“Tippoo Sultan” A Tale of The Mysore War

“TIPPOO SULTAN”

A Tale of The Mysore War

DR MRS. ILARAO

In The Confessions of a Thug, Meadows Taylor had a very patronising attitude towards the main character, for the activities of thugs were in no way affecting the British interests in India. The Thugs were actually only an administrative problem so far as the British were concerned out they were not a potential danger to their power. Besides, the various gruesome studies about the activities of the Thugs was one way of justifying the British cause India–magnifying the reformist attitude and the missionary zeal that the Whiteman was supposed to have had.

With regard to Tippoo Sultan, however, the attitude, though basical by the same, is slightly different. Care is taken to increase and exaggerate the faults of Tippoo Sultan and his so-called cruel and atrocious deeds so that there could be some justification for British action in South India. It should not, however, be forgotten that at the close of the Second Mysore War in 1784 the leading power in the State was Mysore under the able leadership of Tippoo Sultan. Till his death in 1799 he was regarded as the most formidable power with which the Company had to deal. As Tippoo Sultan was the only opposing factor in the South and was the only obstacle to British Supremacy in that area, it can be understood the portrayal of the character of Tippoo Sultan is biased and has been presented only from the British point of view. Most books on Indian history have given a very inadequate account of the life and character of Tippoo Sultan. He has been compared with disadvantage to his father Haider Ali. Some English historians have even made efforts to blacken hischaracter and paint him as a cruel and fanatic tyrant. Few have realized that Tippoo Sultan, ‘The Tigerof Mysore’, was the sole champion of India’s freedom in the 18th century. The fall of Seringapatam was the knell of India’s national integrity for it is a story of betrayal and deceit.

In the novel Tippoo Sultan, Meadows Taylor has very cleverly manipulated historical events and romance. A close study of the book reveals that the emphasis was more on the story of the other characters than on the story of Tippoo Sultan. There is no distortion of the historical events, on the other hand they have been very faithfully presented but the title is quite misleading, for the plot is built round two characters, Meer Kasim Ali and Herbert Compton and not on the character of Tippoo Sultan. Very few events from the life of Tippoo Sultan figure in the novel, only those that are relevant to the stories of these two characters of Meer Kasim Ali and Herbert Compton are given prominence. What was of primary importance was the struggle of the British against the might of Tippoo Sultan, and the effect it had on the life of two characters–one an Indian and the other an Englishman. It was absolutely important to magnify the defects of the Indian rulers and justify the British rule. Thus the story of the two characters, though dissimilar are also similar and coincide at certain points like two circles which are also so close to each other than they overlap at two points. Then again Tippoo’s character is not directly presented but only through the attitudes of these two characters.

The novel starts with the description of a party of people on horsebeing escorted across the plains of Adoni by a strikingly stalwart man of middle age, elaborately dressed in very rich garments. This is Abdul Rhyman Khan, one of Tippoo’s favourite commanders at Seringapatam. He was travelling with his third wife, a young girl of striking beauty, called Ameena. Suddenly a terrific storm arose and the party was completely shelterless and their only refuge was a small village across a stream which the rain had transformed into muddy torrent. The rest of the party crossed the stream with the aid of their horses, but Ameena insisted on being carried across in her palanquin; while the bearers were carrying the palanquin through the raging waters, one of them slipped and the palanquin fell into the water. Ameena had not a chance of saving herself and was carried off swiftly down the stream. The rest of the people were dumb-founded and thunder-struck by this unforeseen calamity and the Khan was absolutely grief-stricken and gave Ameena up for lost. In the meanwhile a little distance down the stream a young man, Meer Kasim Ali, who belonged to the village, was watching the rising waters of the stream. Seeing Ameena floating past, he jumped into the stream at the risk of his own life and rescued her. Meer Kasim Ali carried Ameena home and then came to know that she was the Khan’s wife. He speedily went to inform the Khan that his wife had been saved. The Khan was filled with admiration for this brave young man Meer Kasim Ali and was thankful for Ameena’s safety. He gladly became Kasim’s guest for the night and he made up his mind to reward the young man for his brave act. Kasim Ali, on the other hand, had been so impressed by the beauty of Ameena that he spent a restless night. His mother, realising his feelings, quietly suggested that since Ameena was already married he should banish all thoughts of her from his mind. Kasim Ali quietly said, “Her fate is with mine, mother, from the moment I was impelled to rescue her from the waters, I felt that my life was connected with hers”.¹ Next morning at the time of departure, the Khan felt that the most fitting reward for Meer Kasim’s services was a position in Tippoo’s army. He offered to take him to the court of Tippoo and give him a good position in the army. Meer Kasim readily agreed, for he looked upon this offer as the only way in which he could at least be near Ameena. Thus Kasim Ali gladly joined the Khan’s group when they resumed their journey. While passing through the town of Bellary, Kasim had again an opportunity of showing his courage and valour when they were involved in a skirmish with a group of Mahrattas. Ameena slowly comes to admire and respect Kasim Ali.

The scene now shifts to the West, in the words of the author, “To the perfect understanding of the events connected with this veritable history, therefore, we feel ourselves obliged to retrograde, a few years, and to leave the glowing climate of the East for a while, to breathe in idea the colder yet more congenial air of England”.² The narrative then moves on to the family of the Rector Mr. Compton. His eldest son Herbert Compton had joined the army and was proceeding with his regiment to India to afford protection to the position of the East India Company. It was a day of sad news and gloom for the family for a posting to India in the 18th century was like a journey to the unknown. Here again the author stresses on the loyalty and the nobility of the British and the personal sacrifices they made in acquiring a dominion which though an asset was difficult to maintain. This news was a shock to Amy Hayward who was betrothed to Herbert Compton. The young man was, however, proud of his assignment and he leaves for India with his regiment.

Meadows Taylor now goes to the story of Abdul Rhyman Khan and Meer Kasim Ali. The party had now arrived at Bangalore and they had been asked to escort a party of English prisoners, and military stores to Mysore. Among the prisoners was Herbert Compton who with other English soldiers had been captured at the battle of Bednore. This was Kasim’s first encounter with an Englishman and he was full of admiration for the heroic and handsome demeanour of Herbert Compton. He went out of his way to make his acquaintance and make his journey as comfortable as possible. At the court of Tippoo, when some of the soldiers assaulted Herbert and would have killed him, Kasim Ali intervened and prevented his death. Tippoo was irritated with Kasim Ali and for some time he was in disgrace for having befriended a foreigner. Herbert Compton was imprisoned at the fort of Nundidroog and subsequently very cruelly treated and tortured. On one occasion when he was about to be thrown froma steep precipice, he fainted from sheer exhaustion and fatigue but was saved by the kindness of a Fakeer. He was then consigned to the prison at Bangalore. In the meanwhile the family of Herbert Compton and Amy Hayward had given him up for lost. Philip Dalton, who had been Herbert’s good friend in the same regiment, had returned to England for a short while. He had brought with him a packet containing the treasured belongings of his friend for Amy Hayward who was grief-stricken with this sad news.

Philip Dalton falls in love with his friend’s sister, marries her and returns to India with the hope of getting further information about Herbert.

In the court of Tippoo there were violent misgivings about an impending battle with the English. It was absolutely essential to have the help of the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Peshwas of Maharashtra. Kasim Ali was despatched as a messenger to the Nizam. Kasim Ali came with the promise of help from the Nizam. But at the last moment the Nizam goes on his word and allies himself with the English. This was the greatest blow to Tippoo’s plans. Undaunted, he attacks Travancore and brings the full force of the British army on himself. The British then direct their attack on Bangalore and Tippoo is defeated and forced to sign a treaty. For a while there is peace, then the combined armies of the British, the Nizam and the Peshwas launch their attack on Mysore. Addul Rhyman Khan was killed and Kasim Ali badly injured. The British captured him and it was here that he met Philip Dalton who was anxious for news about. Herbert Compton. Kasim Ali was touched by the humane treatment of the English which was quite a contrast to the cruel treatment of Tippoo. He gradually developed a hatred for the tyrannical acts of Tippoo Sultan and consequently great admiration for the English. The treaty by which most of the dominions of Tippoo Sultan were taken away and given to the Nizam effected the possessions of Kasim Ali. All his lands were annexed now to the Nizam and this facilitated his resignation from Tippoo’s army and it also facilitated his alliance with the English. In the final attack of the English on Seringapatam, Kasim Ali helped the English and showed them a route into the fort that was known only to him. Tippoo Sultan was killed and the English brought the Hindu dynasty to the throne of Mysore. The conflict with Tippoo comes to an end, and Meadows Taylor rounds off the story of Herbert Compton and Kasim Ali. He is too competent a story-teller to leave the narrative unfinished. Herbert Compton who was found in a prison in Coorg is saved and subsequently reunited with his family and Amy Hayward. Kasim Ali managed to find Ameena and settles down happily with her.

Tippoo Sultan is more a romance than a historical novel. The actual facts have been very carefully maintained in the book and the story is very skilfully manipulated into the framework of history. Meadows Taylor is certainly a very interesting story-teller and he uses all the traditional tricks of intrigue, suspense and mystery. The novel starts after the Second Mysore War when Tippoo Sultan’s supremacy in the South had been established. The novel deal’s with ten years from 1789 to 1800. In the account that Meadows Taylor gives of the British attack of Bednore and the seige and capture of Anantapur, he makes it quite clear that his main intention was not to state facts of history but to make it a proper round for the story of Herbert Compton. “It is far from our intention” he says, “to follow seriatim the operations of this campaign, which are already the matters of history, except as they are necessary to the explanation of the positions into which the fate Herbert Compton led him”. ³ Tippoo Sultan’s attack on Travancore is also described at length, and here again the stress is not on the historical significance but the way these events are described. ”It is foreign to our tale to describe every event of the war, which has already been so much more efficiently done in the histories of the periods, besides we have a pleasant lience in such matters without which it would be impossible for us to conduct our readers to any satisfactory conclusions of our history”.⁴ All the important events of the year are very faithfully described but not with much stress on the historical significance. There is a very happy blending of fact and fiction. The death of Tippoo Sultan, though of vital importance in Indian history, brings the novel to a happy conclusion so far as the main characters are concerned.

What is more amazing is the skill with which Meadows Taylor keeps up the continuity of the story, in spite of the confusing details and numerous characters. His style of narration follows the zigzag method where alternatively he narrates the story of each character up to a certain point and then finally brings all the characters together. The method is very much like a pendulum oscillating between two important points, and in between he narrates also the intrigues of the wives of Abdul Rhyman Khan, the story of Philip Dalton, but he maintains the unity by connecting everything finally to the two important characters, Herbert Compton and Meer Kasim. Tippoo Sultan is the final binding factor in all this confusion.

It is interesting to note the attitude that Meadows Taylor had towards Tippoo Sultan. Most of the time only his faults have been highlighted and he has been portrayed as a fanatic, superstitious and cruel. Only rarely does Meadows Taylor refer to his good points. He indirectly points out the staunch views of Tippoo Sultan. “He is faithful to those he loves, but a bitter foe to those who provoke him”.⁵ The author is not completely biassed in his assessment of Tippoo’s character, for he explains and gives reasons for his hatred of the English.

“He sees their restless love of intrigue and power, he knows how they have sown dissensions in Bengal and wrested many fair provinces from the sway of the true believers”. ⁶ There is the incident of the slaughtering of the bull and the smearing of the blood on the face of a Brahmin, which is most revolting. One does not know the truth behind such stories. By hearsay Tippoo Sultan, though a staunch Muslim, had respect and regard for the Hindu religion as can be seen from the various temples he allowed in the kingdom–the chief, of course, being the temple of Sriranga from which the town of Seringapatam takes its name. Tippoo’s ill-treatment of English prisoners might be true enough, but when he was out to defend his own country he had every justification to act in this manner. Tippoo was by nature very superstitious and on this quality most writers have stressed upon. A completely different picture is presented in a Bengali drama on Tippoo Sultan, written by Mahendra Gupta. Here he is portrayed as a very heroic character with no signs of meanness in his attitude. The supreme moment of frustration and tragedy in his life comes when he realises that he is alone in his struggle against the British and that the Nizam and the Peshwas have deceived him. There is a great deal of exaggeration in the delineation of Tippoo’s character by Meadows Taylor. Consequently in the character of Kasim Ali, Meadows Taylor makes every effort to justify his actions. Right from the start he has been pictured as a very heroic, handsome and noble figure. Lest this figure be tarnished by his act of treachery to Tippoo Sultan, the author makes haste to reassure us that at the time of the betrayal he was no longer in the employment of Tippoo Sultan. Besides, Tippoo Sultan’s own actions had destroyed the feeling of loyalty that Kasim had towards his king.

Meadows Taylor has a very pleasing style. As seen in The Confessions of a Thug he excels in descriptions. Though in many ways the subject he has concentrated upon paints a very hostile picture of India, he makes up for this by concentrating on the scenic grandeur of the country. To the 18th century Englishman, India was a land of adventures, battles, curious and interesting people with different faiths, superstitions and ceremonies–a land which was the grave of many Englishmen. Nevertheless, it was a charming country which excited the imagination. Descriptions are an absolute necessity to the novel as the topography of the country is essential for completing the picture of India that Meadows Taylor was trying to paint. He was definitely a lover of beauty and whatever the defects of India in the English eyes, it was certainly a rich jewel of great value. About the mountains of the South, the author writes “Mountains of very strange and varied form, whose naked tops displayed bright hues of colour, rose in their precipices out of eternal forests, and formed combinations of beautiful forms not to be expressed by words”.⁷ He is also able to capture the majesty and beauty of the Nilgiri mountains.

“The blue distance melted into the sky, by a succession of the tenderest tints and away through the plains rolled the Bhowanee, a silver thread glittering amidst the most exquisite colours”. ⁸

Tippoo Sultan is a romance and not a complete historical novel. The historical ground is only a setting for the stories of Herbert Compton and Kasim Ali who can be called the main characters in the novel. It is their stories that create the suspense and interest in the novel. The story of Tippoo Sultan is relegated to the ground and occupies only a minor place. The prejudice that the English would have had towards this character is easily perceptible. The novel is, however, a good document of the English attitude towards India in the 18th century.

References

¹ Tippoo Sultan, Meadows Taylor, p. 18
² Ibid. p. 59
³ Ibid. p. 156
⁴ Ibid. p. 353
⁵ Ibid. p. 90
⁶ Ibid. p. 90
⁷ Ibid. p. 153
⁸ Ibid. p. 220