LORD CORNWALLIS IN HISTORY OF INDIA AND AMERICA
 |
| This painting depicts the forces of British Major General Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (1738-1805) (who was not himself present at the surrender), surrendering to French and American forces after
the Siege of Yorktown (September 28 – October 19, 1781) during the
American Revolutionary War. The United States government commissioned
Trumbull to paint patriotic paintings, including this piece, for them in
1817[ FRENCH HELPED AMERICANS TO DEFEAT ENGLISH ARMY] |
 |
| Surrender_of_Tipu_Sultan-to cornwallis-[the princes kidnapped by victorius English] [TIPU WAITED -IN VAIN- FOR FRENCH ARMY HELP VIA EGYPT]  |
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ENGLISH MEN COPIED INDIAN ROCKET AND USED IT AGAINST AMERICA IN 1813-INSPIRING POET FRANCIS SCOT KEY TO WRITE THE United States National Anthem,
William Congreve
The Indian rocket experiences, including Munro's book of 1789,[4] eventually led to the Royal Arsenal beginning a military rocket R&Dprogram
in 1801. Several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to
Britain for analysis. The development was chiefly the work of Col.
(later Sir) William Congreve, son of the Comptroller of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London, who set on a vigorous research and development programme at the Arsenal's laboratory
William Congreve's Rocket[COPIED FROM INDIAN ROCKETS OF TIPU]
War of 1812
During their confrontation with the US during the War of 1812, the British used rockets at the Battle of Bladensburg, which led to the burning and surrender of Washington, D.C..
It was the use of Congreve rockets by the British in the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the U.S. in 1814 that inspired the fifth line of the first verse of the United States National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner: "And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air".
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Battle for Fort McHenry
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
 |
| English men used rockets ,copied from Tipu's rockets by english man william congreve |
This scene inspired Francis Scott to write
AMERICAN National Anthem:-
AMERICAN National Anthem:-
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs
bursting in air ,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still
there
. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
bursting in air ,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still
there
. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Francis Scott Key 1779 - 1843 Then, in that hour of deliverance, my heart spoke "Does not such a country, and such defenders of their country, deserve a song"
Francis Scott Key
US National Anthem by the Academy Choirs:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO BODY WROTE A SONG FOR TRAVANCORE
WHO DEFEATED 
WITH JUST PRIMITIVE WEAPONS 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
click and listen to -TravancoreNATIONAL ANTHEMhttp://www.tmcgulf.com/National.Anthem.htm
N A S A'S TRIBUTE TO TIPU in America
President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam of India
;was visiting Wallops
Flight Facility, Virginia, USA. There he “saw a painting displayed in
the reception lobby. It depicted a battle scene with a few rockets
flying in the background………It turned out to be Tipu Sultan’s army
fighting the British”.THE AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM AND INDIAN ROCKETS:-http://gallimafry.blogspot.com/2010/08/star-spangled-banner-and-indian-rockets.html
The painting shows Tipu Sultan’s army fighting the British and achieving a famous victory thanks to the rocket brigades , which probably is the first ever example of rocket warfare . The painting hangs in the lobby of the Wallops Flight Facility of NASA
| Wallops Flight Facility of NASA |
In his autobiography Dr. Kalam further says “The painting depicted a fact forgotten in Tipu’s own country, but commemorated here on the other side of the planet. I was happy to see an Indian glorified by NASA as a hero of warfare rocketry”.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIPU REMEMBERED IN ENGLAND:-
Two of Tipu’s rockets have been displayed in the Museum of Artillery at Woolwich in London under the caption ‘Indian Rockets’.
The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich contains a museum. The museum includes a very good exhibition of artillery with a history gallery.
===============================================================
===============================================================
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Former Governor-General of India
Charles
Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG, styled Viscount Brome between
1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792,
was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Wikipedia
Born: December 31, 1738, Grosvenor Square, London, United Kingdom
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis - Wikipedia ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Charles_Cornwallis,_1st_Marquess_Cornwalli...
Jump to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - Main article: Cornwallis in Ireland. In June 1798 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and ...
Cornwallis in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwallis_in_India
British General Charles Cornwallis, the 2nd Earl Cornwallis, was appointed in February 1786 to serve as both Commander-in-Chief of British India and Governor ...
Charles Cornwallis - American Revolution - HISTORY.com
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/charles-cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis
led several successful early campaigns during the American Revolution,
securing British victories at New York, Brandywine and Camden. In 1781,
as second in command to Gen. Henry Clinton, he moved his forces to
Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Yorktown.
Lord Cornwallis as Governor-General (1786-93)
www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/india/cornw.htm
Oct 26, 2013 - The first Governor-General under the new Act was Lord Cornwallis (the ... Cornwallis suspended the whole Board of Revenue for irregularities ...
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess and 2nd Earl Cornwallis ...
www.britannica.com/.../Charles-Cornwallis-1st-Marquess-and-2nd-Earl-...
Jul 18, 2014 - Cornwallis was possibly the most capable British general in that war, but ... for his achievements as British governor-general of India (1786–93, ...
Charles Cornwallis | History | Yorktown Chronicles
www.historyisfun.org/sites/yorktown-chronicles/history/cornwallis.htm
He
was forced to surrender his troops in 1781 to American and French
forces at the Siege of Yorktown, which essentially ended the American
Revolution. But that did not break his spirit or his reputation. General Cornwallis went on to serve as governor in Ireland and India, where he made significant reforms.
Charles Cornwallis - United States History
www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1304.html
The defeat at Yorktown did not destroy Cornwallis's career, however. In 1786, he was appointed governor-general of India, where he brought important reforms ...
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis | Architect of the Capitol ...
www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/historic-rotunda.../surrender-lord-cornwallis
Oct 19, 2015 - The painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull is on display in the Rotunda of the US Capitol. The subject of this painting is the ...
Charles Cornwallis in The American Revolution - Shmoop
www.shmoop.com › History › The American Revolution › People
Lord Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) was an English general who fought in the Seven Years' War and served as a member of Parliament, where he opposed ...
Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis (Character) - Biography - IMDb
www.imdb.com/character/ch0006314/bio
"Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis" is a character based on British military figure Charles Cornwallis. He was born on December 31, 1738 in London into a ...
children of tipu in calcutta
I'm a Bengali, says Tipu Sultan's descendant - Deccan Herald
www.deccanherald.com › National
Jul 27, 2010 - "After Tipu was killed by the British in Mysore, his 12 sons and relatives, a group of 300 people, were sent to Kolkata, so as to prevent the family ...
The story after Tipu Sultan was killed in 1799 - NDTV.com
www.ndtv.com › India
Jul 28, 2010 - "After Tipu was killed by the British in Mysore, his 12 sons and relatives, a group of 300 people, were sent to Kolkata, so as to prevent the family ...
Hard times for Tipu Sultan's descendants : Living - India Today
indiatoday.intoday.in › Archive › Living › April 15, 1988
Exiles in Calcutta: The Descendants of Tipu Sultan ... - JStor
www.jstor.org/stable/23002129
by B GUPTA - 1991
of Tipu. Sultan. An oil painting in the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta, shows Lord Cornwallis ... Tipu's sons,the entire clan including the members of Karim Shah's.Tipu Sultan descendants to have royal status restored - The ...
www.telegraph.co.uk › News › World News › Asia › India
Jul 31, 2009 - Today his descendants are rickshaw pullers and domestic servants in Calcutta, shunned by India's remaining royal families and humiliated by ...
For Tipu Sultan's kin, ... life is a battleground | Arab News
www.arabnews.com/news/505976
Jan 9, 2014 - Descendants of Tipu Sultan, who ruled most of the southern parts of ... the British rounded up and deported to the then-Calcutta the children of ...
Tipu Sultan's legacy to come alive at Tollygunge museum in ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com › City
Jan 2, 2015 - KOLKATA: Karnataka has decided to celebrate Tipu Sultan's birth anniversary, ... Descendants of the immediate family members of the "Tiger of ...
Shezada Hyder Ali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shezada_Hyder_Ali
After the fall of Seringapatam and death of Tippu Sultan on 4 May 1799, ... Today, many of Shezada Hyder Ali's descendants live in Calcutta, Karnataka, Andhra ...
Tipu Sultan's descendants will have their royal status restored
https://toshkhana.wordpress.com/.../tipu-sultans-descendants-will-have-th...
TIPU'S SON -LEADER OF-The Vellore Mutiny-1806
With the expansion of the East India Company’s rule in India, the native rulers and their dependents suffered. The native rulers either submitted or rebelled. These rebellions had no clear vision or ideal but purely motivated by the territorial interest of the native rulers and their ambition to preserve the old feudal order.
The heroism and sacrifice of individuals like Puli Thevar, Kattabomman and Marudu Brothers had no parallel. But all these leaders never organised the common people for a unified and meaningful cause. The ideas of nationalism, political consciousness and organized struggle came much later. In Vellore the native sepoys rose in revolt in 1806.
This incident differs from other previous rebellions in. The earlier rebellions were those of the native rulers. The Vellore Mutiny was organized by the sepoys. The earlier rebellions had only a regional interest. Every prince wanted to safeguard his own kingdom at any cost. But Vellore Mutiny was the result of spontaneous outflow of the feelings of the sepoys who served under the Company. It was a protest by the sepoys against the Company. This protest showed the future possibilities.
Causes of the Vellore Mutiny
Several causes are attributed to the Vellore Mutiny. Indian sepoys had to experience numerous difficulties when they went to serve in the Company’s army. The sepoys were forced to serve under the Company since their earlier patrons (the native chieftains) were all disappearing from the scene.The strict discipline, practice, new weapons, new methods and uniforms were all new to the sepoys. Anything new appears to be difficult and wrong for a man who is well-settled in the old way of life for a long-time. Sir John Cradock, the commander-in-chief, with the -approval of Lord-William Bentinck, the Governor of Madras, introduced a new from of turban, resembling a European hat. Wearing ear rings and caste marks were also prohibited.
The sepoys were asked to shave the chin and to trim the moustache. The sepoys felt that these were designed to insult them and their religious and social traditions. There was also a popular belief that this was the beginning of a process by which all of them would be converted to Christianity. The English treated the Indian sepoys as their inferior. There was the racial prejudice.
This was the psychological base for the sepoy mutinies in India during the Company’s rule. The sepoys once served the local chieftains (either Hindu or Muslim). The chieftains were their own kinsmen but now they served under the foreigners. They can never forget their original loyalties. The Vellore uprising was preceded by a series of protests by the Indian troops. In May 1806, the 4th Regiment rose in revolt against the new turban. The Commander-in-Chief took severe action the sepoys who were found guilty were punished with 500 to 900 lashes.
Before the mutiny secret associations were formed and meetings held in which Tipu’s family took part. On June 17th 1806 a sepoy of the 1st Regiment named Mustapha Beg, secretly informed his commanding officer, Colonel Forbes, that a plot had been planned for the extermination of the European officers and troops. But this was not taken seriously .
On the eve of the Mutiny at Vellore Fettah Hyder, the first son of Tipu, tried to form an alliance against the English and sought the help of the Marathas and the French. Fettah Hyder received secret information through one Mohommed Malick.Besides, princes Fettah Hyder and Moiz-ud-Deen in particular were active in planning the execution of the Mutiny. Thus, there was the desire to revive the old Muslim rule in this region.
The sepoys were aware of the tragic end of Puli Thevar, Khan Sahib, Kattabomman, Marudu Brothers, Tipu Sultan and others. Hence there were ill-feelings about the British in the minds of the sepoys. All these led to the rebellion.
Course of the Mutiny
On July 10th in the early morning the native sepoys of the 1st and 23rd Regiments started the revolt . Colonel Fancourt, who commanded the garrison, was their first victim. Colonel Me Kerras of the 23rd Regiment, was shot down on the parade-ground. Major Armstrong was the next officer to be killed during the mutiny. About a dozen other officers were also killed.Major Cootes who was outside the fort dashed to Ranipet, 14 miles away, and informed Colonel Gillespie at 7 am . Col. Gillespie reached the Vellore fort at 9 A.M. Meantime, the rebels proclaimed Futteh Hyder, Tipu’s first son, as their new ruler and hoisted tiger-striped flag of Tipu Sultan. But the uprising was swiftly crushed by Col. Gillespie. 800 Indian soldiers were found dead in the fort alone. Six hundred soldiers were imprisoned in Tiruchi and Vellore. Some rebels were hung, some shot dead. The uprising was thus brought to a bloody end.
Tipu’s son was sent to Calcutta. The commander-in-chief and the governor were recalled. Vellore Mutiny failed. There was no proper leadership. The rebellion was also not well organized. But it is the starting point of a new era of the resistance of the sepoys to the British rule. The 18th century was marked by the resistance of the local chieftains. The first six decades of 19th century was marked by the resistance of sepoys. K.K. Pillai rejects the thesis that Vellore Mutiny led to the 1857 revolt. V.D. Savarkar calls the Vellore Mutiny of 1806 as the prelude to the first War of Indian Independence in 1857. N. Sanjivi proclaims that the Tamils had taken the real lead in the Indian freedom struggle. K. Rajayyan argues that this mutiny was a continuation of the Marudu Brothers’ resistance movement against the colonial rule.
TIPPU'S CHILDREN IN CALCUTTA
The Tipu Sultan Shahi Mosque (also known as Tipu Sultan Masjid) is a famous mosque in Kolkata, India. Located at 185 Dhartamtalla Street, the mosque is a relic of architectural and cultural heritage.This building was built in 1832 by Prince Ghulam Mohammed, the youngest son of Tipu
Hard times for Tipu Sultan's descendants : Living - India Today
For Tipu Sultan's kin, ... life is a battleground | Arab News
www.arabnews.com580 × 350Search by image
PRINCE
TO PAUPER: Illiterate and left to a hand to mouth existence, many of
the descendants of Tipu Sultan, struggle to make both ends meet despite
being ...
On a Friday morning in August, during the holy month of Ramadan,
Sanwar Ali Shah, 48; his son Sanu Shah, 22; and his brother Dilawar
Shah, 50, pack their way into the Tipu Sultan Shahi Masjid. It’s not
raining, but a monsoon looms near, its thick humidity folded into the
warm Kolkata air. Inside the mosque, working-class Muslims stand
shoulder-to-shoulder, ready for prayer.
At first glance, Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu are indiscernible from their fellow congregants. But as Sanwar walks out, then throws a calloused hand onto the rickshaw he pulls, the people around him know the difference. Over a 10-hour shift, he will pocket 300 rupees ($6). “I work 30 days per month,” he says in Hindi, shaking his head in disbelief. “There are no holidays.”
This crushing grind isn’t uncommon in Kolkata. But Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu aren’t like the others filing out of the mosque. Through seven generations, these three can trace a direct lineage back to Tipu Sultan, the legendary 18th-century ruler of Mysore, the man for whom the mosque is named. Of the roughly 15 million people stuffed into the city, these three princes should be surveying their kingdom. Instead, they’re pulling rickshaws.
In India, being related to Tipu Sultan is a mark of distinction, like being a descendant of a more ferocious George Washington. Back in 1782, Tipu took over the leadership of Mysore from his father. The kingdom, centered about 90 miles outside Bangalore, stretched to the southern banks of Kerala and encompassed much of South India. But the timing of his ascent was unfortunate: Tipu gained power just as the British launched an aggressive land grab on the subcontinent. Back then, India wasn’t so much a nation as a loosely stitched heap of principalities and kingdoms. When British eyes turned to Tipu’s territory, he fought a series of dogged wars to protect his land. His ferocity—which famously included rocket attacks against would-be conquer- ors—earned him the nickname “the Tiger of Mysore.”
Although Tipu Sultan died in 1799 during a decisive British victory, his legend had been firmly established long before. Hearing of his valor, Napoleon had once hoped to join forces with Tipu, uniting French and Indian armies against the British. And despite the Muslim leader’s cruel streak toward India’s Hindu and Christian populations, he remains fixed in the popular imagination as one of the nation’s most important freedom fighters. In the years following his death, Tipu Sultan became so revered in South India that the British were uneasy letting his relatives live in the area. Fearing another uprising, the government displaced his extended family—including 12 of his sons— about 1,000 miles northeast to the then capital of the British Raj, Calcutta.
Tipu’s family was stripped of its status, but the British government made concessions to make sure his descendants were taken care of. His family received healthy stipends, which they used to acquire large tracts of property. Some of Tipu’s sons invested well, and their descendants live comfortably—or better.
But Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu Shah—descendants of Tipu’s first son—haven’t been as lucky. Two hundred yards from the mosque, along the same stretch of road, Sanwar, his three brothers, an unmarried sister, and their families reside in a ramshackle house. They end their work shifts bone-tired, with just enough money to put food on the table. As Sanwar once told the Indian newspaper the Deccan Herald, “We are ashamed to speak of our past; that we are descendants of the great man makes us shrink further.” But the blood of the Mysore Tiger still flows in their veins, and whatever scars the family bears from this fall from opulence, the Shahs still know how to fight.
Dilawar Shah and his brothers have spent their lives hustling. They’ve scalped movie tickets for spare cash. They’ve biked rickshaws through Kolkata’s gridded streets for 11 hours at a stretch. When the money from the fares wasn’t enough, the brothers carved a cigarette stall into the front of their dilapidated home and put their mom to work. Today, the Shah home also houses a family-run leather upholstery shop, where Sanu stitches colorful leather rickshaw seat covers by hand. The Shahs are the hardest-working royal family in the world, but how did they fall on such hard luck? It starts with their father, the eldest of Tipu’s sons, who insisted on living like a king, even when he couldn’t.
“My father, Akhtar, was an educated, worldly man who could read and write in several Indian and European languages,” says Dilawar. Akhtar never worked, hoping that the family’s regal position would be reinstated after two centuries and that the trusts of the other branches of Tipu Sultan’s family tree would come to his aid. Those cash infusions never came. When the southern Indian state of Karnataka offered to transport the family to rehabilitate them in Mysore, Akhtar refused to leave Kolkata, holding out for a better offer. And when his inheritance slowed to a trickle, he sold off whatever valuable assets he had to maintain his lifestyle.
But in his selfishness, he never schooled his children. In fact, all his children are completely illiterate. “It may be surprising to see us employed in such basic professions, but nothing more was possible,” says Dilawar, who has worked dozens of odd jobs. “Before you can feed the mind, you must feed the stomach. So we were left uneducated.”
If there’s hope for Dilawar and his family, it’s that other branches of Tipu’s family tree have been able to reverse their fortunes relatively recently. On the very same Prince Anwar Shah Road, about midway between the mosque and the Shahs’ run-down home, stands Fort Mysore Towers, a modern apartment complex that dwarfs the surrounding architecture. There, secured behind the compound’s high concrete wall and security guards, Maqbool Alam, 82, who belongs to another of the family’s strands, owns three apartments. Although he’s living comfortably, he explains in the Queen’s English, “Not long ago, we too had financial problems.” His nephew Shahid Alam, 48, who also owns three apartments, agrees. “Money was a major concern. Thankfully, in the late 1990s, we were able to make an agreement with a property developer to demolish the 150-year-old building and raise these towers.”
As secretary of Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf Estate (which handles property matters for those shifted from Mysore by the British), Shahid has taken a particular interest in the family’s fortunes. He blames Indian bureaucracy and a painful litigation process for contributing to the disparity among Tipu’s descendants. “So many documents have been filed on our behalf to various minority welfare boards; committees have come from as far as Karnataka to write reports; there are numerous property cases which remain pending—but nothing happens.”
To illustrate his point, Shahid cites a family burial ground located about two miles away. “This plot was active and in use until 1979. That’s when the illegal encroaching began.” By 1985, Shahid says, the eight-acre burial ground had transformed into a slum, overrun by 4,000 squatters and more than 400 shanties. “When we tried to evict them ourselves, the thugs who’d helped settle them threatened us.”
For two decades, Shahid has been formally petitioning various police and government departments to help his relatives. “It’s an untouchable area for the politicians. They get votes in this district from the squatters, and they don’t want to anger them. So they smile in our faces with promises to help.”
While Shahid now has the luxury of worrying about abstract matters like legacy, the Shah family is still focused on more tangible concerns. “Proud of the legacy?” Dilawar asks. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to give my three daughters some education,” a gift his father never gave him. He continues, “Now my only hope is to have my younger two married.”
If history is any indication, this rickshaw-pulling prince will hustle and sweat to pay for those weddings. His family will band together to make it happen. And once they have, Dilawar will look to fulfill his final wish: “I’d love to see Mysore, the ancestral homeland. Just to visit would be nice.”
As for Sanu, 22, he’s focused on earning enough money stitching rickshaw seat covers to start a family. “If I save my salary and work hard, I’ll be able to marry by 30,” he says.
And so instead of lounging in palaces, three princes who should have been born retired instead earn each rupee the hard way, placing calloused hands on the rickshaw’s handlebars, taking a deep breath, then eyeing the crowded streets for the next passenger.
1. The Hardest-Working Kings
By Matthew SchneebergerAt first glance, Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu are indiscernible from their fellow congregants. But as Sanwar walks out, then throws a calloused hand onto the rickshaw he pulls, the people around him know the difference. Over a 10-hour shift, he will pocket 300 rupees ($6). “I work 30 days per month,” he says in Hindi, shaking his head in disbelief. “There are no holidays.”
This crushing grind isn’t uncommon in Kolkata. But Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu aren’t like the others filing out of the mosque. Through seven generations, these three can trace a direct lineage back to Tipu Sultan, the legendary 18th-century ruler of Mysore, the man for whom the mosque is named. Of the roughly 15 million people stuffed into the city, these three princes should be surveying their kingdom. Instead, they’re pulling rickshaws.
In India, being related to Tipu Sultan is a mark of distinction, like being a descendant of a more ferocious George Washington. Back in 1782, Tipu took over the leadership of Mysore from his father. The kingdom, centered about 90 miles outside Bangalore, stretched to the southern banks of Kerala and encompassed much of South India. But the timing of his ascent was unfortunate: Tipu gained power just as the British launched an aggressive land grab on the subcontinent. Back then, India wasn’t so much a nation as a loosely stitched heap of principalities and kingdoms. When British eyes turned to Tipu’s territory, he fought a series of dogged wars to protect his land. His ferocity—which famously included rocket attacks against would-be conquer- ors—earned him the nickname “the Tiger of Mysore.”
Although Tipu Sultan died in 1799 during a decisive British victory, his legend had been firmly established long before. Hearing of his valor, Napoleon had once hoped to join forces with Tipu, uniting French and Indian armies against the British. And despite the Muslim leader’s cruel streak toward India’s Hindu and Christian populations, he remains fixed in the popular imagination as one of the nation’s most important freedom fighters. In the years following his death, Tipu Sultan became so revered in South India that the British were uneasy letting his relatives live in the area. Fearing another uprising, the government displaced his extended family—including 12 of his sons— about 1,000 miles northeast to the then capital of the British Raj, Calcutta.
Tipu’s family was stripped of its status, but the British government made concessions to make sure his descendants were taken care of. His family received healthy stipends, which they used to acquire large tracts of property. Some of Tipu’s sons invested well, and their descendants live comfortably—or better.
But Dilawar, Sanwar, and Sanu Shah—descendants of Tipu’s first son—haven’t been as lucky. Two hundred yards from the mosque, along the same stretch of road, Sanwar, his three brothers, an unmarried sister, and their families reside in a ramshackle house. They end their work shifts bone-tired, with just enough money to put food on the table. As Sanwar once told the Indian newspaper the Deccan Herald, “We are ashamed to speak of our past; that we are descendants of the great man makes us shrink further.” But the blood of the Mysore Tiger still flows in their veins, and whatever scars the family bears from this fall from opulence, the Shahs still know how to fight.
Dilawar Shah and his brothers have spent their lives hustling. They’ve scalped movie tickets for spare cash. They’ve biked rickshaws through Kolkata’s gridded streets for 11 hours at a stretch. When the money from the fares wasn’t enough, the brothers carved a cigarette stall into the front of their dilapidated home and put their mom to work. Today, the Shah home also houses a family-run leather upholstery shop, where Sanu stitches colorful leather rickshaw seat covers by hand. The Shahs are the hardest-working royal family in the world, but how did they fall on such hard luck? It starts with their father, the eldest of Tipu’s sons, who insisted on living like a king, even when he couldn’t.
“My father, Akhtar, was an educated, worldly man who could read and write in several Indian and European languages,” says Dilawar. Akhtar never worked, hoping that the family’s regal position would be reinstated after two centuries and that the trusts of the other branches of Tipu Sultan’s family tree would come to his aid. Those cash infusions never came. When the southern Indian state of Karnataka offered to transport the family to rehabilitate them in Mysore, Akhtar refused to leave Kolkata, holding out for a better offer. And when his inheritance slowed to a trickle, he sold off whatever valuable assets he had to maintain his lifestyle.
But in his selfishness, he never schooled his children. In fact, all his children are completely illiterate. “It may be surprising to see us employed in such basic professions, but nothing more was possible,” says Dilawar, who has worked dozens of odd jobs. “Before you can feed the mind, you must feed the stomach. So we were left uneducated.”
If there’s hope for Dilawar and his family, it’s that other branches of Tipu’s family tree have been able to reverse their fortunes relatively recently. On the very same Prince Anwar Shah Road, about midway between the mosque and the Shahs’ run-down home, stands Fort Mysore Towers, a modern apartment complex that dwarfs the surrounding architecture. There, secured behind the compound’s high concrete wall and security guards, Maqbool Alam, 82, who belongs to another of the family’s strands, owns three apartments. Although he’s living comfortably, he explains in the Queen’s English, “Not long ago, we too had financial problems.” His nephew Shahid Alam, 48, who also owns three apartments, agrees. “Money was a major concern. Thankfully, in the late 1990s, we were able to make an agreement with a property developer to demolish the 150-year-old building and raise these towers.”
As secretary of Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf Estate (which handles property matters for those shifted from Mysore by the British), Shahid has taken a particular interest in the family’s fortunes. He blames Indian bureaucracy and a painful litigation process for contributing to the disparity among Tipu’s descendants. “So many documents have been filed on our behalf to various minority welfare boards; committees have come from as far as Karnataka to write reports; there are numerous property cases which remain pending—but nothing happens.”
To illustrate his point, Shahid cites a family burial ground located about two miles away. “This plot was active and in use until 1979. That’s when the illegal encroaching began.” By 1985, Shahid says, the eight-acre burial ground had transformed into a slum, overrun by 4,000 squatters and more than 400 shanties. “When we tried to evict them ourselves, the thugs who’d helped settle them threatened us.”
For two decades, Shahid has been formally petitioning various police and government departments to help his relatives. “It’s an untouchable area for the politicians. They get votes in this district from the squatters, and they don’t want to anger them. So they smile in our faces with promises to help.”
While Shahid now has the luxury of worrying about abstract matters like legacy, the Shah family is still focused on more tangible concerns. “Proud of the legacy?” Dilawar asks. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to give my three daughters some education,” a gift his father never gave him. He continues, “Now my only hope is to have my younger two married.”
If history is any indication, this rickshaw-pulling prince will hustle and sweat to pay for those weddings. His family will band together to make it happen. And once they have, Dilawar will look to fulfill his final wish: “I’d love to see Mysore, the ancestral homeland. Just to visit would be nice.”
As for Sanu, 22, he’s focused on earning enough money stitching rickshaw seat covers to start a family. “If I save my salary and work hard, I’ll be able to marry by 30,” he says.
And so instead of lounging in palaces, three princes who should have been born retired instead earn each rupee the hard way, placing calloused hands on the rickshaw’s handlebars, taking a deep breath, then eyeing the crowded streets for the next passenger.
Hard times for Tipu Sultan's descendants : Living - India Today
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