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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes Trade and Commerce: In the fashion of European powers Tipu also realised that a country could be
great only by developing its trade and commerce. He promoted both foreign and inland trade and
imposed tight Government control over it.
Realising the importance of trade with the Persian gulf and Red Sea regions, he sought to establish
commercial factors and stationing commercial agents at Muscat, Ormuz, Jeddah, Aden etc. He even
planned to establish commercial relations with Pegu and China. A Commercial Board was established
and the Regulations of 1793-94 set forth the general duties of the officers in the department. He
declared government monopoly of trade in sandalwood, betelnut, pepper, cardamos, gold and silver
bullion, foreign export of elephants etc. Similarly, for conduct of inland trade the Government acquired
monopoly rights for purchase of the ryot’s share of production of some specified articles, like
sandal-wood and black pepper. A number of factories were set up in the Mysore state which
manufactured a wide range of articles ranging from war ammunition, paper, sugar, silk fabrics,
small tools and fancy goods.
Asok Sen believes that the principal aim of Tipu’s trade policy was of making the government ‘the
chief merchant of his dominions’ and the trader was to enrich the treasury. Economic activity came to
be directly subordinated to political and military interests and were not compatible with the long-
term interests of trade and industry, nor with the preparation of society and economy for the making
of an industrial revolution under the aegis of capitalism.
Military Administration: Compulsion of circumstances required the Sultan to give his maximum
care to the raising and maintenance of an efficient military force. Tipu Sultan’s infantry was disciplined
after the European model with Persian words of command. He did employ French officers to train
his troops and raised a French corps also but unlike the Nizam and the Sindhia never allowed French
corps to develop a pressure group value. In fact the number of French troops in his army gradually
declined till it stood at only 20 Europeans in 1794 and after the fall of Seringapatam in 1799 stood at
merely 4 officers and 45 non-commissioned officers and privates.
The strength of Tipu’s army varied in accordance with the military requirements and resources
available. On the eve of the Third Anglo-Mysore War Tipu’s military forces comprised 45,000 regular
infantry and 20,000 horse besides some irregular force. In 1793 after Tipu had surrendered half his
territory to the English and their allies, his army was estimated to be 30,000 regular infantry, 7,000
cavalry, 2000 artillery besides 6,000 irregular cavalry.
Both Haidar Ali and Tipu realised the importance of a naval force but could not rise to the level of
their main adversary, the East India Company. Whatever ships Haidar Ali had built were destroyed
by Sir Edward Hughes when he entered Bangalore in 1780.
The English occupation of Tipu’s Malabar possessions in the Third Anglo-Mysore war drew the
Sutan’s attention to the need for an effective naval task force. In 1796 Tipu set up a Board of Admiralty
and planned for a fleet of 22 battleships and 20 large frigates. Three dockyards at Mangalore Wajidabad
and Molidabad were established. However, his plans did not fructify and he found his resources
unequal to the potential and resources of the English. It was probably realising this factor when he
remarked, “I can ruin their resources by land but I cannot dry up the sea”.
Estimate of Tipu Sultan: Born on 20 November 1750 to Haider Ali and Fatima after many prayers,
the child was given the name of Tipu Sultan. Thus Sultan was a part of his name by which he was
known both as a prince and a ruler. He received all the scholastic education of a Muslim prince and
could freely converse in Arabic, Persian, Kanarese and Urdu. He know horse riding, shooting and
fencing and was in possession of excellent health. He despised the use of palanquins and described
them as fit only for use of women and invalids. Tipu Sultan possessed an energetic mind free from
‘Eastern apathy or Eastern conservatism’. He was eager to learn and showed proper appreciation of
the Western sciences and Western political philosophy. He actively supported the proposal of the
French soldiers at Seringapatam to set up a Jacobin Club in 1797 and ordered a salute of 2,300 cannons,
500 rockets to celebrate the occasion. He is also reported to have planted the “Tree of Liberty” at
Seringapatam, enrolled himself as a member of the Jacobin Club and allowed himself to be called
Citizen Tipu.

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