Tipu....!

 Tipu not anti-Tamil but anti-British: Historians....!

Despot who cut down all opposing his ideals, or patriot who resisted the British? Describing Tipu Sultan has always been a fraught affair as his deeds and contributions are always viewed from one plank or another. A few months after he made headlines when the Karnataka government wanted to observe his birth anniversary, the 18th century ruler is in the news again. This time, however, he's drawn actor Rajinikanth into the eddy of controversy for company. 

Kannada producer and Bidar South MLA Ashok Kheny has said he'd like to see Rajinikanth play Tipu in a film he is planning. The BJP and other parties have warned the superstar against taking the role saying Tipu was "anti-Tamil" and any film glorifying him would be "a distortion of history". 

Tipu's raids on British holdings in present-day Tamil Nadu were many. From the time of his father, Hyder Ali, his forces often invaded these parts. At his peak, he held large parts of western Tamil Nadu. And wherever they went -- Salem, Erode, Malabar, Thanjavur — Hyder and Tipu converted the enemy troops they captured to Islam and inducted them into their infantry. 

"This was standard practice no matter who he fought. It was started by his father," says R Venkataramanujam, assistant professor of history at Madras Christian College. "Tipu's war was not against the Tamil people. It was a war against the British, and the Nawabs and Marathas who supported them." 

In 1765, two years before the First Anglo-Mysore War, the East India Company controlled just a small part of India. In less than 100 years, all of India was either directly or indirectly under British control. Tipu was among the handful of Indian rulers who resisted their expansion. 

Historians say Tipu's actions have to be viewed in the context of war, and not language, religion, region or other parameters. "Tipu's aim was to gain power," explains T Satyamoorthy, former ASI archaeologist. "His actions are now interpreted as a fight against Tamils but it was purely a fight for power and land against the British."

(Times of India Chennai - 21.09.2015)