Tipu Sultan Biography

Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, who was fondly referred to as Tipu Sultan, was the ruler of the Mysore kingdom in south India. Here we will discuss the different aspects of Tipu Sultan’s life including his birth, early life, being the ruler of Mysore, conflicts with the British, and his death. 

Birth and Early Days

Tipu Sultan’s birth date was 20th November in 1750. The birthplace of Tipu Sultan is Devanahalli in the rural district of Bengaluru which is located 33 km to the north of the city of Bengaluru. The real name of Tipu Sultan was Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab and he was named after the saint called Tipu Mastan Aulia in Arcot. Hyder Ali was the father of Tipu Sultan and he was the military officer who served the kingdom of Mysore and then became the de facto ruler of the province in 1761. 

Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa was the mother of Tipu Sultan. Though Hyder Ali was illiterate, he made it a point to ensure that his eldest son got the prince’s education plus early exposure to the military as well as political affairs. Tipu Sultan got an early education in various subjects including Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and Kannada. Besides this, Tipu Sultan also learned Quran, Islamic Jurisprudence, shooting, fencing, and riding from capable teachers who were appointed by Hyder Ali. 

Tipu Sultan was handed over the command to important military and diplomatic missions when he was just 17 years of age. Tipu Sultan was the right-hand man of his father in the wars and this helped Hyder Ali capture the thrones of southern India.

Family of Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan had various wives including Khadija Zaman Begum, Ruqayya Banu, and Sindh Sahiba. Tipu Sultan had 16 sons including Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Hyder Ali Khan Sultan, Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Abdul Khaliq Khan Sultan, Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhi-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan, Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Mu’iz-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan, Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Subhan Khan Sultan, and Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Yasin Khan Sultan amongst others.

Death of Tipu Sultan

In 1799 there were three armies that marched into Mysore, two of those armies came from the United Kingdom and one came from Bombay. The forces belonging to Tipu Sultan were around 30,000 whereas the British East India Company had over 26,000 troops.

It was the betrayal from Tipu Sultan’s brother in law where he collaborated with the British and undermined the walls thereby making the British journey easier. Even though Tipu Sultan was advised by French military advisors to flee, he declined and was killed at Srirangapatna Fort. His body was buried at the Gumbaz, right next to the grave of his father.

More About Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in South India. Tipu Sultan's full name was Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu.

In this Tipu Sultan biography, we will learn about Tipu Sultan birth, Who was the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan original name, Tipu Sultan History about his early life and has a ruler of Mysore, his conflicts with the British and surrounding kingdoms, and his death.

Early Days of Tipu Sultan Birth

• Tipu Sultan was born on November 20, 1750.

• Tipu Sultan birthplace is Devanahalli, Bengaluru Rural District, about 33 kilometres north of Bengaluru city.

• Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu was Tipu Sultan's real name.

• Tipu Sultan was named after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of Arcot.

• Tipu Sultan’s father was Hyder Ali who was a military officer in service to the Kingdom of Mysore and became the de facto ruler of Mysore in 1761.

• Tipu Sultan’s mother was Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa who was the daughter of Mir Muin-ud-Din, the governor of the fort of Kadapa.

• Hyder Ali, who was illiterate, made a point of providing his eldest son with a prince's education and early exposure to military and political affairs.

• Tipu Sultan was given an early education in subjects such as Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Kannada, Quran, Islamic jurisprudence, riding, shooting, and fencing by able teachers who were appointed by Hyder Ali.

• Tipu Sultan was granted independent command of important diplomatic and military missions when he was 17 years old.

• Tipu Sultan served as his father's right hand in the wars that propelled Hyder Ali to the throne of southern India.

Tipu Sultan Family

• Tipu Sultan had several wives. Ruqayya Banu, Khadija Zaman Begum, Sindh Sahiba were a few of the wives names recorded.

• Tipu Sultan had 16 Sons 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Hyder Ali Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Abdul Khaliq Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhi-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Mu'izz-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Mi'raj-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Mu'in-ud-din Ali Khan Sultan

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Yasin Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Subhan Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Shukrullah Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Sarwar-ud-din Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Nizam-ud-din Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Muhammad Jamal-ud-din Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Munir-ud-din Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sir Sayyid walShareef Ghulam Muhammad Sultan Sahib, KCSI

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Ghulam Ahmad Khan Sultan 

• Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Hashmath Ali Khan Sultan

First Anglo-Mysore War

• Tipu Sultan fought alongside his father against the British in the First Anglo-Mysore War in 1766 when he was 15 years old.

• Tipu Sultan received military training from French officers who worked for his father.

• At the age of 16, he led a cavalry corps in the conquest of Carnatic in 1767.

• He also made a name for himself during the First Anglo-Maratha War, which lasted from 1775 to 1779.

Second Anglo-Mysore War

• The British seized the French-controlled port of Mahe in 1779, which Tipu had protected by supplying troops for its defence.

• Hyder Ali launched an invasion of the Carnatic in response, with the aim of driving the British out of Madras.

• Hyder Ali sent Tipu Sultan with 10,000 men and 18 guns to intercept Colonel Baillie on his way to join Sir Hector Munro during this campaign in September 1780. Tipu decisively beat Baillie in the Battle of Pollilur.

• On February 18, 1782, Tipu Sultan defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi, near Tanjore.

• Tipu Sultan successfully reclaimed Chittur from the British in December 1781.

• Tipu Sultan recognised the British as a new form of threat to India.

• By the time Hyder Ali died on December 6, 1782, Tipu Sultan had acquired sufficient military experience.

• The Treaty of Mangalore, signed in 1784, put an end to the Second Mysore War.

Ruler of Mysore Tipu Sultan

• Following the death of Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan was crowned King of Mysore on Sunday, December 22, 1782, in a simple coronation ceremony.

• He then worked to counter the British advance by forming alliances with the Marathas and Mughals. 

Disputes with the Maratha Confederacy

• The Maratha Empire regained much of the Indian subcontinent under its new Peshwa Madhavrao I, twice defeating Tipu's father, who was forced to recognise the Maratha Empire as the supreme power in 1764 and 1767.

• In 1767, the Maratha Peshwa Madhavrao defeated both Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan and marched into Mysore's capital, Srirangapatna.

• Hyder Ali acknowledged Madhavrao's authority and was given the title of Nawab of Mysore.

• However, the Ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan decided to get out of the Maratha’s treaty, so he attempted to seize some Maratha forts in Southern India that had been captured by the Marathas during the previous war.

• This pitted Tipu Sultan against the Marathas, resulting in the Maratha–Mysore War, which lasted from 1785 to 1787.

• In March 1787, the Treaty of Gajendragad was signed, in which Tipu returned all of the territories conquered by Hyder Ali to the Maratha Empire.

• Tipu Sultan agreed to pay the Maratha Empire four years worth of tribute that his father, Hyder Ali, had agreed to pay.

Third Anglo-Mysore War

• On 28th December 1789, Tipu Sultan gathered troops in Coimbatore and launched an assault on Travancore's lines, knowing that Travancore was a British East India Company ally (according to the Treaty of Mangalore).

• Lord Cornwallis responded by mobilising company and British military powers, as well as forming alliances with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad, in order to defeat Tipu.

• The company forces advanced in 1790, capturing a large portion of the Coimbatore district. Tipu launched a counter-offensive, retaking most of the territory, though the British retained control of Coimbatore.

• In 1791, his adversaries made gains on all fronts, with Cornwallis' main British force capturing Bengaluru and threatening Srirangapatna.

• Tipu Sultan harassed British supply and communication lines and implemented a scorched earth strategy of refusing the invaders local resources.

• Cornwallis was successful in this last attempt, as a shortage of provisions forced him to retreat to Bengaluru rather than attempt a siege of Srirangapatna.

• Tipu sent forces to Coimbatore after the withdrawal, which they retook after a long siege.

• Tipu began negotiations for surrender terms after about two weeks of siege.

• He was forced to cede half of his territory to the allies and deliver two of his sons as hostages in the subsequent treaty before he paid the British the three crores and thirty lakhs rupees set aside as war indemnity for the campaign against him. He paid the money in two installments and returned to Madras with his sons.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and Death of Tipu Sultan

• In 1799, three armies marched into Mysore: one from Bombay and two from the United Kingdom, one of which included Arthur Wellesley. During the Fourth Mysore War, they besieged Srirangapatna, the capital.

• The British East India Company had over 26,000 troops, while Tipu Sultan's forces numbered 30,000.

• Tipu Sultan's brother-in-law's betrayal in collaborating with the British and undermining the walls to make the British's journey easier.

• When the British broke through the city walls, Tipu Sultan was advised to flee through hidden passages by French military advisors, but he declined.

• Tipu Sultan was killed at the Srirangapatna Fort. He was buried at the Gumbaz, next to his father's grave.

Tipu Sultans Administration 

In this section let us look into some of the administrative reforms passed by Tipu Sultan for the betterment of the Mysore state.

• Tipu was able to conquer all of the southern petty kingdoms. In addition, he was one of the few Indian rulers to beat British armies.

• Mysore's use of rocketry had been expanded by Tipu Sultan's father, who had made important innovations in both the rockets themselves and the military logistics of their use. In his army, he deployed up to 1,200 specialised troops to control rocket launchers. During the third and fourth Anglo-Mysore Wars, these rockets were used.

• The navy led by Tipu Sultan was made of 20 battleships of 72 cannons and 20 frigates of 62 cannons.

• In the late 18th century, Tipu Sultan was at the pinnacle of Mysore's economic strength. He embarked on an ambitious economic development programme with his father, Hyder Ali, with the aim of increasing Mysore's wealth and revenue.

• With highly productive agriculture and textile manufacturing, Mysore overtook Bengal Subah as India's dominant economic force during his reign. 

• In the late 18th century, Mysore had some of the highest real incomes and living standards in the world, even higher than Britain, thanks to Tipu Sultan. At this time, Mysore's average income was five times that of the subsistence level.

• On the Kaveri river, Tipu Sultan laid the base for the Kannambadi dam (Krishna Raja Sagara or KRS dam).

• During Tipu Sultan's reign, a new land revenue system was developed which initiated the growth of the Mysore silk industry for the first time.

• Tipu Sultan was a moral administrator. Liquor use and prostitution were strictly banned during his rule. Psychedelics, such as Cannabis, were also banned from use and cultivation.

• Tippu Sultan introduced a new coinage system and calendar.

Religious Policies of Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan was a very controversial figure in Indian History because of his religious beliefs and policies. In this section let us look into some of the religious policies of Tipu Sultan.

• Tipu Sultan was a devout Muslim who performed regular prayers and paid particular attention to mosques in the city. Some of his policies have sparked debate as a Muslim ruler in a predominantly Hindu country.

• In India, his religious legacy has sparked heated debate, with some groups hailing him as a great warrior for the faith or Ghazi for both religious and political reasons.

• Many sources cite Tipu's appointment of Hindu officers in his administration, as well as his land grants and endowments to Hindu temples, as proof of his religious tolerance.

• Various accounts, on the other hand, depict Hindu and Christian massacres, incarceration, and forced conversion, the destruction of churches and temples, and the crackdown on Muslims, which are often cited as proof of his prejudice.

After Reading Tipu Sultans Biography We May Get a Question:

Who is the Tiger of Mysore and why was he called so?

Tipu Sultan, also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was a powerful ruler in Mysore. Tipu Sultan was a fearsome warrior king who moved so quickly that the enemy thought he was fighting on many fronts at the same time. Tiger was Tipu Sultan's state symbol, and he used tiger motifs on arms and uniforms, as well as decorating palaces with tiger emblems. 

Also, one incident with Tiger gave him this name. Tipu Sultan's gun jammed and his knife dropped to the ground when he attempted to kill the Tiger. When the Tiger jumped on him and was about to maul him, Tipu took out his knife and killed the tiger, earning him the moniker "Tiger of Mysore." 

In this Tipu Sultan biography, we have talked about the life history of tipu Sultan, his battles with the British empire, his rule of South India and we got to know Who is Tiger of Mysore.

Conclusion

During his lifetime, Tipu Sultan was a legend, and he is still known as an enlightened ruler in India. He was a fierce and successful opponent of British rule in southern India during the late eighteenth century, posing a serious threat to the East India Company. 

So it is important for students to study the Tipu Sultan history to understand his ideologies, administrative skills and never give up attitude on the battlefield.