PROLOGUE
The 18th century represents a watershed in the annals of Muslim civilisation. Europe's emergence as world leaders and colonial masters was firmly established. Conversely, the world of Islam was clearly seen as diminishing.
In the Subcontinent, Muslim power went into decline after Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707 CE. From there, the British took only fifty years to snatch Bengal from its Muslim ruler, Sirajud Daulah. That point onwards, they moved from victory to victory till they became the masters of the great Mughal Empire in 1857 and imprisoned the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah. The situation in the Subcontinent coincided with a global trend.
Before the end of the century, Central Asia was under Russian control, so were the Muslim states of Caucasus. Egypt changed hands from the French to the British. What is Indonesia today was under the Dutch, while the Malays too were under European control. The headquarters of the Ottoman Empire itself was in deep trouble, and Turkey in irreversible decline.
Turkish control over Eastern Europe and the Balkans was gradually loosened and ultimately lost. Much of the al Maghreb came under French rule. Most Arab lands were only notionally free.
Back home in the Subcontinent, the British seemed to be on a roller-coaster ride from 1757 to 1857. Nobody seemed to be able or willing to check them till Tipu Sultan rose like a Colossus to halt their relentless advance in Mysore. Tipu Sultan is thus imbued with the aura of a hero trying valiantly to stop the juggernaut of European colonialism.
There are quite a few facts about Tipu Sultan that are fairly well established. His statesmanship, for instance or, his military sagacity. His diplomatic skills (with which he played the French against the British), his flair for adopting new technologies and his concern for people under his rule are quite obvious.
However, there are a few grey areas in his life that need more intense historical research, using original sources and contemporary tools of historiography to establish certain facts more firmly and decisively. Much of the writing on him has so far been apologia, where hagiography passes for historiography. These generalised accounts also try to "reply" to "unfair charges" against the Sultan. Much of the time the charges are as unconvincing as the attempts to refute them. Current standards of historiography demand neutrality, academic rigour and far greater access to original sources.
To explain the above, one can refer to accounts of Tipu Sultan's genealogy in most books on him. These accounts are so divergent, tortuous and anecdotal that they stretch credibility. Some of them say he was of Punjabi descent. Others insist he was an Arab. Still others combine the two positions innovatively to come up with the formulation that his forefathers were Arabs who had settled in Punjab after long stays in other countries. This reminds one of the well-known forgery the Pandas of Varanasi resorted to for creating a false genealogy to give Shivaji Maharaj a "noble" descent. The Pandas of Pune had refused to oblige, but their Varanasi counterparts did it for millions of rupees and huge land grants. The way most Tipu apologists go about "proving" their respective positions is alien to contemporary historical discourse.
Another grey area requiring intensive research is Tipu's position on religion and religious neutrality. According to most Muslim accounts he was a pious Muslim interested in the advance of Islam. But when he is criticised for bigotry, some writers would go off on a tangent, proclaiming that all his life he made it a point to go to the nearby temple every day, without fail, to light the deity's lamp personally. Now, how does it square with Islam's strict monotheism?
These questions don't seem to disturb most "historiographers" at all. Hindus generally don't take him as a bigot, and he was possibly not one. The London-based Tipu aficionado, Advani, may not be a historian as such, but remains a respected, knowledgeable student of Tipu's history by any reckoning. He forcefully refutes the charge that Tipu was anti-Hindu. That the Sultan's family tradition was one of respect for all religions is also borne by the famous synagogue in Mumbai built by Tipu's mother. Israeli leaders and other Jews from all over the world pray there on their visit to the city.
Tipu Sultan was a hero whose struggles on three fronts against the Nizam of Hyderabad, against the Marathas, and against the British colonisers have been recorded rather accurately. Maulana Ilyas Nadvi's present work is fairly comprehensive and has its own merits. Our decision to publish the English translation of the original work in Urdu was made with these merits in view.
Another point that we had in mind was that the English translation would encourage further research involving current methodologies, present level of historical discourse, and recourse to original sources. The hero deserves such academic attention.
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