SYNOPSIS The discussion centered on Shri Vikram Sampath’s book Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore’s Interregnum (1760-1799), addressing challenges in Indian historiography and examining how Haider Ali’s 40-year interruption of Wadiyar rule reshaped 18th-century India’s political and military landscape.DESCRIPTION The discussion begins with Vikram Sir highlighting the misrepresentation of the Wadiyar rulers in the Doordarshan TV series on Tipu Sultan and the challenges he faced in exposing the truths about Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. He explains that many historical facts about their reigns have been deliberately hidden from the public in modern India, with a pseudo-scientific narrative portraying Haider and Tipu as heroes while vilifying the Wadiyars and the British. The cruelty, illegitimacy, and Machiavellian politics of Haider Ali, as well as the religious zealotry and massacres committed by Tipu Sultan against non-Muslims, were often ignored until recently. Vikram Sir narrates how Haider Ali rose from an impoverished background to become a military officer in the Mysore kingdom, where his debts were cleared by the king, only for Haider to usurp the throne through scheming and treachery. Haider’s treatment of the Wadiyar king, whom he imprisoned in a steel cage, and the alleged poisoning of the Wadiyar prince are recounted alongside his military achievements in the First and Second Anglo-Mysore Wars, supported by innovations in rocket technology and French alliances. However, Haider was reportedly disappointed with his son Tipu Sultan, who embraced religious extremism and treated non-Muslims with cruelty and discrimination. Haider’s reign ended with his death from back cancer during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, after which Tipu assumed power and successfully concluded the conflict. Vikram Sir contrasts Haider’s rise from humble beginnings and his indulgence in lust, alcohol, and religious indifference with Tipu’s strict Islamic principles and inherited authority. Tipu’s suppression of rebellions in Coorg and Mangalore, his boasts about killing infidels, and the replacement of Kannada with Persian as the official language highlight his intolerance. His arrogance, born of repeated successes, led to his eventual defeat in the Third Anglo-Mysore War, where he lost half his kingdom and fell into despair, relying on astrology. Vikram Sir also sheds light on how non-Muslims in Tipu’s kingdom devised ways to escape persecution, before concluding with a vivid account of Tipu’s dramatic death at the hands of the British during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at Seringapatam, marking the end of his controversial reign.
