Tipu Sultan and his Love for Ahle-Bait

Tipu Sultan and his Love for Ahle-Bait

By Dr. Mazhar Naqvi

Historians have constantly regarded Tipu Sultan as an exemplary martyr for India’s freedom. But they have literally not attempted so far to find out as to why Tipu preferred death instead of bowing down to British imperialism? It requires tremendous courage to choose martyrdom. Historians should have paid attention at the source of Tipu’s unflinching stand and hatred against the British. Slight efforts on their parts would have revealed to the entire world why Sultan found dignified death better than the life of humiliation. He simply did what his role models had exhibited at Karbala under the charismatic leadership of Imam Husain.      

The Lion of Mysore had the option to become a tributary to British Empire like other Indian rulers. But he did not budge from his decision to oppose British till his last breath. He always considered them as invaders and oppressors. Tipu was the first Indian ruler to visualize the real intentions of the British. He did his best to oppose British but failed in his bid thanks to non- cooperation and treachery of his own counterparts and people. The outcome resulted in his martyrdom and slavery to British but it also led to his emergence as a saintly figure in independent India.   

Tipu was a devout Muslim with ardent love for Prophet and his progeny (Ahle Bait). The impact of Shia Imams and leaning towards Sufism is quite apparent in his life and works. He had great reverence for Hazrat Ali and he inscribed on his weapons Asadullah-ul-Ghalib, one of Imam’s titles. He also had respect for other Imams and named many of his coins after them. The manuscripts in his library had the names of Bibi Fatima, Imam Hasan and Husain stamped on them. Sultan sent his ambassadors to Constantinople with instructions to give suitable offerings on his behalf at the shrines of Imam Ali at Najaf and Hazrat Imam Husain at Karbala in Iraq. The emissaries were also asked to seek permission of the Iraqi rulers for the construction of a canal from Euphrates to Najaf to solve the problem of water shortage at Najaf. He was keen on removing the scarcity of water at Najaf, it being the last resting place of his revered Imam.

The coins of  Tipu  also show his great love for imams. Instead of giving his name on the coins, he inscribed the names of Prophet, Hazrat Ali and other Imams. His gold coins were known as Ahmadi, one of the names of the holy Prophet. The half Muhar was called Sadiqui after the name of sixth Imam Jafar Al Sadiq. Among his silver coins, the double rupee was called Haideri, named after Imam Ali. The rupee was called Imami. The half rupees was called Abidi, named after fourth Imam, Zain- Ul- Abdeen. The quarter rupee was named after the fifth Imam  Mohammad Baqar and known as Baqiri .One eighth rupee was called Jafri. One sixteenth rupee was Kazimi, named after the seventh imam.

Tipu also exhibited his love for Imams while instituting a new calendar between January and June 1784.The new era which he introduced consisted of twelve luni- solar years of twelve lunar months. In both the eras, the year consisted of 354 days .Some of the months were named after the Prophet, Imam Ali and Imam Jafar Sadiq and known as Ahmadi, Haideri and Jafri.

Out of his love for Imam Husain who was martyred with three days hunger and thirst by the forces of Caliph Yazid, Sultan throughout his reign took special interest in solving the water problems of his kingdom. He took special care for irrigation so that peasantry suffers little. In 1797, he constructed a dam across Cauvery with an embankment seventy feet high. He also constructed a big tank in Darojik with a huge embankment of two and half miles long. He also repaired Moti Talab and encouraged his subjects to make tanks and offered lands to them for the purpose. He even conferred Jagirs on those who constructed tanks. It was done so that they could maintain tanks .The Amils were provided with adequate staff and their duty was to keep tanks and channels in good shape and fully functional.

Tipu was born on November 2 1749 at Devanhalli where his mother Fatima is believed to have given him  birth due to blessings of Tipu Mastan Aulia whose shrine is at Arcot. The first person of the family about whom some traditions as  preserved was Sheikh Wali Muhammad who came to Gulbarga from Delhi with his son Muhammad Ali during the rule of Muhammad Adil Shah. He was a religious man and attached himself to the shrine of Sadruuddin Hussaini commonly known as Gesudaraz and whose contribution to Azadari and its propagation in Deccan is most noteworthy. He married his son to the daughter of one of the Khadims (Caretakers) of Dargah( Shrine). When Wali died, Muhammad proceeded to Bijapur. He had four sons and one of them was Fateh Muhammad to whom Haider Ali, father of Tipu, was born in 1721.

Tipu in Kannad means tiger. As Haider also means Tiger, Tipu’s father out of his affection for Hazrat Ali also named his son after ‘Sher-E-Khuda’ in its Kannad version. He also inherited the same respect and love for Maula Ali. Tipu ensured ornamentation of every item at his court with tiger from the infantry jackets, to objects themselves made in tiger form. He declared tiger as his national motif and personal insignia in 1780. Apart from his own possessions even the garments of his courtiers and soldiers also were adorned with tiger stripes or bubris. His favorite quote was `One day's life of a lion is preferable to hundred years' existence of a jackal'. He proved it also at Seringpatam where he fought the last battle of his life with these words he fought heroically to the last drop of his blood and became a martyr to the cause of national freedom.  

These facts of his life have been concealed probably by some vested interest that has often portrayed Sultan as a tyrant, monster, and bigot. The only historian who has done justice to Tipu is Dr.B.N.Pande. He evaluated the personality and character of Tipu in a lecture delivered on the topic "Tipu: An Evaluation of His Religious Policy" under the auspices of the Institute of the Objective Studies at the Academic Staff College, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi in November 1993. “Tipu was a highly educated monarch who could enter into discussion with experts in Persian, Kannada, Marathi and French languages. Tipu’s approach towards socio-religious issues was egalitarian. He abolished the custom of human sacrifice to Kali Temple (Mysore), banned the use of liquor and the cultivation of bhang, dried leaves of which are highly interacting made prostitution and the exploitation of female slaves illegal and took measures to safeguard the honor and modesty of the Nair Women” remarked the historian.

Dr. Pande strongly refuted the charge leveled by some Hindu communalists that Sultan was anti Hindu and pointed out that Tipu was a devout Muslim and made no distinction among his people in view of his leaning towards Imams and Sufism. (The author is an internationally acclaimed Management Guru with deep interest in History of Azadari, Life and Works of Shia Imams and their followers, especially Sufis.