If the French had attacked his kingdom, I am sure, he would have taken the help of the British to save himself.Įven the French who initially helped him to fight the British were horrified by his crimes, mass murders, forced conversion and the methods he adopted to torture the people. Just because the French were opposed to the British, he took their help. Tipu did everything to please the French and was even ready to accept their rule. Both the British and French wanted to colonise India and rule the natives. If the British were foreign invaders, the French were also foreign invaders. The so-called "patriot" Tipu took the help of another foreign coloniser, the French, to oust the British! He had even invited Napoleon to invade India. It was the norm during those medieval days. But, he fought the British to save his kingdom like all other big and small kings across the World. It is true that he fought the British for over 20 years and was finally killed by them in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war of 1799 at his capital Srirangapatna near Mysore. The historical documents of those years prove that he was anything but a freedom fighter. During his reign of terror, people of present day South Karnataka, parts of Tamil Nadu, parts of Kerala had to suffer unspeakable misery. It is my firm belief that Tipu Sultan does not deserve the title "Tiger" of Mysore. I am also a student of history, again not a left wing or right wing student. I am sure both sides attack me if my views are opposed to their views. I have always been criticising the right wing politics being practised by the "Sangh" and their opponents on the other side. I believe in real secularism, not in the pseudo version of it.
I don't believe in any political ideology.