Revisiting Tipu Sultan’s Library – Journeys in India and the United Kingdom
Journal Title: International Journal of Social Science Humanity & Management Research - Year 2022, Vol 1, Issue 03
Abstract
This article traces the journey of an iconic collection housed by Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatnam in present day Karnataka State of South India. Tipu Sultan was the ruler of Mysore from 1782 to 1799 A. D. He remains a most debated, yet fascinating person among rulers and his death at Srirangapatnam on 4th May 1799, is an important one in Indian history. Known as the ‘’Tiger of Mysore’’ he has gone down in history as one of the bravest warriors of all time. Tipu had learnt Persian, Arabic, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi. He learnt military arts under Ghazi Khan and the French. ’Mysuru’ or Mysore is on a plateau between the mountains of the Eastern and Western Ghats; named after the demon Mahisasura of the Mahisasuramardini legend of India, from the Devi Mahatmyam, the devi being worshipped as Chamundeshwari, at the famous temple at Chamundi Hills in Mysore. The ‘’Wodeyars’’ were the nominal rulers of Mysore. But its de facto ruler from 1782-1799 A.D, was Tipu Sultan. With his father Haider Ali who ruled as Sultan from 1761-1782 A.D, he is the only ruler to have successfully fought against the British forces. His capital was Srirangapatna or Seringapatnam, though he had a palace at Bangalore as well. Among his many treasures, his royal library at Srirangapatnam housed manuscripts on different subjects which was also dismantled after he fell, and sent to different places, as ‘’spoils of war’’, mostly British colonial destinations in early 19th century. The journey of the royal collection with some of its highlights and where it is preserved and provided to readers today in the 21st century, is the mainstay of this article, along with some illustrations to convey the story well. The collection is now at various locations in India and the United Kingdom. The British Library, London and New India Office, also at London, The National Archives, New Delhi and the Asiatic Society Office at Kolkata house many of his treasures. His collection included a variety of books on diffeent topics. Mentionable are the Kashf-al-Mahjub by Abul Hasan Ali bin Uthman bin ali Al Hujwiri on Sufism, Ain- i- Akbari by Abul Fazl, Majmua-i-Khurrami by Bahadur Singh, Alamgirnama on the rule of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, Tarikh-i-Alam-ara-ara-i-Abbasi on the reign of King Abbas of Persia by Iskandar. Tipu mainaitained a binding unit in his library and was an expert calligraphist who kept his own writings like Ahkamnamah, Iqrarnamah, Kayfiyat-i-vilayat-i-Faransis, Hukmnamah-i-Tipu Sultan among others. Also research is continuously being done and getting published on the Tipu Sultan collection, as a kind of outreach, which is elucidated here to evoke further interest in the topic.
Authors and Affiliations
Soma Ghosh
Keywords
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