February 7, 2013

Lives of great men all remind us

We must make our lives sublime

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sand of time.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet and scholar (1807-1882) in A Psalm of Life.

Tipu Sultan is currently in media focus because of the move to start a University to be named after him at Srirangapatanam, the seat of his power, near Mysore. A heated controversy is raging on his contribution, mainly on the question if he was a freedom fighter, against the British colonialists, or a religious bigot. As far as Tulunadu is concerned, he has left a number of footprints. But, is it in the way Longfellow meant? Is he a role model for us to make our lives sublime?

Starting from 1763 and ending in 1800, the Muslim rulers of Mysore had sway over Tulunadu. In 1763 Hyder Ali captured Bidanur and sacked the city and thus commenced his rule over Tulunadu. On his death in1782, his son, Tipu Sultan, assumed the throne and ruled until 1800 when he was finally and totally defeated by the British in the battle of Srirangapatanam. While Hyder was a ruler with religious tolerance, Tipu has a record of persecuting Christians suspecting their loyalty to him and their support to the British. During his 18 years of rule over Tulunadu, Tipu has left behind the footprints or legacies of his regime.

Two of these are in the heart of Mangalore. He constructed the Idgah mosque on Lighthouse Hill. It is a quadrangular structure believed to have been constructed, according to oral tradition, with stones from the destroyed (by him) Milagres church at Hampankatta. The word Idgah comes from Id, the main Muslim festival, and Idgah is the place for offering congregational prayers on the festival day by the faithful of the region. Taditionally the Muslims of Mangalore and surrounding areas offered prayers at the Idgah  on Id after coming in a procession from Juma Masjid at Bunder. However, this practice is now extinct or scaled down to avoid the risk of provoking communal disharmony. Also, the heritage value of this structure is marred by modern extensions, including asbestos roofing on steel girders.

Then there is Sultan Battery on the east bank of Gurpur River which is accessed through a road going west from Urva Circle. Built in about 1784, it is a watchtower erected by Tipu to help prevent the entry of enemy warships into Gurpur River. It is a complex construction and though it was meant to be a watchtower, it gives the impression of a miniature fortress with its many apertures for mounting cannons all around. It had been in a state of neglect for a long time and when the Archeological Department stepped in to repair, it only worsened the situation by wrong type of restoration, including cement coating of its stone surfaces.

By far the most visible, though remotely located, legacy of Tipu is Jamalabad Fort. Also called Nada, after the name of the village at its base, and Narasimhagad, it is located 6 KM north of Belthangadi town. The present fort was built on the ruins of an old fort by Tipu in1794 and he named it after his mother, Jamalbee. The village hosting it is at the foot of a high rock of a long spur from Kudremukh range. The fort was captured by the British in 1799 but was soon after taken by Thimmanayaka. It was finally captured by the British in 1800. The immense rock on which the fort stands is inaccessible except by one narrow path of high steps. The nature of the access to the top is such that a descent from it in the face of an enemy was as difficult as the ascent and even a small body of men with sufficient artillary could blockade a strong garrison

Jamalabad granite hill is1788 ft above sea level .It has steps on the eastern side. Most of the steps and passages on the upper portions of the hill are cut out of the solid rock and are considered good work of engineering skill. The walls, bastions and gateways are built of carefully cut granite blocks and must have been of great strength. Inside the citadel are two tanks and a small spring of good water. On one of the ruined bastions lies a dismantled iron cannon of European manufacture. At he base of the fort  there is horse track surrounding the rock. It is said that those out of favour with Tipu were hurled down the rock to their death

Tipu led his army to Mangalore against the British down the ghats and on the way built minor forts at Modankap, Arkula, Adyar and Kannur. Incidentally, there is a major fort of Tipu as we approach Sakleshpur,on the highway to Hassan, slightly off the road and to the right as we go towards Sakleshpur—just at the end of the ghat ascent. It is in the shape of a star and provides a grand view of the forested ghat and the plains beyond.

Another legacy Tipu left behin is the name of a place—Nethrekere or Netherkedu in Tulu. It is on the cross road from Maripalla, near Arkula, to Kalpane, about two KM north of the state highway. As per local oral history, this is where Christians in captivity, marching to Mysore,  were put to the sword for being disobedient to the captors. The name is derived from the resulting large pool of blood. Also, it appears that Tipu was an admirer of Polali Chendu and had a platform built for him to watch the game . It is called Sultan Katte even to this day.

Tipu has also deleted some of the legacies of Tulunadu. These includes the original Mangalore Fort built by Basavappa Nayak of Bidanur (Ikkeri—1740—54) which was dismantled by Tipu in about 1784. Also, dozens of Christian churches, with the exception of Monte Mariano at Farangipet, were destroyed and 60,000 Christians taken into captivity and marched to Srirangapatanam. But, that is another story in itself for another time.

John B Monteiro, author and journalist, is editor of his website www.welcometoreason.com (Interactive Cerebral Challenger). Details about his latest book, Corruption:India’s Painful Crawl to Lokpal, can be accessed from his American publisher’s website set up for him:http://sbpra.com/JohnBMonteiro or from Google by keying in John B Monteiro.