tipu, a small army was stationed here to keep a watch on advancing British forces marching from Madras. It is said that Tipu donated the land in and around the village to soldiers of his disbanded army to grow different varieties of Mangoes. Among those families was that of Khan who still grows around 120 varieties of mangoes in his farm, keeping alive the legacy of Tipu. Since the KRS dam came up, farmers, bolstered with irrigation facilities, shifted to paddy cultivation but the Khan family retained mango orchards too.
“We grew up hearing our grandmother telling us how Tipu Sultan was a brave person, who fought against the British for the country.바카라 웹사이트All this is only for politics and vote bank. If the public falls for it, communalism will grow. Generally, this place has seen brotherhood. There has been no conflict between us and our Vokkaliga brothers,” says Khan.
Most Indians know about Tipu from the Sanjay Khan-starrer television serial ‘The Sword of Tipu Sultan,’ which showed him facing off against the바카라 웹사이트British. Based on a novel by Bhagwan Gidwani, the serial was broadcast on Doordarshan during the 1990s. Even바카라 웹사이트then, Tipu was not spared by the right-wing, as writer Bhupendra Yadav noted in a piece published in ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ December 1990 in the heydays of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
An바카라 웹사이트agitation kicked off after the바카라 웹사이트director of the Trivandrum-based Bhartiya바카라 웹사이트Vichar Kendra, an RSS outfit, claimed that바카라 웹사이트the television serial on Tipu Sultan injured바카라 웹사이트the Malayaei바카라 웹사이트Hindu바카라 웹사이트sentiments, wrote Yadav.
However, Tipu Sultan survived that but바카라 웹사이트only to be vilified again and again, first by the British and now by the Hindu right, say experts. If Tipu was born a Hindu, the same Modi government바카라 웹사이트would have given him a Bharat Ratna or Padma Vibhushan for바카라 웹사이트the바카라 웹사이트social reforms he introduced바카라 웹사이트in the Malabar region, says Urs.
(This appeared in the print as "Sword's Edge")
Omar Rashid in Mysuru and Srirangapatna
