Monarchs From India

"The record of progress of your State since my last visit eleven years ago is certainly remarkable. Those years have not been happy ones in the histories of the nations and they have closed in an economic crisis of the first magnitude. It was impossible that Mysore should escape altogether the worldwide depression. That she should have been able, despite it, to continue to develop her industries and provide for the welfare of her people in the way she has done must compel the admiration of all observers. Of the varied and interesting programme that you have prepared for me, there is no item that I look forward to with greater anticipation than my visit to the Krishnarajasagara."

"He is essentially a man of simple taste, though not in the bald sense sometimes associated with that term. There is a simplicity without taste. But His Highness' simplicity includes the love of beauty and includes a very simple and strong desire that his people shall share in the beauty of culture and of nature that he loves. In fulfilment of this desire, he has bounteously inspired and helped every movement for beautifying the environment of his people....In the modern ruler a new tolerance and neutrality is called for and the broad-mindedness of His Highness has passed into a proverb. A religious devotee himself, he makes no distinctions on religious grounds. He follows his own faith and respects the sincere faith of others. But it is probably in the department of public affairs, in legislation and administration that His Highness has, taken his place as one of the most sagacious statesmen of our time."

"For many years we have watched and admired the maintenance of those high standards of administration; we have not forgotten the noble services you have rendered to the British Government when the need for service was the greatest, and we are not blind to what Your Highness has done to set an example of the fashion in which the government of a great State should be conducted Mysore has perhaps a longer tradition of progressive government than any other State in India, and the Government of India can feel assured that any relief which they may feel it in their power to give will inure to the benefit of the people of your State."

"His Highness with the shining examples of his two illustrious parents before him had shown the same earnest devotion to duty and given the same unfailing support to his ministers as had been received at the hands of His Highness* father and his mother."

"Happily, His Highness is to-day ruling wisely a contented people and it is sufficient to say that I found in him a kind and considerate Chief and a loyal friend. On young shoulders he carried a head of extraordinary maturity which was, however, no bar to a boyish and whole-hearted enjoyment of manly sports as well as of the simple pleasures of life."

"His Highness could be trusted to 'go four annas better' than could be reasonably expected, an assurance that was to be most amply fulfilled in the succeeding years."

"I have had such close opportunities of watching and for whom I entertain so sincere a regard as the young Maharaja of Mysore. Indeed, I think I may add that I should not have come all the way from Simla at this season of the year had I not felt the keenest personal interest both in this State and in its future Ruler. About the latter I shall have a word to say presently. But first let me explain how it is that the fortunes of the Mysore State occupy such a place in the concern and regard of the Government of India.... The young Maharaja whom I am about to instal has recently attained his eighteenth birthday. He has passed through a minority of nearly eight years. They have not been idle or vapid years spent in enjoyment or dissipated in idleness. They have been years of careful preparation for the duties that lie before him and of laborious training for his exalted state. It is no light thing to assume the charge of 5,000,000 of people and it is no perfunctory training that is required for such a task."

"...the reclusive and solitary mystic. The Maharaja, open to science and modern technology, had founded the great iron and steel industry of Bhadravathi, one of the most important in the British Empire. His strong example was both a source of inspiration for the English author and a reassuring confirmation of the latter’s belief that philosophy and the active life are not incompatible."

"You have rescued philosophy from those who would make it a mere refuge from disappointment, and converted it into a dynamic inspiration to higher action for service."

"Throughout the length and breadth of India there is no name more honoured. Within his State there is no name more loved."

"I thank God who has blessed Mysore so abundantly in material ways that He has blessed her also with a sincere, modest, liberal-minded and industrious people; and I thank my people themselves, my Government and my officers that by their hearty co-operation for the good of Mysore they have earned for it the name of the Model State and the signal proof of appreciation which we have just received from the Supreme Government....And I appeal specially to the rising generation to hold before themselves always the ideal of brotherhood and good citizenship, so that when they come to fill our places, they may continue in all good ways to advance and increase the welfare of our beloved Motherland."

"In Hind there is a Malik (king) who is called Al-juzar (Gujar). Such is awdl (justice) in his kingdom, if the gold is dropped in the way, there is no danger of its being picked up and stolen away by any body. His kingdom is very vast. Arab traders go to him, he makes ahsan (favour) to them, purchases merchandise from them; the purchase and sale are carried in gold coin called tatri, When the Arabs request him to provide a body guard, he says, there is no thief in my kingdom. If there is any incident or loss to your goods, merchandise and money I stand surety. Come to me, I will pay the compensation."

"It is evident that Bhoja had the reputation of a strong ruler, able to maintain peace in his kingdom and defend it against Muslim aggression and left this task as a sacred legacy to his succession. He was undoubtedly one of the outstanding political figure of India in ninth century and ranks with Dhruva and Dharmpala as a great general and empire builder."

"The king of Gurjars maintain numerous faces and no other Indian prince has so fine a cavalry. He has great riches and his camels and horses are numerous. There is no country in India more safe from robbers""

"Whatever cruelties, the local Mappilas were desirous of indulging in the land, Tipu Sultan and his army of Muslim converts did. The ancient and holy temples were heartlessly defiled or burnt down. The ruins of those temples destroyed by Tipu's fanatic army are the existing evidences of the atrocities committed by Muslims in the country. Christian churches also had to suffer widespread destructions. However, Tipu Sultan spared only the territories of Cochin Raja who had surrendered to Hyder Ali Khan in the beginning itself. Still, when Tipu Sultan and his army entered Parur and started firing at Kodungallur, the Cochin Raja sent a letter to the Travancore Raja requesting him 'to protect me and my family'."

"'In a deliberately designed taxation scheme, the religious prejudice of Tipu Sultan became quite clear. His co-religionists, Muslims, were exempted from house tax, commodity tax and also the levy on other items of household use. Those who were converted to Muhammadanism, were also given similar tax exemptions. He had even made provisions for the education of their children. Tipu Sultan discontinued the practice of appointing Hindus in different administrative and military jobs as practised by his father, Hyder Ali Khan, in the past. He had deep hatred towards all non-Muslims. During the entire period of sixteen years of his regime, Purnaiyya was the only Hindu who had adorned the post of Dewan or minister under Tipu Sultan. In 1797 (two years before his death) among the 65 senior Government posts, not even a single Hindu was retained. All the Mustadirs were also Muslims. Among the 26 civil and military officers captured by the British in 1792 there were only 6 non-Muslims. In 1789, when the Nizam of Hyderabad and other Muslim rulers decided that only Muslims would be appointed henceforth in all Government posts, Tipu Sultan also adopted the same policy in his Mysore State. Just because they were Muslims, even those who were illiterate and inefficient, were also appointed to important Government posts. Even for getting promotions, one still had to be a Muslim under Tipu Sultan's regime. Considering the interest and convenience of only Muslim officers, all the records relating to tax revenue, were ordered to be written in Persian rather than in Marathi and Kannada as followed earlier. He even tried to make Persian the State language in place of Kannada. In the end all the Government posts were filled by lazy and irresponsible Muslims. As a consequence the people had to suffer a great deal because of those fun-seeking and irresponsible Muslim officers. The Muslim officers, occupying important posts at all levels, were all dishonest and unreliable persons. Even when people complained to him with evidences against those officers, Tipu Sultan did not care to inquire about the complaints lodged.""

"With respect to the much-published land-grants I had explained the reasons about 40 years back. Tipu had immense faith in astrological predictions. It was to become an Emperor (Padushah) after destroying the might of the British that Tipu resorted to land-grants and other donations to Hindu temples in Mysore including Sringeri Mutt, as per the advice of the local Brahmin astrologers. Most of these were done after his defeat in 1791 and the humiliating Srirangapatanam Treaty in 1792. These grants were not done out of respect or love for Hindus or Hindu religion but for becoming Padushah as predicted by the astrologers."

"During Malayalam Era 965 corresponding to 1789-90, Tipu Sultan crossed over to Malabar with an army of uncivilised barbarians. With a sort of fanatical love for Islamic faith, he destroyed many Hindu temples and Christian churches which were the custodians of precious wealth and religious traditions. Besides, Tipu Sultan abducted hundreds of people and forcibly circumcised and converted them to Islam - an act which was considered by them as more than death."

"Muhammadans greatly increased in number. Hindus were forcibly circumcised in thousands. As a result of Tipu's atrocities, strength of Nairs and Chamars (Scheduled Castes) significantly diminished in number. Namboodiris also substantially decreased in number."

"Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins. There were around 7000 Namboodiri houses of which more than 2000 houses were destroyed by Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode alone. Sultan did not spare even children and women. Menfolk escaped to forests and neighbouring principalities. Mappilas increased many fold (due to forcible conversion).... "During the military regime of Tipu Sultan, Hindus were forcibly circumcised and converted to Muhammadan faith. As a result the number of Nairs and Brahmins declined substantially."

"Tipu’s moves are not good. He is full of arrogance. Recently Nur Muhammad received a letter from Tipu that he converted 50,000 Hindus including women and children to Islam, no Padishah or Vazir did it in the past, with God’s grace he could. He converts entire villages."

"It was not religious bigotry that made Tipu issue this amazing proclamation. He was firmly convinced that in asking the Nairs to give up what he called their obscene habits, he was undertaking a mission of civilisation. It is the narrow reformer’s mind, anxious for the moral and material welfare of the people, and not the fanaticism of the bigot desirous of converting the Kafir, that speaks in his proclamation."

"Tipu imprisoned and forcibly converted more than a lakh Hindus and over 70,000 Christians in the Malabar region (they were forcibly circumcised and made to eat beef). Although these conversions were unethical and disgraceful, they served Tipu’s purpose. Once all these people had been cut off from their original faith, they were left with no option but to accept the very faith to which their ravager belonged, and they began to educate their children in Islam. They were later enlisted in the army and received good positions. Most of them morphed into religious zealots, and enhanced the ranks of the Faithful in Tipu’s kingdom. Tipu’s zeal for conversion was not limited only to the Malabar region. He had spread it all the way up to Coimbatore."

"Lewis Rice estimates in his Mysore Gazetteer that Tipu had destroyed about 8000 temples in South India. Colonel R.D. Palsokar also confirms this number in his study on Tipu Sultan when he says that Tipu relates that he had destroyed 8000 temples, many of them with roofs of gold, silver, copper and all containing treasures buried under the idols. The Raja of Cherakal offered him Rs. 400000 and the plates of gold with which one particular temple was roofed but Tipu said that he would not spare it for all the treasures of the earth and sea."

"In March, 1789, a Mysorean force of 19000 men with 46 field-pieces, surrounded 2000 Nayars with their families in an old fort at Kuttipuram, the head-quarters of the Kadathanad Raja’s family which the besieged defended for several days. ‘At last, finding it untenable. they submitted to Tippu’s terms which were a voluntary profession of the Muhammadan faith or a forcible, conversion with deportation from their native land. The unhappy captives gave a forced assent and on the next day the rite of circumcision was performed on all the males, every individual of both sexes being compelled to close the ceremony by eating beef. This achievement was held out as an example to the other detachments of the army. Christian and Pagan women were forcibly married to Muhammadans.’ Tippu had made repeated vows to honour the whole of the people of Malabar with Islam and would have carried out the vow, and Malabar would have been a Moslem country, but for the treaty dated 18th March, 1792, under which Tippu was forced to yield Malabar to the East India Company."

"rockets made an extraordinary impression on the British, and led, from 1801, to what would now be called a vigorous research and development programme (at the Royal Woolwich Arsenal). Sir William Congreve made systematic studies of propellants, analysed performance applying Newton’s laws, developed a series of rockets of different sizes and characteristics, made a comparative cost analysis and published three books on the subject. Rockets were soon systematically used by the British during the Napoleonic Wars and their confrontation with the U.S. during 1812-14."

"The communal Mappila outrage of 1921 in Malabar could be easily traced to the forcible mass conversion and related Islamic atrocities of Tipu Sultan during his cruel military regime from 1783 to 1792. It is doubtful whether the Hindus of Kerala had ever suffered so much devastation and atrocities since the reclamation of Kerala by the mythological Lord Parasurama in a previous Era. Many thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted into Muhammadan faith."

"Agrarian trade prospered in the reign of Haider and Tippu Sulthan. Kumbala, Mangalore, Mulki, Basaruru, Gangoli, Bhatkala, Honnavara and Karwar continued to be prominent trade centres of agrarian products namely rice, pepper and coconut. Both Haidar and Tippu Sulthan had intentions to expand agrarian trade ofrice and pepper to Muscat, China, Pegu, Arabia and even distant Maldiva Island. For the expansion of trade, Tippu Sulthan set up a depot at Muscat and it was placed under the charge of Amildar at Mangalore. Hyder and Tippu Sulthan also took keen interest in the expansion of activities further. They particularly encouraged the cultivation of cash crops namely sugarcane, pepper, arecanut, coconut, sandal wood etc. Attempts were made to bring barren and unproductive lands under the cultivation. Tippu Sulthan in particular granted barren lands to peasants and collected a nominal rate of tax. He even encouraged the cultivation of sugar cane and sandalwood. The enterprising peasants were given loans for the expansion of agricultural activities in the barren places. His Government provided irrigation facility in places, where it was feasible. Both Haidar and Tippu sulthan took interest in improving the communication system with an intention of increasing the agrarian trade in rice, pepper and coconut produced in the Kingdom. For instance, the state constructed boats for the sea trade. The state ships carried rice, pepper, sugarcane and coir to Muscat, Aden, Arabia and Red Sea region and even distant China. The state maintained roads and provided facilities to the traders. Although Tippu’s revenue code was framed with great ability, it was badly implemented by his officers of whom the Sultan had lost his grip after 1792. Newly recruited revenue officers were indulged in corruption and dishonesty. They kept the revenue accounts in the most unreliable manner. For instance in Kanara, the ryots in 1796 A.D. under Tippu received a nominal remission of 20% of their assessment but the remitted amount was paid in years between 1796 and 1799 as a bribe to the revenue officers. Along with the Muslims, “trusted Brahmans” from the region of Mysore were entrusted with the revenue administration of South Kanara. The defective implementation of Tippu’s agrarian policy adversely affected the status of the Christian agriculturist, the Gowda-Sarasvats and the Jain Paleyagars in the agrarian set up in the region under study."

"Close to the eastern or Bangalore gate stood formerly a Hindu temple with a prakara wall and a verandah running around. It was very probably a structure of the early eighteenthcentury and was not of great architectural importance. It is said to have been dedicated to Hanuman or Anjaneya. Near it, in the field, Tipu is said to have played in his younger days when his father was yet a rising young officer in the Mysore army. One day a Fakir told the boy that he would some day become very prosperous and directed him to convert the temple into a mosque when he became a great man. When he became king, Tipu compelled the Hindus to remove the image from the temple, filled up the ground floor and on the top of the temple got erected the Jumma Masjid, the hall of which has numerous foil arches and a Mihrab on the west in the form of a small room. On the walls of the hall are found stone inscriptions with quotations from the Quran, etc. One of them gives the date of its construction corresponding to 1787 A.D. The main points of interest in the mosque are its two great and beautiful minars which combine majesty with grace. Their shafts are ornamented with cornices and floral bands while near the top are narrow terraces with ornamental parapets. From there a visitor gets a panoramic view of the neighbourhood. At the crown of the minars are large masonry kalashas placed upon flowers and fully ornamented. Above are small metallic kalashas of the Hindu type."

"The majority of the women were originally Hindus, from families whom the Sultan had put to death or held in confinement."

"[The Persian scholar Colonel William Miles who translated Mir Hussain Kirmani’s hagiography on Tipu writes in the preface of his translation that] [Tipu] was a bigoted Muslim, and like most of that class unprincipled and quite unscrupulous as to the means he employed to attain his ends in the propagation of his religion. With these bad qualities, his dark, suspicious, faithless character, alienated those who were at first his most attached friends, and at the time Srirangapattana was taken [in the Fourth AngloMysore War], he appears to have had scarcely one [friend] left."

"Roderick Mackenzie (1793) commented on Tipu’s march to Trinomaly and his mayhem there in 1790:Here neither respect, for the grandeur and antiquity of their temples, nor veneration for the sacred rites of a religion whose origin no time records, proved any protection for the persons or property, even of the first Brahmins. Their pagodas, breached with sacrilegious cannon, were forcibly entered, their altars defiled, their valuables seized, their dwellings reduced to ashes, and the devastation was rendered still more horrible by the scattered remains of men, women and children, mangled beneath a murderous sword. (Vol. 1, p. 203)"

"The reversion of Mangalore to the possession of Tipu was signalized by the forcible circumcision of many thousands of Indian Christians and their deportation to Seringapatam. A revolt in Coorg next year led to the same treatment of the greater part of the inhabitants the occasion being marked by Tipu's assumption of the tide of Badshah. ... A simultaneous rebellion occurred now in Coorg and Malabar, and the Sultan, passing through Coorg to quiet it, entered Malabar. Large parties of the Nairs were surrounded and offered the alternative of death or circumcision. ... Over 8,000 temples were also desecrated, their roofs of gold, silver and copper and the treasures buried under the idols amounting to many lakhs, being treated as royal plunder....His orders were, that 'every being in the district, without distinction, should be honoured with Islam; that the houses of such as fled to avoid that honour should be burned; that they should be traced to their lurking places, and that all means of truth and falsehood, fraud or force, should be employed' to effect their universal conversion. The following is a translation of an inscription on the stone found at Seringapatam, which was to have been set up in a conspicuous place in the fort:"Oh Almighty God! dispose the whole body of infidels! Scatter their tribe, cause their feet to stagger! Overthrow their councils, change their state, destroy their very root! Cause death to be near them, cut off from them the means of sustenance! Shorten their days! Be their bodies the constant object of their cares (i.e. infest them with diseases), deprive their eyes of sight, make black their faces (i.e. bring shame).""

"My victorious sabre is lightning for the destruction of the unbelievers. Haidar, the Lord of the Faith, is victorious for my advantage. And, moreover, he destroyed the wicked race who were unbelievers. Praise be to him, who is the Lord of the Worlds! Thou art our Lord, support us against the people who are unbelievers. He to whom the Lord giveth victory prevails over all (mankind). Oh Lord, make him victorious, who promoteth the faith of Muhammad. Confound him, who refuseth the faith of Muhammad; and withhold us from those who are so inclined. The Lord is predominant over his own works. Victory and conquest are from the Almighty. Bring happy tidings, Oh Muhammad, to the faithful; for God is the kind protector and is the most merciful of the merciful. If God assists thee, thou wilt prosper. May the Lord God assist thee, Oh Muhammad, with mighty victory."

"The Governor of Madras Thomas Munro (1761-1827) considered Tipu’s Mysore as “the most simple and despotic monarchy in the world” (Glieg, 1830, pp. 1, 84)."

"The Mysore Gazetteer says that the ravaging army of Tipu Sultan had destroyed more than 8000 temples in South India. The temples of Malabar and Cochin principalities had to bear the brunt of plunder and destruction. The History of Cochin by K.P. Padmanabha Menon and History of Kerala by A. Sreedhara Menon narrate some of them: "In the month of Chingam 952, Malayalam Era (corresponding to August, 1786) Tipu's Army destroyed idols of the famous Perumanam Temple and desecrated all the temples between Trichur and Karuvannur river. "Irinjalakuda and Thiruvanchikulam temples were also defiled and damaged by Tipu's Army." Some of the other famous temples looted and desecrated were as follows: Triprangot, Thrichembaram, Thirunavaya, Thiruvannoor, Calicut Thali, Hemambika Temple, the Jain Temple in Palghat, Mammiyur, Parambatali, Venkitangu, Pemmayanadu, Tiruvanjikulam, Terumanam, Vadakhumnnathan Temple of Trichur, Belur Siva Temple, Shri Veliyanattukava, Varakkal, Puthu, Govindapuram, Keraladhiswara, Trikkandiyur, Sukapuram, Maranehei Temple of Aaalvancheiri Tambrakkal, Vengara Temple of Aranadu, Tikulam, Ramanathakra, Azhinjalam Indiannur, Mannur Narayan Kanniar and Vadukunda Siva Temple of Madai."

""The Padayottam military occupation period won't be forgotten by the Malayalis for generations. It was this invasion, between Malayalam era 957 to 967 (1782 to 1792) that turned Malayalam upside down," says P. Raman Menon, biographer of Shaktan Tampuran, the King of Cochin during Tipu's invasion. He adds: "There was hardly any cowshed left in Malayalam where the Mysore Tiger did not enter." The reference is to the mass cow-slaughter carried out by Tipu's army on his orders."

"Hindus, especially Nairs and chieftains who resisted Islamic cruelties, were the main targets of Tipu's anger. Hundreds of Nair women and children were abducted to Sreerangapatanam or sold as slaves to the Dutch. Nairs were hunted down and killed and also deprived of all traditional and social privileges. Thousands of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Nairs and other respected classes of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam or driven out of their traditional ancestral homes. Thousands sought refuge in Travancore State while hundreds fled to forests and hills to escape Tipu's atrocities which had completely shaken their sense of security.. The new phase of Mysore administration in Kerala resulted in unending wars. Extreme cruelties of the invading army had badly affected every section of the society, leading to the mass exodus of people from Malabar.. Many Hindu temples, royal houses and chieftain families were destroyed and plundered. The exodus of Brahmins and Kshatriyas who were the patrons and custodians of traditional arts and culture, resulted in stagnation in the cultural field also."

"The nightmarish results of Tipu's invasion of Kerala have been aptly described by the former editor of Gazetteer of Kerala and the renowned historian A. Sreedhara Menon. They state as follows: "Hindus, especially Nairs and chieftains who resisted Islamic cruelties, were the main targets of Tipu's anger. Hundreds of Nair women and children were abducted to Sreerangapatanam or sold as slaves to the Dutch. Nairs were hunted down and killed and also deprived of all traditional and social privileges. Thousands of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Nairs and other respected classes of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam or driven out of their traditional ancestral homes. Thousands sought refuge in Travancore State while hundreds fled to forests and hills to escape Tipu's atrocities which had completely shaken their sense of security." "The new phase of Mysore administration in Kerala resulted in unending wars. Extreme cruelties of the invading army had badly affected every section of the society, leading to the mass exodus of people from Malabar." "Many Hindu temples, royal houses and chieftain families were destroyed and plundered. The exodus of Brahmins and Kshatriyas who were the patrons and custodians of traditional arts and culture, resulted in stagnation in the cultural field also.""

"In the month of Chingam 952, Malayalam Era (corresponding to August, 1786) Tipu's Army destroyed idols of the famous Perumanam Temple and desecrated all the temples between Trichur and Karuvannur river. Irinjalakuda and Thiruvanchikulam temples were also defiled and damaged by Tipu's Army."

"All the Amildars under Tipu’s Government were Moors who were seldom chosen for any other reason than their being Muhammadans; and although they had an oath of fidelity administered to them, the embezzlement of public revenue, by the several classes of servants, is supposed to have amounted annually to 15 or 20 lakhs of pagodas."

"The list of the chiefs of every province or district contained only Muslim names like Sheikh Ali, Sher Khan, Muhammad Syed, Meer Hussain, Syed Peer, Abdul Karim, and so on. There was nary a...non-Muslim name."

"The noon-tide came with baleful light, The Sultan’s corpse in silence lay; His kingdom, like a dream of night, In silence vanish’d quite away. [...] In Vishnu’s lotus-foot alone Confide! His power shall ne’er decay, When tumbles every earthly throne, And mortal glory fades away."

"It was at Kuttippuram, the head-quarters of the Kadattanad family, that this force surrounded 2,000 Nayars with their families in an old fort which they defended for several days. At last finding it untenable they submitted to Tippu’s terms which were “a voluntary profession of the Muhammadan faith, or a forcible conversion with deportation from their native land. The unhappy captives gave a forced assent, and on the next day the rite of circumcision was performed on all the males, every individual of both sexes being compelled to close the ceremony by eating beef.”"

"It had been confirmed from Calicut that "200 Brahmans had been seized and confined, made Mussulmen, and forced to eat beef and other things contrary to their caste.""

"Tippu’s soldiers, therefore daily exposed the heads of many Brahmans in sight of the fort. It is asserted that the Zamorin, rather than witness such enormities (and to avoid further killing of innocent Brahmins), chose to abandon Palghautcherry (Palghat Fort)."

"The Lahore Staff College publication on Tipu recounts his official edict to destroy Hindu temples in his dominions as follows:He [Tipu] issued an edict for the destruction of all the Hindu temples in his dominions excepting those of Srirangapattana and Melukote…he resolved to destroy every monument of the former Government to which end he caused the ancient fort and city of Mysore to be razed, and removed the stones of the temples and palace to a neighboring hill where he laid the foundation of a new fort which he named Nuzerbad. But in the furiousness of his wrath, he spared not the works of the greatest public utility, in the destruction of the celebrated reservoir of Yadavi Nudi because it recorded the wisdom, riches and power of the ancient Hindu sovereigns. (Emphasis added)"

"As the Sultan had a great aversion to Brahmuns [sic], Hindus and other tribes, he did not consider any but the people of Islam his friends, and therefore, on all accounts his chief object was to promote and provide for them. He accordingly selected a number of Mussulmans who could scarcely read and write, and appointed them Mirzas of the treasury departments and placed one over each of the other accountants to the end that the accounts might be submitted by them to him in the Persian language, and in the extent of his dominions, in every Purgana by his orders was placed an Asof [Magistrate] and in the towns yielding a revenue of five thousands . . . pagodas, one Amil (collector), one Serishtadar, one Ameen and one Mujmoodar, all Mussulmans."

"Tipu’s biographer, Kirmani, gloats about how Tipu ‘appointed a detachment of his troops to ravage the country [Malabar] of his enemies, and they accordingly lighted up the fire of oppression in all the towns and villages in that neighbourhood.’35 In an almost poetic flourish, Kirmani exults: When they marched into that country, they committed many cruel acts, they lighted up such a fire of plunder, that at once they burned up everything it contained. From the hoofs of their horses, the mountains and plains were all trodden to dust, and even the rocks, trees and stones, deep sighs arose and wailing. After the whole country had been swept by the bosom of devastation, and when a host of the refractory and rebellious has been carried away by the whirlwind of desolation, those who remained being subdued, placed the ring of servitude in their ear of their lives [the ear-ring that they were made to wear after circumcision and conversion], and with their hands tied together submitted."

"Mir Hussein Kirmani (1980) points out that “the Sultan had a great aversion to . . . Hindus and other tribes,” built a mosque in every town, and appointed a muezzin, a moula, and a kazi to each (pp. 154-155)"