Tag Archives: Tipu Sultan

Khader Khan Khaisighi : A Slice of Kodagu History

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Kodagu, KARNATAKA:

by Dr. Rekha Chinnappa.

Hyderali had an edge over the competition for the throne between the Haleri and Horamale branches of Ikkeri dynasty after the death of Mudduraja and Muddaiah raja. In the Haleri branch Lingaraja was fighting for his nephew Appajiraja and in the Haramale branch, Mallaiah arasa for his son Devapparaja. Finally, Devapparaja was coronated.

In this circumstance, the disappointed Lingaraja sought refuge from Hyderali along with his nephew Appajiraja and his sons which included his son Veerarajendra Raja. Hyderali took advantage of this situation by using Lingaraja as the spy. Hyder captured Kodagu and got Devapparaja and his family killed in 1774. This extinguished the Horamale branch.

As per the understanding, Lingarajendra-1 was coronated but remained the puppet of Hyder until his death in 1779. At this time, Lingarajendra’s son Veerarajendra being a minor was forcefully shifted by Hyder to Goroor. This was convenient for him to take control of the Kodagu administration through Karnik Subbarasaiah.

Hyder’s autocratic attitude in administration was disliked by the people of Kodagu. Hence they resisted his rule by various kinds of protests. Due to ill health, Hyderali died in 1782. This resulted in his son and heir Tippu sultan assuming the throne. Tippu’s rule was oppressive and this made the situation worst for the people of Kodagu. Eventually, they chose to bring back Prince Veerarajendra, who had been shifted to the Periyapatna prison from Goroor. He was to reinstate the peaceful administration of Kodagu.

Veerarajendra’s close associate Kulleti Ponappa, Hombale Nayaka, Appanarvanda Achaiah, Pattachervanda Bolakka and few other people of Kodagu set out to secretly release Veerarajendra from the prison. The warden of the Periyapatna prison was Khadher Khan Khaisighei. He was a Saurashtrian trader from Afghanistan in India on a trade contact. He was upright and empathetic individual and was sensitive to the ongoing affairs. He aided the Kodagu folks to get their prince out of a six year long imprisonment.

This became the major turning point for Veerarajendra to re-establish the rule of the Haleri dynasty in Kodagu. Soon after his release, Veerarajendra along with his Kodagu army resisted the strong determination of Tippu Sultan to capture Kodagu. The Kodagu army was brave and strong but were not very experienced in organized battle. Hence, they began setting plots in the routes of the enemy through forests and other mountain areas. This ousted the authoritative administration of Tippu who had gained an edge over the natives of Kodagu by pledging themselves in the territory.

While Tippu sent troops under various commanders to capture Kushalnagar, Beppunad and Bhagamandala forts of Kodagu, the Kodagu army won over the Sultans and Veerajendra Raja got Kushalnagar, Beppunad and Bhagamandala forts under his control.

While only Madikeri fort was in control of Tippu Sultan, the Kodagu troops way laid the routes and blocked all the provisions going there. During monsoon, when shortage of supplies was inevitable Tippu sent the necessary provisions under the leadership of Khadher Khan Khaisighei. They were attacked in Kushalnagar and captured by the Kodagu army. Veerarajendra Raja was obliged to release Khadher Khan Khaisighei out of immense gratitude towards him. His memory flashed back to his release from the Periyapatna prison. Khaisighei was also instrumental in protecting his sister when she was attacked by the muslim authorities.

However, Khader Khan Khaisighei’s loyalty was pronounced when he turns down the Raja’s favor, initially. Later on, he accepts the favor and requests that the provisions be delivered to the Madikeri fort and returns to Periyapatna. Thus, Veerarajendra Raja gains control of the territory of Kodagu.

Certain areas in Kodagu was commanded by Paleygars/nayaks. After the fall of Udichanda Palegar in Bilgunda, his property was gifted to Khadher Khan Khaisighei by Veerarajendra Raja. This gift was based on service jhagir under puthra parampara. Henceforth, they were the permanent residents of Bilgunda, living in their Aiynmane beside the Bhadrakali Village temple. This Aiynmane has all features of traditional Kodagu aiynmane.

The lineage of Khader Khan Khaisighei has been enjoying the thakkame and they decorate the respectable seat at the Hoskote Kolemandh reserved for various thakkas. Without overbearing the religious attitude they participate wholly in all the village activities including the festivals – Bhadrakali Namme and Eshwara Namme of the Bilgunda Village.

The Kodagu socio-cultural practices are followed by them celebrating the Kailmurtha and Puthari festival to the present day. These festivals are the celebration of the completion of several stages of paddy cultivation, which was the only source of traditional livelihood of the land. The thakkame of Puthari had been of the Kaisighei and is followed by his progeny now by Kaleemula Khan, the third generation.

The procession for cutting the sheaf begins at their house along with traditional fervor. The sheaf is reaped from Shafila Khan’s paddy field, where he fires the gun symbolizing the beginning of harvest. Later, the sheaf is taken to the temple and their respective homes.

Embracing Islam they have blended into the socio-cultural practice of the land they have inherited. This matured outlook has disseminated peace and harmony in and round Bilgunda Village.

source: facebook.com/ptbopanna.palangada

Contribution Of Muslims To India’s Freedom Struggle

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INDIA:

The famous writer Kushwant Singh, once wrote: “Indian Freedom is written in Muslim blood, since their participation in the freedom struggle was much more, in proportion to their small percentage of the population.”

The story and history of India’s independence are written with the blood of Muslims. According to historical references, 65% of those who stood, fought and sacrificed against the British for India’s independence were Muslim freedom fighters, the hams live reported.

A large number of people from all religions and castes took part in the freedom struggle, undoubtedly. However, the struggles of many Muslim prominent personalities who also contributed to India’s freedom and even sacrificed everything including their lives are little known. Muslims have been at the forefront to oppose the British and stood shoulder to shoulder with people from other communities while fighting against them. Getting freedom was not easy, our ancestors had to go face a lot of struggles and difficulties to get us the freedom that we are enjoying now.

The First Call To Oppose British

In the 1750s, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah was the first awakened Indian ruler, who stood his ground against the British. He lost the Battle of Plassey in 1757 due to the betrayal of Mir Jafar (Commander of Nawab’s army). With this, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s reign marks the end of the last independent rule in India and the beginning of the East India company’s rule that was unabated for the next two hundred years.

First Freedom Struggle By Muslim Rulers

The first freedom struggle against the British was started by the rulers of Mysore Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, during the 1780s and 90s. Both used the first iron-cased rockets and cannons effectively against the British invaders.

Tipu Sultan is considered to be one of India’s first freedom fighters for his fierce fight and brave against the East India Company. He resisted the conquest of the British in southern India and was reluctant to welcome them on his soil. He was the only Indian ruler who understood the dangers that the British posed to India, and fought four wars to oust them from the country.

The Unsung Heroines Of India’s Freedom Struggle

Begum Hazrat Mahal, the unsung heroin, played a very important role in India’s war of Independence. Being a woman, she led a rebellion against the British East India Company in 1857. She shot the British ruler, Sir Henry Lawrence and defeated the British army in a conclusive Battle at Chinhat in 1857.

In the great revolt of 1857, as many as 225 Muslim women sacrificed their lives in the uprising. These unsung Muslim women freedom fighters who have sloganeered, shed blood and given their lives for the country’s independence have now been forgotten to due biases.

A majority of freedom fighters did a nameless service to the nation and one such lesser-known name was Abadi Bano Begum (Bi Amma). Bi Amma was the first woman to address a political rally wearing an abaya. She took part in National freedom struggles, Khilafat Movement and propagated Hindu-Muslim unity. Following Mahatma Gandhi’s advice, Bi Amma played an. An important role in encouraging women to take part in the freedom movement. Further, she played a pivotal role in the Swadeshi movements.

In the book, Gandhi and the Ali Brothers: Biography of a Friendship by Rakhahari Chatterji, Maulana Mohammad Jouhar says, “Suffice it to say that, although she was practically illiterate, I have, in all experience, of men of all sorts of types, come across none that I could call wiser and certainly that was more truly godly and spiritual than our mother.”

Bi Amma was also the mother of Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali popularly known as the Ali Brothers whom she raised on her own after her husband died when she was young.

Amjadi Begum, the wife of Muhammad Ali Jauhar and daughter-in-law of Bi Amma, is yet another Muslim women freedom fighter. Mahatma Gandhi also dedicated an article on her titled ‘A Brave Woman‘ where he admired her as a courageous wife of a courageous man. 

At the age of 45, Asghari Begum, another forgotten Muslim woman, has also taken part in the 1857 revolt and challenged British rule in the present-day Uttar Pradesh. However, she was captured by the British in 1858 and burnt alive.

Habiba, a Muslim woman’s fought many battles against the British in Muzaffarnagar in 1857. However, she was captured and hanged along with 11 other female warriors at the age of 25.

The Great Revolt of 1857

During the Great Revolt of 1857, Hindus and Muslims under the leadership of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar tried to oust the British from India. A majority of Hindu sepoys requested Zafar to lead them in the war of Independence. Although the Revolt failed due of several reasons, Muslims have always stood on the front line to oppose the British.

Former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi during his visit to Bahadur Shah’s grave, wrote in the visitor’s book: “Although you (Bahadur Shah) do not have land in India, you have it here; your name is alive… I pay homage to the memory of the symbol and rallying point of India’s First War of Independence….”

Muslims came to India and ruled here for over 800 years but they did not steal anything from here as the British, the Dutch and the French did. By bringing plenty of knowledge in literature, architecture, judiciary, political structure, government body and management structure, which is still used in Indian management strategy, they helped India to progress into a unified and civilized nation.

Lighthouse of Rebellion

How many of us know that the organizer and leader of “First Indian freedom struggle” in 1857 was Moulavi Ahamadullah Shah. Known as the ‘Lighthouse of Rebellion’ in Awadh, he Faizabad free from British rule for almost one year, until his death at the hands of British agents on June 5, 1858.

“With being a practicing Muslim, he was also the epitome of religious unity and Ganga-Jamuna culture of Faizabad. In the revolt of 1857, royalties like Nana Sahib of Kanpur, Kunwar Singh of Arrah fought alongside Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah. Maulavi’s 22nd Infantry Regiment was commanded by Subedar Ghamandi Singh and Subedar Umrao Singh in the famous Battle of Chinhat,” according to researcher and historian Ram Shankar Tripathi.

The important role of Muslims in the uprising is the reason that the British government singled out the community for the worst revenge. From the Nawab, the King of Mysore, the last Mughal King, Princes, the landlords, the Ulemas, intellectuals, Urdu journalists, including common people, all members of the Muslim community have made great sacrifices for the freedom of India.

In the uprising of the 1857 revolt, thousands of ulema were slaughtered and the whole of Delhi was emptied of Muslims, according to excerpts from Syed Ubaidur Rahman’s book Biographical Encyclopedia of Indian Muslim Freedom Fighters. They were not even allowed to return to their homes and reclaim their properties.

First Journalist To Sacrifice His Life During The Great Revolt

Moulvi Muhammad Baqir, a scholar and activist of Indian independence activist was the first journalist to be executed following the rebellion in 1857. The editor of Urdu newspapers, Delhi Urdu Akhbar, was washed dead on 16th September 1857 for writing Nationalist articles, without even a trial.

Although India got independence on 15 August 1947, the foundation of the freedom struggle was laid before 1857. Since the time of the Revolt of 1857, which is considered to be the beginning of India’s freedom struggle, Muslim leadership has spearheaded the cause.

First Muslim To Be Hanged For Conspiring Against East India Company

At the age of 27 years, Shaheed Ashfaqulla Khan was the first Muslim to be hanged for conspiring against the British Raj. Khan was hanged to death on December 19, 1927. With this, he became a martyr and a legend among the people because of his love for the country and his unshakeable spirit.

Reshmi Rumal Tehreek (The Silk Movement)

Muslims not only took the lead in the uprising, but also stood in the front line in all other efforts to topple the British colonial regime in India.

After the revolt of 1857, the Muslim leaders changed their strategy of resistance by setting up educational institutions across the country. Reshmi Rumal Tehreek or The Silk Letter Movement (1913-1920) was an initiative by Deobandi Leaders Maulana Mahmud Hasan and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi to topple the British Empire.

However, when British intelligence learned about it, hundreds of sympathizers of the initiative were arrested and put in prison for years without any trial. The top leaders including Maulana Mahmud Hasan and half a dozen of his followers were banished to Malta after a faux trial where they faced the worst hardship.

Role of Muslims in Congress’ anti-colonial struggle

Justice Abbas Tyabji, an Indian freedom fighter from Gujarat and associate of Mahatma Gandhi, was the first Muslim president of the Indian National Congress party. Justice Tyabji is also known for leading Salt Satyagraha following Gandhi’s arrest in 1930.

Another Congress president during the colonialism was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who is one of the chief Muslim leaders of the anti-colonial nationalist movement. He became the youngest President of the Indian National Congress in 1923 at the age of 35. He faced multiple imprisonments by the colonial state.

From Justice Tayabji to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, there have been eight Muslim leaders who were in the Indian National Congress’s freedom movement. The other prominent Muslim leaders include, Muhammad Ali Jauhar, Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Dr Mukhtar Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Maulana Mahmud Hasan and many others. They made every possible sacrifice for the cause of the end the colonial rule.

Frontier Gandhi

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun independence activist who campaigned to end the rule of the British Raj in India. He founded the Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against British colonial rule in India. He was also known as Frontier Gandhi for his principles of non-violence and friendship with Gandhi. Khan worked towards the formation of a united, independent, secular India. 

Muslim Man Coins “Jai Hind”

The patriotic slogan “Jai Hind” was initially coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, but it was adopted by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. It is now used as a way of salutation throughout India. It means “Victory to India” in English.

The Creation Of the National Flag

For a majority of us, the current national flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya. However, it was a Muslim Lady Surayya Tyabji, who created the flag’s final look today.

Although we have recounted several names of the Muslims who have contributed to India’s freedom struggle, there are several thousands of them who fought on the streets against the British Raj.

source: http://www.thecongnate.com / The Cognate / Home> History / by Rabia Shireen / August 15th, 2022

Mapping Tipu’s defeat

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Karnataka (under research project), World Opinion, ,

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

Bengaluru-based collector Sunil Baboo has acquired maps that show the battle plan of the Third Anglo-Mysore war, which Tipu Sultan lost.

A painting of Tipu Sultan used for representational purpose only

Bengaluru : 

Sunil Baboo, a Bengaluru-based collector, has a penchant for procuring items of historical significance. The latest additions to his private collection? Maps detailing the British battle plan to corner Tipu Sultan.One of the maps, engraved by J Cooke, a man who worked under the British, shows the battleground of the Third Anglo-Mysore war that lasted between February 5-24, 1792, and saw Tipu’s defeat. 

Sunil Baboo | Ashishkrishna HP

He acquired the map during a trip abroad. He met a French woman named Christine Champlaine, whose great-grandfather served in the French army and came into the possession of the maps of the 1792 battle. “I bought them from her in early 2020,” Baboo says.The map details the seige of Seringapatam (now called Srirangapatna), and the position of the various troops on the side of the British, and the positions of British generals.

It shows the locations of Nizam’s forces, the Nawabs of Arcot, and the Marathas, vis-a-viz Loll Baug, Shair Ganjaum, Dowlet Baug (Daulat Bagh), Tippoo’s Tent, Powder Works, Hyder’s Mausoleum, Palace, Pavilion, River Cauvery, and Carigaut Pagoda.

“They cornered Tipu even before he realised it. Cornwallis went on to conquer all of Tipu’s forts – Nandidurg, Savandurg, Uttaradurg, Manjarabad fort, Ballari fort, Krishnagiri fort and others. Also, Tipu had a sense that his own people were turning hostile. There were instances of his own people falling for the lure of money from the British,” says Baboo.

In 2018, he acquired a lithograph titled ‘Taking of the City of and Fort of Seringapatam’ from a dealer of antiquities in Canada. Created by French painter Jean Duplessi Bertauz, the piece illustrates Tipu’s final battle. “It shows the slyness with which the British laid siege to Seringapatam, cornering Tipu from every side. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was busy fighting wars in Europe, had offered to help Tipu, but it was too late,” says the 60-year-old. 

Also engraved is the following text: “Tippoo perished with a great number of this followers and all his treasure fell into the hands of the conquerors. Colonel Wellesley commanded the reserve at the assault, and was afterwards nominated Governor of the City.”Baboo, who used to run an export business, is drawn to history. “I have a passion for documenting antiquarian documents, and maps that represent the past and which shaped our present,” he says.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sanath Prasad, Express News Service / April 06th, 2021

Hyder Ali: The ‘Napoleon of South India’

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Devanahalli, Mysore, KARNATAKA :

Hyder Ali, who is famously known as ‘the Nepoleon of South India’ for his relentless fighting against the conspiracies of the East India Company and its henchmen and for checkmating the British ambitions of expansion in South India, was born in 1722 at Devanahalli village, Karnataka state. His father was Fateh Mohammad Ali and mother Mujidan Begum.

Though he did not have any formal learning, he received training in martial arts. Hyder Ali was sharp in intellect, strong in will, capable of  handling multiple tasks simultaneously and was brave at heart.

He had participated in Devanahalli war in 1749 as a young soldier of Mysore State. Recognizing his gallantry, Nanjaraj, the Minister of Mysore kingdom, honoured Hyder Ali with the title of ‘Khan’ and promoted him as the Chief of a battalion in the Mysore army.

They attacked Mysore several times with the help of the East India Company.

Though Hyder Ali suffered initial losses, he resisted them successfully and proved a virtual nightmare to East India Company. Even then, the British rulers provoked Hyder Ali again which led to the second Mysore war in July 1780. He went to the battlefield along with his son, Tipu Sultan.

While Hyder Ali captured the Arcot, his son Tipu defeated the East India Company troops and captured Kanjeevaram, which was about 50 miles from Madras. This sent shivers to Warren Hastings, the Governor General of East India Company.

He immediately sent additional troops from Culcutta, Madras with abundant funds under the control of his Commander General, Sir Eyre Coote. While fighting against the foreign enemy on one side, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan taught a befitting lesson to Malabar Nayars and chieftains, who revolted against him with the active support of Nizam of Hyderbad.

Hyder Ali, while leading his troops towards successive victories, fell ill and died in the battlefield on 7 December, 1782, near Narasingarayuni Peta village, which is now in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by Nihad Amani / August 22nd, 2020

Meet Noor Inayat Khan, the Indian-origin British spy who may soon be on coins in UK

Amazing Feats, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Baroda, MADHYA PRADESH / Paris, FRANCE / London, UNITED KINGDOM :

If the proposal is passed, it will be the first time that non-white people will be featured on British coins or notes.

Born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, Noor’s family moved to London and then to Paris during the First World War. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

British media reported this week that Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is considering a proposal to feature historical figures from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community of the country on a set of coins titled ‘Service to the Nation’.

If the proposal is passed, it will be the first time that non-white people will be featured on British coins or notes. The plan has been submitted to the Royal Mint, which is to come up with proposals and designs.

Zehra Zaidi of the advocacy campaign ‘Banknotes of Colour’, along with a group of historians and MPs, had written to the Chancellor proposing some historical figures. Among them were the Indian-origin British spy Noor Inayat Khan, as well as Khudadad Khan, the first soldier of the British Indian Army to receive the Victoria Cross. Khudadad Khan, who belonged to the Chakwal district of Punjab in present-day Pakistan, died in 1971.

The continuing Black Lives Matter protests in the United States , triggered by the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in May, which have put a spotlight on the lack of BAME representation in the UK, and have compelled authorities to take appropriate steps.

Who was Noor Inayat Khan?

Born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, her family moved to London and then to Paris during the First World War. Although Noor started working as a children’s writer in Paris, she escaped to England after the fall of France (when it was invaded by Germany) during the Second World War.

In November 1940, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, an arm of the UK’s Royal Air Force to train as a wireless operator. She then did a stint at the secret intelligence organisation set up by Winston Churchill called Special Operations Executive (SOE).

A bust of Noor Inayat Khan in Gordon Square, London. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

She became the first radio operator to be sent to Paris to work for SOE’s Prosper resistance network under the codename Madeleine. She was just 29 then, and had signed up for a job in which people were not expected to be alive for longer than six weeks.

Even as many members of the network were being arrested by the Nazi secret police Gestapo, Noor chose to stay put — and spent the summer moving from one place to another, sending messages back to London, until she was arrested in 1943.

She was executed at the Dachau concentration camp in southern Germany near Munich. Noor was awarded the highest honour in the UK, the George Cross, in 1949, and the French Croix de Guerre with the silver star posthumously.

What was Noor’s connection to India?

She was connected to India through her father Inayat Khan. He was founder of the Sufi Order of the West, which is now known as the Inayati Order. He had migrated to the West as n Hindustani classical musician, and then moved to teaching Sufism.

Inayat Khan was born in Baroda. His maternal grandfather was the noted musician Ustad Maula Bakhsh Khan, who founded the music academy Gyanshala, which now serves as the Faculty of Performing Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University. Maula Bakhsh’s wife, Qasim Bibi, was a granddaughter of Tipu Sultan of Mysore.

Inayat returned to India in 1926 and chose the site of his burial at the Nizamuddin Dargah complex in New Delhi. The Inayat Khan dargah still stands in a corner of the complex.

Besides being a GC, what other honours has Noor received?

In 2014, Britain’s Royal Mail had issued a postage stamp in honour of Noor as part of a set of 10 stamps in the ‘Remarkable Lives’ series. In 2012, a memorial with a bust of Noor was unveiled in London by Princess Anne. Shrabani Basu, author of ‘Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan’, and Chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust, had campaigned for the memorial.

In February 2019, Noor’s London home at 4 Taviton Street in Bloomsbury, the house that she left for her final mission, was honoured with a blue plaque. She was the first Indian-origin woman to be awarded the plaque.

How has Noor been represented in popular culture?

Various documentaries on women agents and the SOE have featured her story, such as Netflix’s ‘Churchill’s Secret Agents: The New Recruits’. In 2018, a play titled ‘Agent Madeleine’ premiered at the Ottawa Fringe Festival.

In 2012, Indian producers Zafar Hai and Tabrez Noorani obtained the film rights to the biography by Basu. In the film ‘Liberté: A Call to Spy’, an American historical drama, actor Radhike Apte played the role of Noor. The film had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Explained / by Surbhi Gupta / New Delhi / July 29th, 2020

Noor Inayat Khan commemorated: Stunning true story of British spy princess

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Mysore , KARNATAKA / Moscow, RUSSIA /Paris, FRANCE /  London , United KINGDOM :

A LIFE of a British spy princess who was the first woman radio operator to be sent into Nazi-occupied France has been commemorated to mark International Women’s Day.

Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Noor Inayat Khan is the most highly decorated Muslim woman in British Military history and was only aged 30 when she was executed in Dachau Concentration Camp in September 1944 after being captured by the Gestapo in Paris the previous year. Like 20,000 others who have no known grave she is remembered at the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial. Now her life and legacy has been brought to a new audience in a digital exhibition Noor Inayat-Khan: A Woman of Conspicuous Courage created by Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and the girl guides.

It tells how the unlikely spy came to die for her country and the courage she showed under torture while visitors will be able to put their code breaking skills to the test and discover the technical skills a wireless operator needed behind enemy lines.

Jasmine Theti, 15, of Girlguiding Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, said: “We must never forget her and the sacrifice she made.

“I loved learning the Morse Code it was good fun.

“Although I wouldn’t have liked sending messages in a cold Parisian park whilst looking over my shoulder all the time. Noor was an inspiration.”

Noor was born on New Year’s Day 1914 in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother and was a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century Muslim ruler of Mysore.

The family moved to London then Paris where she was educated and worked as a children’s author.

After the fall of France, she and her brother escaped to England and in November 1940 she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force becoming a radio operator at RAF Abingdon.

But the fluent French speaker soon came to the attention of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and in late 1942 was recruited.

Noor Inayat Khan with her mother

Noor Inayat Khan, left, with her mother (Image: Shrabani Basu/ PA Wire)

However they were unsure whether she would make a good agent, worried she was too honest and kind-hearted and couldn’t blend into a crowd.

She proved them wrong when she joined the Paris resistance in July 1943 just as the Gestapo were closing in.

While members were rounded up she evaded capture and ended up as the only SOE radio operator for the whole Paris region.

But two days before she was due to be replaced in October she was betrayed and arrested.

Remarkably she twice managed to escape from the Parisian prison before being sent to Germany the following month where she was kept in chains and in solitary confinement for 10 months.

Resisting repeated torture she and three other women SOE agents were finally taken to Dachau and shot on September 13, 1944.

For her courage she was posthumously awarded Britain’s highest civilian bravery medal The George’s Cross in 1949.

Julian Evans of the CWGC which looks after the Runnymede memorial added: “Noor’s story is an inspirational one and we believed it important, as the custodians of the memorial on which her name is inscribed, to help give it greater prominence.

“We hope that the exhibition will encourage more people to visit the Air Forces Memorial to explore the story of Noor and the 20,000 other members of the Commonwealth Air Forces who are commemorated here.”

source: http://www.express.co.uk / Express / Home> News> UK / by Tony Whitefield / March 08th, 2020

Experts for retaining Tipu content in textbooks

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Freedom Fighters (under research project), Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, World Opinion, , ,

KARNATAKA :

Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan

An experts’ committee constituted by the state government to look into the demand of BJP MLA Appachu Ranjan, who sought removal of content related to Tipu Sultan from textbooks, on Tuesday recommended against the demand by urging the government to retain the content on Tipu.

The committee, comprising academicians and historians, had submitted the report to the Karnataka Textbook Society on Monday and expressed an opinion that chapters on the ruler of Mysore currently prescribed in textbooks are only introductory in nature about the life of Tipu Sultan. “It is impossible to teach the history of Mysore without the introduction to Tipu,” the committee noted in its report.

Sources in the committee told DH that all textbooks contain only factual and introductory information about Tipu Sultan. “We have not arrived at any judgement based on the controversy. Being historians, it was our duty to submit a factual report,” revealed a member of the committee. Historians, who were part of the committee, have also advised that some of the documents submitted by Appachu Ranjan need to be verified.

Karnataka Textbook Society officials will now submit the report to the state government for a final decision. Textbooks for classes 6, 7 and 10 had lessons pertaining to Tipu Sultan and his administration.

BJP MLA from Madikeri Appachu Ranjan had appealed to Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to drop content related to Tipu Sultan from school textbooks.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Bengaluru Politics / by DHNS, Bengaluru / December 10th, 2019

India ‘First to work for Make in India’: Tributes pour in for Tipu Sultan on birth anniv

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion, , , , , ,

Tipu Sultan was born on November 20, 1750 and died on May 4, 1799 fighting with the Colonial forces

TipuSultanMPOs30nov2019

New Delhi:

Twitter users on Wednesday paid rich tributes to Tipu Sultan on his birth anniversary, with many posting the quotes of the King of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore as also pictures of his prized possessions with hashtags #Tipusultan, #SherEHindTipuSultan, #TipuJayanti and #TigerOfMysore.

As many as 3,143 tweets were posted by Twitterati on Tipu Sultan.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar wrote: “Tipu Sultan, the king of Mysore, will always be known for his valour and his continuous resistance against the British rule”.

“A tribute to the first freedom fighter of India on his birth anniversary”, the grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar wrote.

Another Twitter user wrote: “Tipu Sultan was the only Indian ruler who understood the dangers the British posed to India, and fought four wars to oust them from India – in that sense he could be called the first freedom fighter in the subcontinent”.

One user posted a quote attributed to Tipu Sultan: “One day’s life of a lion is preferable to hundred years of a jackal”.

Many Twitter users also hailed his liking for advanced technology.

“Tipu Sultan was fascinated by science & technology, got gun-makers, engineers, clockmakers & other experts from France to Mysore, then set up a manufacturing of bronze cannons, ammunition & muskets to ‘Make in Mysore’. Basically the first who worked for MakeinIndia”, (sic) wrote one user.

Make in India is a type of Swadeshi movement covering 25 sectors of the Indian economy. It was launched by the Government of India on 25 September 2014 to encourage companies to manufacture their products in India and enthuse with dedicated investments into manufacturing.

Tipu Sultan was born on November 20, 1750 and died on May 4, 1799 fighting with the Colonial forces.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by Ummid.com with inputs from IANS / November 20th, 2019

Tipu, legend in the West

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, World Opinion, , , , ,

Srirangapatnam, KARNATAKA :

TipuSultanMPOs07nov2019

It is an irony that Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, whom the current government in Karnataka wants to remove from its history, is celebrated in Britain, France and the US in song, drama, opera, novel, poetry and paintings. A wealth of Tipu’s  personal effects, curiosities and artifacts have found way into numerous art galleries and museums in many countries in the West. There’s not a major museum in the UK that does not exhibit some artifact related to Tipu.

The 75th Highlanders were a regiment raised in Scotland to exclusively fight Tipu. Scottish generals like Sir Hector Munro, Baillie, Beatson, Fraser, Gordon, Dunlop and others participated in the wars against Tipu. The Scots, more than the English,  were in the forefront of the British forces in all the Anglo-Mysore wars fought by Tipu as well as his father Hyder Ali. That explains the importance of the display of Tipu memorabilia in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

After Tipu was finally defeated and killed in 1799 by the British, under the command of Arthur Wellesley, the future Lord Wellington who 16 years later defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Waterloo, images of Tipu, his capital Srirangapatam (Srirangapatna) and his numerous impregnable forts and fortresses, proliferated throughout Britain. No other Indian ruler ever captured the imagination of the average Englishman as Tipu did. It is said that British housewives would quieten their babies by whispering “else, Tipu Sultan will come and get you.” Even three decades after Tipu’s death, his name was such a terror that when Ram Mohan Roy visited England on a mission from the then Mughal emperor, hostile crowds confronted him in London, mistaking him to be related to Tipu because his headgear resembled Tipu’s iconic turban.

Tipu Sultan, his capital city Srirangapatam, and the wars he fought against the British became favourite subjects for paintings, sketches and etchings by some of the most famous artists of the day in England and Scotland. When Ker Porter, the famous  Scottish painter’s Panorama — a single large painting of Tipu — was displayed in Edinburgh, there was euphoria among the public as they rushed to have a glimpse of it. JMW Turner, the renowned British painter, painted portraits of Tipu  and scenes of Srirangapatam and other places in Mysore kingdom. Sir David Willkie, another famous painter, was commissioned by the widow of David Baird to paint the poignant “Discovering the body of Tipu Sahib on 4 May, 1799”.  It was exhibited in 1838 in the Royal Academy of Arts in London. David Baird had spent several years in Srirangapatam as Tipu’s prisoner, and had his revenge in the final assault on him.

Alexander Allen travelled to India to personally see the hill forts of Mysore kingdom and produced captivating scenes in his paintings. William Darnell Beckford, Holmes, Hunter and many others made several stunning paintings of Tipu and his palaces. Sir Walter Scott, the great Scottish novelist, wrote works of fiction based on Tipu and his times. Charles Dickens, Wilkes Collins and Jules Verne have all depicted themes from Tipu’s life in their novels.

The numerous artifacts of Tipu Sultan, pilfered, looted and spirited away by the British after the fall of Srirangapatam, became collectors’ items. Tipu’s dismantled throne, his numerous swords, daggers, bejeweled sword belts, hookahs, ivory caskets , nutcrackers, gold watches, precious jewels and many other priceless items occupy the pride of place in museums in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Wales.

The most awesome of these artifacts is the life-size toy tiger depicted devouring a British soldier. It has cast a spell over generations eve since it was spirited away by Wellesley to England where it was displayed at the Kensington Museum, now  known as Victoria and Albert Museum (V& A Museum). This toy tiger in bright yellow strips has in its belly a mechanical pipe organ hidden, which creates wailing shrieks and a loud road when its handle is turned. There was near stampede for months in front of the museum when people flocked to see the wonder toy of Tipu Sultan. The fact that it is kept in an exclusive large room in the otherwise crowded V&A Museum, and with separate security, speaks of the importance that is accorded to this curious Mysore object. A replica of it is at the Scottish National Museum in Edinburgh. It was commissioned in 1999, when the bi-centenary of Tipu’s death was commemorated, as the original one at V&A could not be moved for fear of damaging it in transit.

The most significant of Tipu’s artifacts are at the Edinburgh castle. Inside the castle is the ‘National War Museum’, in which the battle honours of the Scottish Regiments are displayed. Here are seen several swords and arms used by the Scottish generals against Tipu and his Mysore armies. What is interesting are the words Carnatic, Mysore, and Srirangapatam engraved on the granite slabs displayed on the walls.

At a private museum in Powai Castle in Wales, one can see Tipu’s camp tent, made of silk and heavily embroidered, his camp cot made of sandalwood, his hookah and many other personal items, besides two large cannons.

A painting of Tipu with his war rockets hung on a wall at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in the US was seen by young APJ Abdul Kalam when he was on a visit there in his early years at ISRO, about which he wrote as an inspiration many years later.

At the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), held annually in August, Tipu’s memories come alive during the closing ceremony’s fireworks display when the Scots burst explosives and fire rockets around the castle to create scenes of their soldiers encountering deadly fires around Tipu’s forts in Nandidurg, Savandurg and other places.

Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, died 220 years ago, but his legend continues in the lands of those he fought fiercely against, who appreciate his valour, unyielding spirit and reckless courage. In the land that he defended from them, his memory  is sought to be erased from school textbooks.

(The writer is a former Professor of History at the University of Hyderabad)

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Opinion> Comment / by K S S Seshan / November 07th, 2019

“Was A Freedom Fighter…”: Tipu Sultan’s Descendant Counters BJP MLA

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KARNATAKA, Kolkata/ WEST BENGAL  :

Karnataka BJP chief Appachu Ranjan mentioned Tipu Sultan looted temples and compelled conversions.

Kolkata: 

After a BJP MLA in Karnataka mentioned classes on the 18th century ruler of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom Tipu Sultan have to be faraway from textbooks, a descendant of the king mentioned that it’s shameful that he being focused for vote financial institution politics.

Chatting with information company ANI, Md Shahid Alam mentioned, “History can never be deleted. Tipu Sultan was a freedom fighter. I will write a letter to the Prime Minister regarding this.”

“Some people are playing vote bank politics which is quite shameful. People cannot deny that he was a freedom fighter. History is like this and will remain so in future,” he added.

On Wednesday, Karnataka BJP chief Appachu Ranjan wrote to Training Minister S Suresh Kumar asking for Tipu Sultan’s reference to be struck off historical past textbooks.

In a letter, Mr Ranjan wrote that Tipu Sultan has been portrayed as a freedom fighter and historical past shouldn’t be written with false details.

“Tipu came to Kodagu, Mangaluru and other parts of the state to expand his territory. He came here just to convert people to his religion and to expand his kingdom,” he mentioned.

He added that king had no respect for Kannada as his administrative language was Persian. “He changed names of places. He looted many temples and Christian churches as well. In Kodagu, he converted 30 thousand Kodavas,” Mr Ranjan wrote in his letter.

source: http://www.heraldpublicist. om / Herald Publicist / Home> News / by Pete / October 24th, 2019