HAIDAR ALI
Bigoted Sensualist
On 13 February 1754, 12,000 Maratha and Mysore horses, 6,000 sepoys and 400 French troops with seven guns managed to attack a British convoy that was making its way to Tiruchirapalli. It was Hari Singh, the Rajput Jamadar of Mysore cavalry, who led this charge. Once the operation was successful, Hari Singh found all the guns and tumbrils to be in the possession of Haidar, who had taken them away through his network of Bedars. Hari Singh made a huge show of protest; he had led the campaign and won the day, yet the spoils of the war were now with his most hated rival, Haidar. This was to become the template of his military career.
After much negotiation, Haidar parted with just one gun and kept the rest with himself, claiming that they were his legitimate catch. Expectedly, this heroic act of driving the Marathas away and liberating Mysorean territories won Haidar great applause from his superiors.
The delighted Maharaja welcomed him in a special darbar in December 1758, honoured him with costly presents and granted the title of ‘Nawab’ Fateh (victorious) Haidar Ali Khan Bahadur on him. That the title had the name of his father in it made it extra special for Haidar.
A few months later, in April 1759, when Haidar told the Maharaja about the difficulties he faced in recruiting additional troops and also in fulfilling the claims of the Maratha bankers, he was readily assigned revenues from one half of the kingdom. Thus, virtually, as circumstances unfolded, Haidar emerged as one of the most powerful persons in the polity of Mysore. It was just a matter of time before he was to formalise his authority and position.
SAVAGE HARVEST: Haidar clashed with the Nairs at Vettat Puthiyangadi where the Nairs had taken up a fortified position... Peixoto paints a gruesome picture of the Malabar after this conquest: The entire Nair country was plundered; their homes were burnt and a universal massacre of the Nair caste was ordered. The Nairs were hunted down and butchered. Hyder gave ‘Rupees 5 to anyone who brought him the head of a Nair that was able to fight; if it was an old man, he gave four, and if of a boy he gave three rupees.’ A price of three rupees was also paid for every Nair woman captured alive.
Many women were thus captured and transported to distant places as presents to governors and chiefs. Before leaving Malabar, Haidar passed an edict that deprived the Nairs of all their privileges. They were hitherto considered the second important caste after the Brahmins, but were downgraded to the lowest of the caste hierarchies, requiring them to even salute the lowest of the castes and the untouchables.
They were forbidden from possessing arms, while all other castes were allowed to have them and also kill any Nair they found bearing arms, creating thereby a sense of fear and insecurity in the Nairs.
As de La Tour states: ‘By this rigorous edict Hyder expected to make all the other castes enemies of the Nayres [Nairs]; and that they would rejoice in the occasion of revenging themselves for the tyrannic oppression this nobility had till then exerted over them.’ Those Nairs who agreed to convert to Islam were reinstated with all their past privileges.
While some of them succumbed and converted, most of the Nairs remained defiant and held on to their faith, dispersing instead to seek refuge in the safe havens of Travancore. With Manjeri as his base, Haidar ordered a systematic hunt of the Nairs who had fled to the mountains and those who were caught were mercilessly hanged or beheaded.
CARNALLY CRUEL: French historian J Michaud mentions that the young man (Prince Chennabasavayya of Bidanur) in his long years of living in secrecy had found his lady love in the valley in his childhood. The love had blossomed with time and the young lady accompanied him everywhere, including to the war camp of Haidar and later to Bidanur. Haidar ‘young, boiling and impetuous’ saw the young, beautiful lady and his heart was instantly set on her. He demanded her as the price of his conquest.
As Michaud explains: ‘The young Raja still at an age when one prefers the heart of a woman to a kingdom, dared by his refusal, to expose himself to the danger of losing his crown again. Hyder, being angered, employed violence and carried away the young favourite of the Raja.’
The cruel injustice did not stop with this. Having possessed his lover by force, Haidar now decided to take over his kingdom too and conveniently packed off to Maddagiri prison even Chennabasavayya, whose cause he was so far claiming to fight. He immediately declared him to be an imposter, and not the original claimant, and hence needed to be packed off to prison.
PLEASURE PLUS POWER: By sunset, his apartments were completely illuminated with tapers in chandeliers of exquisite workmanship, ornamented with festoons of fragrant and delicate flowers. The apartments were normally covered with white muslin, spread upon the most exquisite and beautiful Persian carpets. White seemed to be Haidar’s favourite colour and most of his furniture were draped in cloths of the colour. Private gatherings followed with family, friends and close officers.
The young nobility, too, in all their finery and swords, moved around busily, talking merrily to one another as the evening moved to one of entertainment. Drinks and dinner were served to all present, even as a comedy show or a dance or music performance of courtesans went on.
If the woman was a Hindu, she was to wear a white dress, and if she were Muslim, a dress embroidered with gold. In the song and dance, she was not allowed to laugh or smile or display wanton gestures or steps. She was to perform slowly and softly.
And as many men as there might be in the gathering, they were not allowed to ogle at the beauty of the woman, but instead keep their eyes fixated at him and admire his beauty alone. If any of them even by chance happened to look at the dancing girls, he would coarsely abuse them saying ‘Look! Look! Well! For your mother (meaning the dancing girl), has left her house and is occupied in dancing in the midst of her husbands!’
In fact, Peixoto mentions how, when a certain concubine casually lifted her eyes at a servant, Haidar killed her with his own hand and the hapless servant was ruthlessly skinned.
The captive women were classified into four groups in the harem and distinguished by the colour of their dress - red, green, blue and white.
Each group was assigned different chores under the supervision of a female head, who finally reported to Haidar’s principal wife, Fatima Begum... He however seems to be extremely possessive of his concubines and if any of them were suspected of infidelity, they had to pay a heavy price, as was mentioned by Peixoto earlier.
Other than his three wives, Haidar had upwards of 4,000 concubines, distributed all over the kingdom, though principally in Srirangapatna, Bangalore and Bidanur.
They were of all castes and even included some European mistresses. When he was overcome with the desire to indulge in intercourse, he would take a slow walk in the garden, where the concubines would assemble in two rows. They would hold a nose ring in their hands and he would pick the ring of those he wanted, giving ‘the sign for them to go to him that night’.
Peixoto states that besides these concubines, he ‘would amuse himself with others who were brought to him by force on pain of death’.
20 January 1789, Tipu set off again towards Calicut. The reports of the arrival of the large army of nearly 60,000 and of Tipu’s march into their land made the Nairs seek shelter, as always, in the woods and mountains. Tipu ordered his army to surround the woods and seize the chiefs of the faction.
He also sent messages to Francis Gordon not to give protection to any of the Nairs who might flee to Tellicherry. Leaving a portion of his troops in Calicut, Tipu swooped northwards, signalling thereby to the Hindu chiefs there to flee.
Before he left Calicut, Tipu ordered Muhammad Ali, the second Diwan of Calicut, on 28 February 1789 that the 242 captured Nairs were being sent to him as prisoners.
‘Having circumcised them,’ Tipu ordered, ‘you must enroll them among the faithful [make them Musalmans]... if any of those should escape, you will come under our displeasure.’
BARBARIC BIGOT: He (Paolino da San Bartolomeo, a Portuguese Roman Catholic Missionary) writes: The manner in which he [Tipu] behaved to the inhabitants of Calicut was horrid. A great part of them, both male and female, were hung.
He first tied up the mothers and then suspended the children from their necks. The cruel tyrant caused several Christians and Heathens [Hindus] to be brought out naked, and made fast to the feet of his elephants, which were then obliged to drag them about till their limbs fell in pieces from their bodies.
At the same time, he ordered all the churches and temples to be burned or pulled down or destroyed in some manner. Christian and pagan [Hindu] women were compelled to marry Mohammedans. The pagans were deprived of the token of their nobility, which is a lock of hair called kudumi; and every Christian, who appeared in the streets, must either submit to be circumcised, or be hanged on the spot.
During the government of his father, the Hindus continued unmolested in the exercise of their religion; the customs and observances of which, in many essential points supply the place of laws...
Tippoo, on the contrary, early undertook to render Islamism the sole religion of Malabar. In this cruel and impolite undertaking, he was warmly seconded by the Moplays [Mapillahs], men possessed of a strong zeal, and of a large share of that spirit of violence and depredation which appears to have invariably been an ingredient in the character of the professors of their religion, in every part of the world where it has spread.
DEATHLY DESECRATOR: In November 1789, Tipu, at the head of a large army, made a steady march to the present Trichur district. On the way to Trichur, Hindu temples and Christian churches were plundered and desecrated, and had their roofs blown off.
Houses and bazaars were set ablaze; fruit trees and pepper vines were cut down. Reaching Trichur by 14 December 1789, Tipu made it the headquarters of a new collectorate over his entire Malabar jurisdiction.
In Trichur was the Vadakkanathan temple of Lord Shiva that was among the 108 major shrines of Shiva in Kerala and believed to have been established by Parashurama. Tipu converted this ancient temple into his office and the Brahmin Mutts in Trichur into quarters for his officers.
The memories of the wounds inflicted remained with the inhabitants for long. Thousands are said to have died here during his stay due to sheer hunger and starvation, if not by the persecution of the sword.
BRITISH BARBARISM: Cornwallis now decided to capture the forts to the north and east of Bangalore that interrupted their communication with the Nizam’s army stationed in Gurramkonda. After capturing the smaller forts, Major Gowdie reached the formidable fortress of Nandidurga by22September1791.
It was styled as ‘Gurdun Shekoo’ or the Terror of the World, by Tipu. It was built on the summit of a mountain that was 1,700 feet high and inaccessible on all sides, except for a narrow, rugged passage. In terms of strength and importance, it ranked very high within the Mysore domains, after Savanadurga, Chitradurga and Krishnagiri.
After taking over the town, Gowdie commenced the siege on 27 September. It took the British army twenty-one days to effect two breaches in this intimidating fort. By 18 October 1791, a storming party under General Medows was sent to storm the fort.
Cornwallis was himself stationed just a few miles away from the fort. The garrison within the fort put up a stout resistance. The fort was illuminated in blue lights and a heavy fire of cannon, musketry and rockets opened from within, as also large boulders that were rolled down to attack the enemy. But the storming party soon mounted the breaches and entered the fort. A carnage followed of the hapless inhabitants.
Kirmani states that ‘thousands of women were violated, some of them to preserve their virtue and religion threw themselves from the top of the hill down a precipice to the bottom, and thus sacrificed their lives to preserve their honour.’
Lutf Ali Beg, the Bakhshi, and Sultan Khan, the Commandant of the fort, along with all the fighting men were packed off as prisoners to Vellore. The women, Brahmins and others were conducted away by the troops to a small hill fort that was six miles away.
EVENTFUL END: When Tippoo was brought from under the gateway, his eyes were open, and the body was so warm, that for a few moments, Colonel Wellesley and myself were doubtful whether he was not alive; on feeling his pulse and heart, the doubt was removed.
He had four wounds, three in the body, and one in the temple; the ball having entered a little above the right ear, and lodged in the cheek.
His dress consisted of a jacket of fine white linen, loose drawers of flowered chintz, with a crimson cloth of silk and cotton, round his waist; a handsome pouch with a red and green silk belt, hung across his shoulder; his head was uncovered, his turban being lost in the confusion of his fall; he had an amulet on his arm, but no ornament whatsoever.
Tippoo was of low stature, corpulent, with high shoulders, and a short, thick neck, but his feet were remarkably small; his complexion was rather dark, his eyes large and prominent, with small arched eyebrows, and his nose aquiline: he had an appearance of dignity, or perhaps sternness, in his countenance, which distinguished him above the common order people.
According to another eyewitness: ‘The features were neither agitated by passion nor disfigured by the extinction of life - an uncommon degree of composure and serenity was spread over his face. The expression was gentle and contented. In fine, the countenance of the Sultan far from discovering any furious passions had a tranquil and courteous air for which he was distinguished when alive.
TIPU’S ROCKETS OF DEATH
During the Second Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Polilur in 1780, the surrender of Colonel Baillie was accentuated when an entire ammunition tumbril was set on fire by the rocket shots from the Mysore side. This episode, as mentioned earlier, is depicted in a painting on the western wall of the Daria Dowlat Bagh palace in Srirangapatna with the entire British side going ablaze.
Tipu Sultan, having a restless, innovator’s mind, was already fascinated with several European inventions such as barometers and thermometers.
He decided to redesign and redeploy these rockets with greater strength in his army as he realised their devastating power. During the Third Anglo-Mysore War, we saw how Lt Col Knox was attacked by rockets on the night of 6 February 1792 while trying to cross the Kaveri River from the northern side in Srirangapatna. Purnaiya and Kumr-ud-din commanded two rocket units during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. The Sultan’s rocket attacks came in the kushoons or brigades of his army.
The large artillery devices were built on wheeled carts and could fire at varied ranges, shoot multiple payloads and sometimes deploy a dozen rockets at the same time. In the final Anglo-Mysore War, on 5 April 1799, at Sultanpet Tope, Colonel Arthur Wellesley was attacked and forced to flee by the attack of the Mysorean rockets.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION: By 23 January 1791, Tipu had managed to take Permacoil and reach Pondicherry, once again seeking French support in the war. He sought the aid of 6,000 men from the French, offering to pay for their expenses through a letter he had sent to King Louis XVI, with several presents... Wilks mentions that ‘in the midst of his distresses, the King [LouisXVI] was amused with the shabby finery of Tippoo’s miserable presents to himself and the Queen, “trumpery to dress up dolls,” which he desired M Bertrand to give to his little girls.’
Bertrand de Moleville was the Minister of Marine who carried Tipu’s proposals and gifts to the King. Tipu was thus abandoned by the French to defend his kingdom all by himself.
One of the big motivations behind Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt was to create a passage to India. This was evident in an undated letter that Napoleon wrote to Tipu Sultan, which was intercepted by the British: You have already been informed of my arrival on the borders of the Red Sea,with an innumerable and invincible Army, full of the desire of delivering you from the iron yoke of England. I eagerly embrace this opportunity of testifying to you the desire I have of being informed by you, by the way of Muscat and Mocha, as to your political situation. I would even wish you could send some intelligent person to Suez or Cairo, possessing your confidence, with whom I may confer. May the Almighty increase your power and destroy your enemies.