Tiger of Mysore popularly known as “Sher-e-Mysore”, Tipu Sultan was a legendary ruler of Mysore who dared to oppose the British rule in India. His father, Hyder Ali defeated the British in the first and second Anglo-Mysore War and forced them to accept his terms and conditions as found in Treaty of Madras and Mangalore.
Tipu Sultan was the first ruler who used rockets against the British forces. These rockets were iron cased fitted with swords in them. Tipu Sultan wrote a Military Manual “Fathul Mujahidin” in which he gave the details of the functioning of Mysore Rockets. The British carried many Mysore rockets to England in 1801. Col. William Congreve came up with first rocket based on the technology of Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan.
However, in the third Anglo-Mysore War, he was forced to surrender his two sons aged 8 and 10 to the British. In the fourth Anglo-Mysore War of Srirangapatnam, Tipu Sultan was defeated in 1799 and was killed. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the British carried the Sword and Ring of Tipu Sultan as war trophies and kept in the British Museum.
The following video is the play depicting the history of Tipu Sultan and Mysore based on the book “Discovery of India” written by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssybesaXyxI
Tipu Sultan was a secular ruler, he reconstructed many temples and he promoted Sericulture in Karnataka. He banned liquor. He used to say that he can never become the slave of the British. His saying “It is better to live one day as a Tiger than a hundred years as a Jackal”. He promoted communal harmony. One of his ministers was Krishnacharya Purniya.