The Tiger of Mysore’s first photograph dated 1789 has recently been released by the British archives
Syed Ali Mujtaba | Clarion India
Perhaps no other ruler of India has been covered by the British media as Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu a.k.a Tipu Sultan born at Devanhalli in 1750 and died at Seringapatam on May 4, 1799.
The British archives recently released the first photograph of Tipu Sultan dated 1789 from the London Museum. The picture depicts the Tiger of Mysore in his real-life size image. So far Indians have never had an opportunity to view Tipu’s real image and all his images are either hand-drawn or caricatured illustrations.
Tipu was the most feared Indian in Britain and his activities were widely reported in British media. The people in England hungrily awaited reports of the latest outrage of Tipu Sultan during the four Anglo-Mysore Wars.
Tipu Sultan was at the forefront of the British public’s consciousness and his terrifying tales of attacks on the British forces and threats to trading settlements in the Madras presidency appeared at regular intervals in the British newspapers.
The return of British prisoners of war, some of whom were held captive in Mysore for several years, led to the writing of books that told harrowing stories of hardship and torture at the hand of this Indian ruler. Many of these accounts were self-serving and the avid readers who followed Tipu Sultan closely were unnerved reading his tales of defiance.
Tipu Sultan was possibly the most famous Indian in the whole of the United Kingdom. When he died at the hands of General Harris’s troops that besieged his island capital Seringapatam in 1799, there were celebrations in Britain. The authors, playwrights, and painters created works to celebrate his demise and the crown’s victor over the Tiger of Mysore.
The news of Tipu’s death was such a powerful event that it fuelled much creativity throughout England. Not only authors and playwrights but also artists and painters used canvas to glorify the end of a dreaded Indian ruler who defied the British might.
Tipu Sultan extensively used tiger imagery to convey a sense of his awesome power. Tiger images emblazoned his golden throne, his textiles, coins, swords, and his soldier’s uniforms.
It is no coincidence that the Seringapatam medal, awarded to those who had taken part in the siege. The medal depicts a rampaging lion mauling a supine tiger, suggesting that the Tiger of Mysore was the last bulwark against British imperial designs.
Tipu Sultan held sway in the public mind of the English people well into the nineteenth century. As late as 1868, Wilkie Collins chose the siege of Srirangapattana and its subsequent looting as the setting for the opening of his bestselling novel ‘The Moonstone.’
It needs to be reminded to the Hindu fanatics that Tipu Sultan was secular to the core. His chief minister Purnaiya was a Hindu, and so were several other prominent nobles at his court.
Tipu Sultan was a generous patron of several Hindu temples. This included the Sri Ranganatha temple near his main palace at Srirangapattana. He respected the Swami of the Sringeri Math and called him Jagadguru.
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai, can be contacted at [email protected]
