Tippu Sultan

Tippu Sultan was Britain’s most formidable Indian opponent of the eighteenth century. Sultan of Mysore from 1782, he modernised his army with French military advisers, deployed the most advanced rockets of the age, sought alliances with France, the Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan, and resisted East India Company expansion until his death at Seringapatam in 1799.

He is one of the most complex and debated figures in Indian history. To some he is a hero of resistance to colonialism, the ruler who came closest to challenging British dominance. To others he is an aggressive expansionist who persecuted Hindu and Christian minorities in the territories he conquered. An honest account must present both faces.

Tippu modernised the Mysore army along European lines, introducing new drill, uniforms, and weapons. His most significant military innovation was the rocket corps. Mysorean rockets used iron casings rather than the bamboo or cardboard tubes used elsewhere, giving them greater range and explosive power. They were the most advanced war rockets of their age, and after Seringapatam, captured examples directly inspired William Congreve’s development of the British military rocket.

He reformed the administration of Mysore, introduced new coinage, established a calendar, and promoted trade, including a state trading company modelled on European examples. His palace at Srirangapatna (the island fortress of Seringapatam) was decorated with tiger motifs: tiger-striped soldiers, tiger heads on his throne, and the famous mechanical tiger automaton, a life-size wooden tiger mauling a British soldier, now displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

He corresponded with Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Directory seeking military support against the British, and sent embassies to the Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan. These diplomatic efforts alarmed the Company and contributed directly to Richard Wellesley’s decision to attack Mysore before French aid could arrive.

Richard Wellesley, the Governor-General, decided to strike before French support could reach Tippu. General George Harris marched on Seringapatam with approximately 20,000 men, including Arthur Wellesley commanding a brigade. The fortress was invested in April 1799 and the walls breached over several weeks.

On 4 May the British stormed the breaches. The fighting inside the fortress was savage. Tippu Sultan was found dead near the northern gate, among his soldiers, weapon in hand. He had not surrendered. Whether he was killed by a musket ball during the fighting or murdered after capture is disputed by historians; contemporary British accounts state he died fighting.

Arthur Wellesley was appointed governor of the captured city. The Kingdom of Mysore was dismembered: a puppet Hindu maharaja was installed, and the Company absorbed the most valuable territories.