The popular poem The Tyger by English poet William Blake describes the wild nature of the big cat. But most people don't know that another verse written in the same structure and rhyme scheme speaks about a ‘tiger’ that was a nightmare to Englishmen. This refers to none other than Tipu Sultan, known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, whose birth anniversary was on Friday, November 20, 2020.
The popular poem The Tyger by English poet William Blake describes the wild nature of the big cat. But most people don't know that another verse written in the same structure and rhyme scheme speaks about a ‘tiger’ that was a nightmare to Englishmen. This refers to none other than Tipu Sultan, known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, whose birth anniversary was on Friday, November 20, 2020.
“WH Hutton, a British historian, and priest of the Church of England has mentioned in one of his works that even people in faraway London and the directors of the East India Company felt the strain of being hounded by Tipu Sultan, who was known to be as ‘The Tiger of Mysore’” writes the late writer E.Balakrishna Naidu of Coimbatore in the preface of his celebrated historical novel Danaicken Kottai
An anonymous poem in Hutton’s work reads thus:
Tiger tiger burning bright
Tipu Sultan of terrible height
Will change into a tiger in your sight
Mysore tiger of murderous might
He will hold you tight
Give you bite
Tear you white
Eat you right
The Tiger of Mysore
Is our eyesore.
G.Thilakavathi, a popular ‘Tamil writer and former IPS officer, who republished Danaicken Kottai, notes:
“ I read the famous Indian novel Sword of Tipu Sultan by Bhagwan S Gidwani while 1 was a college student. Later, The Dreams of Tipu Sultan, a play by Girish Karnad, left an indelible mark on me through its vivid narration of Tipu’'s life history”
In her foreword to Danaicken Kottai, Tilakavathi says:
“Tipu’s principle of religious harmony is based on The Holy Quran, which strictly advises Muslims to respect the faiths of others. It preaches that disrespecting the deities of other religions as equal to disregarding Allah Himself. Therefore, standing by the doctrines in The Holy Quran, Tipu got the images of the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvathi engraved in his coins. He also gave grants to the Angalaparameshwari Temple at Palladam and Chellandiamman Temple at Kurichi in Coimbatore”
“Nevertheless, English historians spun false stories about Tipu and tarnished him as a religious bigot” rues Thilakavathi.
Pettagam, a voluminous book of the 300-year old history of Muslims in Coimbatore states that the land for constructing Sri Thandu Mariamman Temple on Avinashi Road was gifted by Tipu Sultan and the Hindu shrine was built by as many as 175 soldiers in his army.
“ When Coimbatore was under the rule of Tipu Sultan, he named the city as ‘Salamabad’ which means a place free from worries. In many other government documents of Tipu’s period Coimbatore is mentioned only as Salamabad” says Amir Altaf, author of Pettagam
R. Jegadisan, an epigraphist, and author of the book Kongunattu Kalvettukal, says:
“Tipu Sultan’s respect for Hindu gods can be seen even today in Perur Patteeswarar Temple, where a man, carrying a theepandham ( flambeau), stands in front of the shrine‘s entrance and salutes the deity before opening the temple every morning. The tradition, which is called “Theevetti Salam”, was practised by the soldiers in Tipu’s army at Perur temple following the ruler's order.”
“WH Hutton, a British historian, and priest of the Church of England has mentioned in one of his works that even people in faraway London and the directors of the East India Company felt the strain of being hounded by Tipu Sultan, who was known to be as ‘The Tiger of Mysore’” writes the late writer E.Balakrishna Naidu of Coimbatore in the preface of his celebrated historical novel Danaicken Kottai
An anonymous poem in Hutton’s work reads thus:
Tiger tiger burning bright
Tipu Sultan of terrible height
Will change into a tiger in your sight
Mysore tiger of murderous might
He will hold you tight
Give you bite
Tear you white
Eat you right
The Tiger of Mysore
Is our eyesore.
G.Thilakavathi, a popular ‘Tamil writer and former IPS officer, who republished Danaicken Kottai, notes:
“ I read the famous Indian novel Sword of Tipu Sultan by Bhagwan S Gidwani while 1 was a college student. Later, The Dreams of Tipu Sultan, a play by Girish Karnad, left an indelible mark on me through its vivid narration of Tipu’'s life history”
In her foreword to Danaicken Kottai, Tilakavathi says:
“Tipu’s principle of religious harmony is based on The Holy Quran, which strictly advises Muslims to respect the faiths of others. It preaches that disrespecting the deities of other religions as equal to disregarding Allah Himself. Therefore, standing by the doctrines in The Holy Quran, Tipu got the images of the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvathi engraved in his coins. He also gave grants to the Angalaparameshwari Temple at Palladam and Chellandiamman Temple at Kurichi in Coimbatore”
“Nevertheless, English historians spun false stories about Tipu and tarnished him as a religious bigot” rues Thilakavathi.
Pettagam, a voluminous book of the 300-year old history of Muslims in Coimbatore states that the land for constructing Sri Thandu Mariamman Temple on Avinashi Road was gifted by Tipu Sultan and the Hindu shrine was built by as many as 175 soldiers in his army.
“ When Coimbatore was under the rule of Tipu Sultan, he named the city as ‘Salamabad’ which means a place free from worries. In many other government documents of Tipu’s period Coimbatore is mentioned only as Salamabad” says Amir Altaf, author of Pettagam
R. Jegadisan, an epigraphist, and author of the book Kongunattu Kalvettukal, says:
“Tipu Sultan’s respect for Hindu gods can be seen even today in Perur Patteeswarar Temple, where a man, carrying a theepandham ( flambeau), stands in front of the shrine‘s entrance and salutes the deity before opening the temple every morning. The tradition, which is called “Theevetti Salam”, was practised by the soldiers in Tipu’s army at Perur temple following the ruler's order.”