Tipu Sultan was born on 10 November 1750 at Devanahalli, in present-day Bangalore Rural district, about 33 km (21 mi) north of Bangalore city. He was named "Tipu Sultan" after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of Arcot. Tipu was born at Devanhalli in a Najeeb AlTarfayn Sayyid family meaning having ancestry to both Imams Hassan and Hussain, as the son of Hyder Ali.
Being illiterate, Hyder was very particular in giving his eldest son a prince's education and a very early exposure to military and political affairs. From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. He was his father's right arm in the wars from which Hyder emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.
From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. He was his father's right arm in the wars from which Haidar emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.
In 1782, when Haidar died during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu was very effective in bringing the west coast under his control. After his accession, he continued the war until the English were forced to make peace with him. Mysore was now too strong and, under Tipu's efficient and dedicated administration, was growing too much in power for his neighboring states to feel secure. The Marathas in the northwest, joining the Nizam in the north, became embroiled with Tipu in 1785.
They were defeated, but Tipu gave them very lenient peace terms in the vain hope of winning their friendship against the English, who he knew would resume hostilities with him as soon as they could. Simultaneously, he continued his friendly overtures to the English. Isolated from his neighbors in India, he also sent embassies to France and to the Caliph at Constantinople to gain their support, but little real benefit came of it.
By 1790 the East India Company, much better organized than ever before and now directly supported by the British government, was dead set on subjugating Tipu.
Allying with the Marathas and the Nizam, it put all its might into an expedition against Mysore. Tipu lost half of his kingdom. Despite this reduction in his territory, Tipu recuperated with such rapidity that he was still considered a very dangerous rival by the English.
In 1799 the East India Company, again joined by the Marathas and the Nizam, attacked Tipu. Pushed back to his capital and besieged, the brave sultan fell, fighting to the last; Mysore fell into English hands. Tipu's power rested not only on his large, excellent army but on the great prosperity of the state he developed through humane and systematic agrarian and mercantilistic policies.
Fearing God, exerting himself for his subjects, and indulgently forgiving transgressions, he firmly wiped out all stubborn disloyalty to the state without partiality to caste or creed.
Tipu introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule, including his coinage, a new Mauludi lunisolar calendar, and a new land revenue system which initiated the growth of the Mysore silk industry. He expanded the iron-cased Mysorean rockets and commissioned the military manual Fathul Mujahidin, and is considered a pioneer in the use of rocket artillery.
He deployed the rockets against advances of British forces and their allies during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, including the Battle of Pollilur and Siege of Seringapatam. He also embarked on an ambitious economic development program that established Mysore as a major economic power, with some of the world's highest real wages and living standards in the late 18th century.
He was one of the few South Indian kings to provide stiff resistance to British imperialism, along with Hyder Ali and Kerala Varma Pazhassi. He is applauded as ruler who fought against British colonialism. Similarly he has been a controversial figure and criticized for his atrocities against Hindus, Christians, and Mappla Muslims.
During his rule, he completed the project of Lal Bagh started by his father Hyder Ali, and built roads, public buildings, and ports in his kingdom. His dominion extended throughout North Bangalore including the Nandi Hills and Chickballapur. His trade extended to countries such as Sri Lanka, Oman, Durrani Afghanistan, France, Ottoman Turkey and Iran. Under his leadership, the Mysore army proved to be a school of military science to Indian princes.
From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions.
Quotations: In a letter to Runmust Khan, Tipu himself stated: "We proceeded with the utmost speed, and, at once, made prisoners of 40, 000 occasion-seeking and sedition-exciting Coorgis, who alarmed at the approach of our victorious army, had slunk into woods, and concealed themselves in lofty mountains, inaccessible even to birds. Then carrying them away from their native country (the native place of sedition) we raised them to the honour of Islam, and incorporated them into our Ahmedy corps. "
He was the most powerful of all the native princes of India and the greatest threat to the English position in southern India.
Tipu had several wives. One of his wives quite renowned for her beauty and intelligence was Sindh Sahiba whose grandson was Sahib Sindh Sultan also known as His Highness Shahzada Sayyid walShareef Ahmed Halim-az-Zaman Khan Sultan Sahib.
