Sakti and Barakat: The Power of Tipu's Tiger.

An Examination of the Tiger Emblem of

Tipu Sultan of Mysore
Author(s): Kate Brittlebank
Source: Modern Asian Studies , May, 1995, Vol. 29, No. 2 (May, 1995), pp. 257-269
Published by: Cambridge University Press

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Modern Asian Studies 29, 2 (1995), pp. 257-269. Printed in Great Britain

Sakti
Sakti and
andBarakat:
Barakat:The
The
Power
Power
of Tipu's
of Tipu's
Tiger
An Examination of the Tiger Emblem of Tipu Sultan of
Mysore

KATE BRITTLEBANK

Monash University

A figure who walks larger than life through the p

century south-Indian history is Tipu Sultan Fath
power in Mysore from 1782 until his death at the
in 1799. In general, scholars of his reign have ta
centric approach, essentially concentrating on h
ships and activities, particularly with regard to
British,' while more recently there has been som
economy and administration.2 Recent research into
religion in south India raises issues which sugges
ruler was reassessed in his own terms, from the po
cultural environment in which he was operating.3
has been made to do this.4 One matter which meri
is his use of symbols, particularly in connection
expression of kingship. Given Tipu's somewhat a
a parvenu, whose legitimacy as ruler was quest

I am grateful to Dr Ian Mabbett for his critical comment

i See, for example, Mohibbul Hasan, History of Tipu Sul
1971); B. Sheik Ali, A Study of Diplomacy and Confrontation
2 For example, Nikhiles Guha, Pre-British State System in S
i799 (Calcutta, 1985); Asok Sen, 'A Pre-British Economic Fo
Late Eighteenth Century: Tipu Sultan's Mysore', Barun De (e
Sciences I (Calcutta, I977), pp. 46-I 19; Burton Stein, 'State
Reconsidered: Part One', Modern Asian Studies I9, 3 (I985)
3 See, for example, Arjun Appadurai, Worship and Conflict
South Indian Case (Cambridge, i98I); Susan Bayly, Saints, Godd
and Christians in South Indian Society I7oo-90oo (Cambridge
The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom (Cambr
has been Burton Stein's Peasant State and Society in Medieval
4 While Hasan addresses the question of religion, for exam
a minor way. Stein's article is really the only work which
within his cultural context.

oo26-749X/95/$5.oo+.oo ? 1995 Cambridge University Press

257

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258 KATE BRITTLEBANK

appear to be a fruitful area for research.5

was the tiger, yet while it has captured t
in other disciplines,6 it has not exercised
any extent.7 It is the aim of this paper t
looking at this symbol in the light of the
has underlined the strongly syncretic natur
Drawing upon both written and oral mat
the interaction which has taken place be
Christian traditions, the result of which
and ideas, a frequently shared vocabulary
motifs within a common sacred landscape
the imagery associated with the ammans o
It is my contention that an examination o
reveal that it is firmly rooted in this syncr
and that this should emphasize to us the
Mysore ruler within his cultural context
actions, particularly from the point of view
Tipu's adoption of the tiger as an emble
naturalistic representation of the tiger (ofte
tion and the tiger stripe motif alone. The la
to as babri, from babr, meaning tiger, altho
appears more properly to refer to the
appeared.9 His use of this emblem seems
upon the obsessive.10 In one or other for
his arms, both large and small, on the unifo
coins, as wall decoration, on his flags a

3 Tipu's status in relation to the Wodeyar Kart

complex matter and one which will be addressed e
6 See, for example, Mildred Archer, Tippoo's Tig
et al., Tigers round the Throne: The Court of Tipu Su
7 Hasan, for example, pays it no attention.
8 Susan Bayly, Saints; also 'Hindu Kingship and th
gion. State and Society in Kerala, I750-1850', Mod
pp. 177-213; 'Islam in Southern India: "Purist" or
D. H. A. Kolff (eds), Two Colonial Empires: Comparati
and Indonesia in the Nineteenth Century (Dordrecht, 1
9 William Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sulta
(London, I8i I), Letter CCCLIII. The term is used
10 This type of 'obsession' is not without precede
II of Bijapur displayed a similar attachment to th
Ghauri, 'Kingship in the Sultanates of Bijapur an
(1972), pp. 43, 46. It should be noted that the tiger
by Tipu. A sun motif, a not uncommon Indian roy
of the name of his father, Haidar Ali, are also frequ

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 THE POWER OF TIPU S TIGER 259

spectacular
spectacular example,
example,
on his throne,
on his whichthrone,
displayed a whi
mass
tiger
tiger headhead
with crystal
with teeth."
crystalThe stripe
teeth."was stamped
The strip on th
ings
ings of of
his books
his books
and servedand
as theserved
watermark
as the
on hiswate
paper
is
isdescribed
described leavingleaving
the palace the
'. . . in
palace
a dress and
'. . accoutr
. in
adorned
adorned withwith
the tyger's
thehead"3
tyger's
and the head"3
main entrance
and the to hism
area
areaat at
Seringapatam
Seringapatam
was guardedwas by four
guarded
tigers chained
by fo w
passage.'4
passage.'4 A particularly
A particularly
well-known well-known
artefact from his arte
reign
mechanical
mechanical man-eating
man-eating
tiger, now in tiger,
the collection
now in of the
thV
and
and Albert
AlbertMuseumMuseum
in London.15
in However,
London.15 the mostHoweve
evocati
resentation,
resentation, I believe,
I believe,
and the oneand
of most
the significance
one of formost
this
is
istoto
be be
found
found
on a green
on silk
a green
banner which
silk is
banner
still extant.
wh It
aacalligraphic
calligraphicdesign design
of a tiger'sof
mask
a tiger's
(see Fig. I),mask
the w
which
which readread
'The Lion
'Theof God
Lion is Conqueror'
of God or, is alternatively
Conquero
Victorious
Victorious Lion of
Lion
God'. of
'LionGod'.
of God''Lion
(Asad Allah)
of God'
is an epit
(A
Ali,
Ali, one
one
of the
offirst
the four
first
Caliphs
four
of Islam
Caliphs
and believed
of Islam
by th
to be the true successor to Muhammad.16
Tipu's use of the tiger motif is not as original as some have
thought.'7 Within India itself tigers are clearly associated with roy-
alty. Two contemporary writers refer to the 'royal tiger18 and a tiger
skin seat is found among the royal regalia of Shivaji.'9 Tigers are also

1 A large number of illustrations of the different uses made of the tiger motif can
be found in Buddle, Tigers. See also Denys Forrest, Tiger of Mysore: The Life and Death
of Tipu Sultan (London, 1970) and J. R. Henderson, The Coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu
Sultan (Madras, 192i). Henderson fails to identify the babri stripe, which he merely
refers to as an 'obliquely twisted pointed oval', but it is clear from illustrations that
this is in fact what it is, p. 31.
12 Kirkpatrick, Letters, p. 395.
13 Munshi M. Qasim, 'An Account of Tipu Sultan's Court', India Office Library,
MS Eur.C.io.
14 Francis Buchanan, Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Can
Malabar, 3 vols (London, 1807), I, p. 72.
15 For a description of this gruesome machine, see Archer, Tiger.
16 A photograph of the banner can be found in Buddle, Tigers, p. 18. Kirk
states that this image appeared on most of Tipu's arms. Letters, p. 155
Victoria and Albert Museum, The Indian Heritage: Court Life and Arts unde
Rule (London, 1982), p. 139.
17 Buddle, Tigers, p. i8; Kirkpatrick, Letters, p. 138, n. I.
18 Alexander Beatson, A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippo
Comprising a Narrative of the Operations of the Army under the Command of Lieutenan
Harris, and of the Siege of Seringapatam (London, 800o), p. 154; MMDLT, H
and Revolution in India (The History of Hyder Shah Alias Hyder Ali Khan Bahad
published 1784 (Delhi, 1988), p. 28.
19 Michael H. Fisher, A Clash of Cultures: Awadh, The British, and the
(Riverdale, 1987), p. 158. See also Ronald Inden, 'Ritual, Authority, and
Time in Hindu Kingship', J. F. Richards (ed.), Kingship and Authority in Sou
2nd edn (Madison, I98i), pp. 45, 53. It is interesting to note that in Tib

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260 KATE BRITTLEBANK

revered
revered in various parts
in ofvarious
India, most notably
partsBengal andofRajasthan
India, most n
asas
well well
as the Deccan.20
as the This appears
Deccan.20
to have led to the This
use of the appears to
tiger
tiger
as a symbol
as both
a on symbol
arms and standards.21
both The onmotif, arms
more and sta
particularly
particularlythe stripe, is alsothe
found within
stripe,the Islamicisworld.
also
The found w
Ottoman
Ottoman rulers were especially
rulers fond were
of this design
especially
(although it was fond of
not
notidentical
identical
to Tipu's stripe), which
to Tipu's
they used on textiles,
stripe), for which
example,
example, and which wasandoften accompanied
whichby was three dots,
often
thought accompa
toto
represent
represent
leopard spots.22 Sulayman
leopard the Magnificent
spots.22 used the Sulayman
stripe
stripeto decorate
tothe decorate
seat of his campaignthe
throne.23 seat
Althoughof the his campa
Mughal
Mughal emperors are
emperors
known to have copied
arethis pattern,
known they do not
to have cop
appear
appearto have used
to it extensively.24
have used Even so, it
it is very
extensively.24
possible that Eve
Tipu
Tipuwas familiar
was withfamiliar
this motif since the
with
influence this
of Ottoman motif sinc
designs
designs
and fabricsand
had beenfabrics
particularly strong
hadin thebeen
Deccani states,
particularly s
asas
opposed
opposed
to the north.25to
That the
there is anorth.25
connection is also suggested
That there is a
bybythe dictionary
the dictionary
definition of babri bayan:
definition
'A kind of military cloak
of babri baya
made
made of a leopard's
of skin a leopard's
(such as worn by Rustam)';
skin among(such
its other as worn b
definitions
definitions is: 'a linen garment
is:worn'a bylinen
kings in battle
garment
and held worn b
ominous'.26
ominous'.26 It does seem, therefore,
It does that although
seem, the pattern
therefore,
may tha
have
havebeen original,
been this type
original,
of decoration was
thisnot an invention
typeofof decorat
the
theruler of
ruler
Mysore. of Mysore.
Furthermore,
Furthermore, in the past the tiger
in as anthe
emblempast
or crest had
thenot tiger as a
been
beenunknown unknown
in the region under in
Tipu'sthe
sway. Each
region
ruling dynasty
under Tipu
inin
this this
area had itsarea
own insignia
had whichits
playedown
an important
insignia
role in which
the
the
symbolism
symbolism
of kingship. It appeared
ofonkingship.
royal seals, copper-plate
It appeared
inscriptions,
inscriptions,
lithic records andlithic
flags, and when
records
a ruler was conquered
and flags, and
by
byanother,
another,
the victor adopted
thethe insignia
victorof the vanquished.27
adopted Mais- the insigni
skins
skins were symbolic
were of '... symbolic
wealth, power, authority,
of status'... and
wealth,
guardianship.' power, auth
Daniel
Daniel Shaffer, 'In
Shaffer,
the Forests of the'InNight',
the Hali 41 Forests
(Sept-Oct 1988), pp.of 44-5.the Night', Ha
2020 Asutosh
Asutosh
Bhattacharyya, Bhattacharyya,
'The Tiger-Cult and its Literature in'The Lower Bengal',
Tiger-Cult and
Man
Man in Indiain27 (1947),
Indiapp. 44-5.27 (1947), pp. 44-5.
21
21 Examples
Examples
can be found in Sadashiv
can Gorakshkar
be found (ed.), Animal
inin Sadashiv
Indian Art Goraksh
(Bombay,
(Bombay, 1979), p. 31; Victoria
1979), and Albert
p. Museum,
31; Victoria
Heritage, p. I57. and Albert Muse
2222 Arts Arts
Council of Great
CouncilBritain, Theof
Arts ofGreat
Islam (London,Britain,
1976), p. 82. Colour
The Arts of I
photographs
photographs can be found in Donald
canKing, be 'Treasures
found of the Topkapi
in DonaldSaray', Hali King, 'Tre
3434(April-June
(April-June
I987), pp. 28, 3I. I amI987),
grateful to Susan
pp.Scollay28, for3I.
discussing
I am with grateful to
me
me the Ottomans'
the Ottomans'
use of the stripe. use of the stripe.
2323 Viewed
Viewed
by the author.by the author.
2424 Victoria
Victoria
and Albert Museum,
and Heritage,
Albert pp. 98-9. AMuseum,
Mughal girdle with this
Heritage, pp. 9
design
design is illustrated
is inillustrated
Leigh Ashton, The Art of in India
Leigh
and PakistanAshton,
(London, I950), The Art of
P1. 76.
25 Victoria and Albert Museum, Heritage, pp. 25, 92. Curiously enough, an ident-
ical stripe to Tipu's can be found on a Syrian 8th-century stone carving of a tiger.
Illustrated in Claude Humbert, Islamic Ornamental Design (London, I980), P1. 995.
26 F. Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary (New Delhi, 1981).
27 T. V. Mahalingam, South Indian Polity, 2nd edn (Madras, 1967), p. 87.

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 THE POWER OF TIPU'S TIGER 26I

tre
tre de de
la Tour
la Tour
refers torefers
this practice
to when
thisdescribing
practice the when
magnificent
describi
state
state procession
procession
of HaidarofAli, Haidar
in which these
Ali,'marks
in which
of honour'these
were 'ma
carried.28 The choice of emblem seems often to have been related to
the religious affiliation of the holder. For example, the Wodeyars of
Mysore, who were Vaishnavas, had among their insignia the boar,
the discus (Chakra) and the garuda, all of which are associated with
Vishnu.29 As for the tiger as an emblem, this was adopted by the
Colas, who were Saivites, who used it on their crests and banners, as
did the Hoysalas of Dvarasamudra.30 That there is an association of
the tiger with rulers of Mysore is also suggested by the fact that the
old city (later destroyed by Tipu) is described in the early eighteenth
century as having 'tiger-faced' gates.31 The Wodeyars, however, do
not appear to have used it as an emblem, which may have been
significant from Tipu's point of view, since, no doubt, he would have
wished to distance himself from the previous ruling dynasty. This
seems to be confirmed by the design on the heel plate of one of his
sporting guns, in which two tigers are depicted killing the double-
headed eagle, or ghandabherunda, an emblem of the deposed royal
line.32 From his gift of a piece of babri cloth to one of his commanders,
to be used in an article of clothing,33 one can infer that he was operat-
ing within the same cultural meaning of the symbol. As an incorporat-
ive mechanism, emblems were made as gifts by south Indian rulers
to their inferiors.34
Let us now turn to the central issue of this paper: why should Tipu
have chosen the tiger and not some other feature as his main emblem?
Why not choose something more overtly Islamic? He does not appear
to have inherited it from Haidar, whose uniform, for example, is
described as being mainly yellow with gold flowers.35 It has been
claimed that Tipu means tiger in Kanarese but this is not the case.36
28 MMDLT, Haidar, p. I80.
29 Mahalingam, Polity, pp. 87-90. C. Hayavadana Rao, History of Mysore (i399-
'799 A.D.), 3 vols (Bangalore, 1943-46), I, pp. 66, 95, 507.
30 Mahalingam, Polity, pp. 90-2. The Hoysalas had a close affiliation withJainism.
31 Rao, History, I, p. 389.
32 Victoria and Albert Museum, Heritage, p. I39.
33 Kirkpatrick, Letters, CCCLIII.
34 Dirks, Hollow Crown, p. 47. On incorporation see also Bernard S. Cohn, 'Repres-
enting Authority in Victorian India', An Anthropologist among the Historians and Other
Essays (Delhi, I987), pp. 635-7, 641: M. N. Pearson (ed.), Legitimacy and Symbols: The
South Asian Writings of F. W. Buckler (Ann Arbor, 1985), pp. 177-8.
33 MMDLT, Haidar, p. 23. Haidar seems to have particularly favoured the use of
yellow, a colour '. . . much affected by the emperor and the Subas'. Ibid., p. I80.
36 Archer, Tiger, p. 4. Rao, History, III, p. 914. Rao, however, later contradicts
himself. III, p. 1030.

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262 KATE BRITTLEBANK

This
This misconception
misconceptioncould possibly have
could arisenpossibly
from the fact have
that the a
British
British called the
called
Mysorethe ruler 'the
Mysore
Tiger of Mysore',
ruleralthough
'the ITiger have
found
found no evidence
no evidence
to suggest thatto Tipusuggest
referred to himself
that in Tipu
that
way.
way. BritishBritish
writers ofwriters
the time believed
of thethe answer
time lay both
believed
in Tipu's t
reverence
reverence for Ali, for
who weAli,have seen
who is referred
we have to as theseen
Lion ofis God,ref
and
and in theincoincidence
the coincidence
of Haidar, the name ofofHaidar,
his father, also
the meaning
name
'lion'
'lion' and also
and being
also
a title
being
of Ali.37 a
Thetitle
basis forof this
Ali.37
argumentThe is thatba
at
at thethelinguistic
linguistic
level in India level
there is no
indistinction
India made there between
is the
no d
lion
lion and and
the tiger,
the the tiger,
words usedthe for eachwords
being interchangeable.38
used for ea
Thus,
Thus, to Tipu,
toAsadTipu,Allah could
Asad haveAllah
meant 'Tigercouldof God'.39
have Thisme is
an
an important
important point and one point
which is andvital to
one our understanding
which is of vi
Tipu's
Tipu's choice.choice.
It is my view It that
is the
my earlyview
writersthat
were onthethe right
earl
track
track and that
and thisthat
is supported
this byisthesupported
calligraphic designby of the
the tigercal
mask
mask referred
referred
to above. It to
is this
above.
design which
It Iis believe
this is the
design
key to
the issue.

Before proceeding further, we need to examine the reasons for the

Mysore ruler's quite obvious reverence for Ali, for here there lies
another clue. First and foremost, Tipu was a warrior; as a successor to
Vijayanagara traditions, the society in which he moved was a warrior
society.40 Such was his son's zeal as a youth, Haidar feared for his
safety.41 That he should have chosen Ali as '. .. the guardian genius, or
tutelary saint, of his dominions; as the object of his veneration, and as
an example to imitate'42 is not surprising. As well as being revered by
the Shi'as, Ali is honoured by Muslims as a great warrior, with all
Sunnis invoking his name in battle.43 The words 'God' and 'Ali' are
found inscribed on the sword of Aurangzeb and the names of royal
weapons listed by Manucci include 'Ali's Help'.44 The following coup-
let in Persian is said to have appeared on Haidar's seal:
Fath Haidar was manifested, or born to conquer the world;
There is no man equal to Ali and no sword like his.45
37 Beatson, View, pp. I55-6. Kirkpatrick, Letters, p. 394.
38 This is well demonstrated in Rao, History, III, p. 525, n. 39, where an Indian
writer states that '. . . Haidar means tiger and that it was the title of Hazrat Ali .. .'.
In addition, in Tipu's Marine Regulations the word used for tiger to describe a
decoration on the model of a warship is sher and not babr. Sher is frequently translated
'lion'. Kirkpatrick, Letters, Appendix K, p, lxxix, n.6.
39 It does seem, though, that a visual distinction is made. Tipu's choice is very
clearly the tiger; nowhere is the lion found visually represented.
40 Dirks, Hollow Crown, pp 43 ff; Bayly, Saints, p. i59.
41 MMDLT, Haidar, p. 299.
42 Beatson, View, p. I55.
43 S. A. A. Rizvi, Shah Wali-Allah and His Times: A Study of Eighteenth Century Islam,
Politics and Society in India (Canberra, I980), p. 75.
44 Abdul Aziz, Arms andJewellery of the Indian Mughals (Lahore, I947) pp. 21-2, 29.
45 Cited in Rao, History, III, p. 524, n. 39. Fath Haidar was Tipu's grandfather.

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 THE POWER OF TIPU S TIGER 263

The
Theswordsword
is Ali's symbolis
andAli's
on the respective
symbol chases ofand
a pair on the r
of
ofTipu's
Tipu's
tiger-muzzledtiger-muzzled
cannon are found the sword cannon
of Ali and a are foun
broad-bladed
broad-bladeddagger within tiger
dagger
stripes.46 The
within
extent of Tipu's
tigerdevo- stripes.46
tion
tionis demonstrated
is demonstrated
by his wish to fund the building
by his of a canal
wishfrom to fund th
the
theEuphrates
Euphrates
to Ali's burial place
to of Najaf.47
Ali'sOneburial
of his servants
place of Na
describes
describeshim wearinghim
a turban wearing
wound in a plaitedastyle
turban
known as wound i
'Moula Alee's shield'.48
To understand the significance of the above we need to understand
the nature of the world in which Tipu lived. This was a world in
which forces were at work which needed to be propitiated or invoked.
Long before they arrived in India, Muslims did not doubt the efficacy
of magic, the influence of the stars, the mysterious qualities of pre-
cious stones, and the importance of signs and omens.49 Humayun's
faith in astrology, for example, is well known. Both Haidar and Tipu
consulted Brahman astrologers about the most auspicious days to
carry out military manoeuvres, and their tenacious enemies, the Mar-
athas, did the same.5? The sacred number seven also featured strongly
in Tipu's life. Munshi Qasim writes that
On every Saturday he unfailingly made an offering to the seven stars, of
seven different kinds of grain, and of an iron pan full of sesame oil, and a
blue cap and coat, and one black sheep, and some money according to the
advice of the astrologers, which was bestowed on the Brahmins and others.51

The colour of the stone in the ring on his finger was changed every
day, '.. . according to the course of the seven stars', and the Depart-
ments in his government numbered seven.52 These were matters
which were taken very seriously and were not mere 'mumbo-jumbo'
or superstition. Francis Buchanan, who interviewed many astrologers

46 Victoria and Albert Museum, Heritage, p. 140.

47 Kirkpatrick, Letters, CCXXXIII. The implementation of this plan was to be
carried out on the way by the embassy despatched in 1786 to the Ottoman Sultan
at Constantinople. With his customary attention to detail, Tipu writes to the Darogha
of the Tosha-Khana at Seringapatam that the chest containing the funds for this
project should be labelled: 'In this chest are deposited the rupees composing the Nuzr
to be appropriated to the construction of an aqueduct [from the Euphrates] to the
sepulchre of holy.' Ibid., CCCC. The project never came to fruition.
48 Qasim, Account.
49 M. Mujeeb, The Indian Muslims (London, 1967), p. 379.
50 Narendra Krishna Sinha, Haidar Ali, 4th edn (Calcutta, 1969), pp. Iio, n. 3,
184; Mir Hussein Ali Khan Kirmani, The History of the Reign of Tipu Sultan Being a
Continuation of the Neshani Hyduri, tr. W. Miles, rpt 1844 edn (New Delhi, 1980), p.
178. On the day he was killed, Tipu had been advised by his astrologers that the
day was inauspicious. To counteract this he gave gifts to Brahmans and alms to the
poor, as well as carrying out certain rituals. Ibid.
31 Qasim, Account.
52 Ibid.

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264 KATE BRITTLEBANK
during his survey of the dominions of Tipu, wa
that astrology was '. . . looked upon as a c
having anything miraculous in it . . ..53 As w
with his astrologers, Tipu also consulted his p
to heal of these hakims who practised unani me
be closely associated with the supernatural.55
record of his dreams, writing them down a
sometimes recording his interpretation of th
also drew upon the power of the written wo
he was particularly fond, had woven in it the
O God! may thy fortune be ever awake
May fate ever be propitious to thee
May the flower of thy greatness forever lo
And be a thorn in the sides of thy enemies

On his right arm when he died was found a t

son describes it thus: '. .. sewed up in pieces o
amulet of a brittle metallic substance of the col
manuscripts in magic, Arabic, and Persian
power of these lines in Arabic is the baraka
onlooker.59 This power, literally blessing or
God, is often referred to as the 'charisma' of
transferred to his descendants upon his death
becomes a shrine. The meaning of Tipu's ban
The barakat conveyed by the complex callig
carried would have been a powerful protectio
Apart from the power of Ali's name, the in
illegibility of the design would have added to
33 Buchanan, Journey, I, p. 235.
34 Qasim, Account.
35 Bayly, Saints, p. 99.
36 Mahmud Husain, (tr.), The Dreams of Tipu Sultan: Tr
Persian with Introduction and Notes (Karachi, nd).
37 Qasim, Account.
38 Beatson, View, Appendix XXXIII, p. ciii. These m
have been given to Tipu by a Sufi pirzada. Eaton tells t
Bijapur receiving a piece of paper with a prayer writt
the muzzle of the city's cannon before firing it at the M
Sufis of Bijapur 1300-1700: Social Role of Sufis in Medieval
59 Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Cult
1984), pp. 84, 86. Schimmel writes: 'Even seemingly mea
can convey some blessing, provided they have been writt
by a skilled amulet maker; and inscriptions on metalw
mere fragments of blessing formulas, may still bear the
60 Ibid., p. 0o.

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 THE POWER OF TIPU S TIGER 265

But does this really explain why Tipu chos

If the key element is his reverence for Ali,
sword, for example? What was it that at
'Lion (or tiger) of God'? Why should it
influence upon him that he chose the
emblem in his life? Was it just the prevalen
which prompted this choice, or their asso
answer, I believe, can be found if we look a
in which Tipu was operating.
In what are almost throwaway lines, wit
two twentieth-century south-Indian writer
for this enquiry, their inevitable closen
giving them a better understanding of
more distant. Mahalingam, referring to
emblem, believed it was chosen '.. . on accou
and Rao, in his History of Mysore, wrot
adopted by Tipu as emblematic of himself
this power to which they refer and why sh
That a ruler should be seen to be powerfu
Buchanan found that the Wodeyar fami
obscurity, that it [was] no longer looked
the natives in general [was] the only thin
of loyalty.'63 More significantly, there i
power of kings and the power of gods.
long perceived the power of divine being
form of the power which was claimed a
would-be rulers';64 and in south India the s
leads to the same perception of this sacre
the Hindu and Muslim communities.65 Th
within the religious landscape to all sout
refers to as 'divinities of blood and power',
tion are warrior goddesses, locally know
gods, both of whom are representations o
the Muslim tradition this power is repre
pir, who is perceived in virtually the sam

61 One only has to read Buchanan to realize that

the lives of villagers and travellers in the area. Jou
62 Mahalingam, Polity, p. 87; Rao, History, III, p
63 Buchanan, Journey, II, pp. 72-3.
64 Bayly, Saints, p. 2. See also pp. I84-5.
65 Ibid., p. 147.

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266 KATE BRITTLEBANK

goddesses.66
goddesses.66Known under
Known
various names,
under
such as Kali
various
or Kaliamma,
names
Durga
Durga or Mariamma,
or Mariamma,
these goddesses have
these
'an extragoddesses
endowment' of hav
sakti,
sakti,the dangerous
the dangerous
female energy of the
female
gods, and energy
are associated of t
with
with Siva.67
Siva.67
While
WhileBayly Bayly
is writing mainly
is writing
of the Tamil mainly
country, thereof
is nothe T
doubt
doubtthat these
that figures
these
were (and
figures
still are) found
werein the (and
Mysore still
dominions.68
dominions.68In nearly every
In village
nearly which Buchanan
everyvisited village
he en- whi
countered
counteredwhat he called
what 'destructive
he called
spirits', named,
'destructive
for example, sp
'Marima,
'Marima,Pualima, Pualima,
Mutialima, and Gungoma',
Mutialima,and commonly
and Gu
referred
referredto by theto
localby
Brahmans
theaslocal
'Saktis, or
Brahmans
ministers of Siva'.69
as 'Sak
The
TheBedars
Bedars
of Chitaldrug,
of in Chitaldrug,
the north of the State,
inbuilt
the a temple
north o
to
toKaliKali
on top on
of their
top durgof
or fort,
theirand propitiated
durg the orgoddess
fort, withand pr
offerings
offeringsof the heads
ofofthe
their victims
heads in battle.
of their
As a resultvictims
they
believed their fortress was unassailable.70 It is claimed that the name
Mysore itself is derived from Mahishasura, the buffalo-headed demon
slain by Durga, who, as Chamundi or Chamundesvari, is the tutelary
goddess of the Wodeyars.71 Whitehead identified seven 'Mari' deities
of Mysore city, all sisters, who were associated with Siva, and in
Mysore villages, Mahadeva-Amma, or the great goddess, and Huli-
amma, 'the tiger-goddess', were worshipped.72 These goddesses, fre-
quently associated with sickness, like small-pox for example, are
objects of great power and awe, which rather than being worshipped
are propitiated. Srinivas encountered them when he carried out
fieldwork in the late i940o in a village not far from Seringapatam,
the site of Tipu's capital. Referring to Mari (also known as Kali),
the local goddess, he wrote that she demanded blood sacrifices and
'. .. killed her offspring right and left when she was angry with them',

66 Ibid., pp. 27-3I, I34.

67 Ibid., p. 28. For a discussion of Durga-Kali as the martial deity or warrior
goddess see Wendell Charles Beane, Myth, Cult and Symbols in Sakta Hinduism: A Study
of the Indian Mother Goddess (Leiden, 1977), pp. 177-80.
68 The assumption here of cultural continuity between the area examined by Bayly
and that of Mysore is based primarily upon Stein's discussion of an identifiable
macro-region within southern India, which, with some regional variation, has dis-
played over the centuries a cultural homogeneity. Peasants, pp. 30-62; see also
pp. I00-I, 366-4i6. In addition, Tipu's patronage of a Sufi shrine at Penukonda
(see below), in the area examined by Bayly, reinforces this assumption.
69 Buchanan, I, pp. 242-3 and passim. Although the Brahmans claimed to abhor
the worship of these divinities, they sent surreptitious offerings in times of sickness.
70 Rao, History, III, p. 251.
71 Ibid., , p. 5I7; see also Henderson, Coins, p. ii6.
72 H. Whitehead, The Village Gods of South India, 2nd edn (Calcutta, 1921), pp. 29,
8o-i. The seven sisters are probably the 'Seven Mothers' or saptamatrikas referred to
by Burton Stein in Peasant, p. 238.

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 THE POWER OF TIPU'S TIGER 267
while
while her devotees
her devotees
felt craven fear,
felt
not love.73
craven In addition,
fear, thenot
villa- love.73 In
gers
gers also also
worshipped
worshipped
Madeshvara (Siva),
Madeshvara
an awe-inspiring vegetarian
(Siva), an awe-in
deity,
deity,who also
who induced
alsorespect
induced
bordering respect
on fear, whosebordering
temple, on fea
situated
situatedin dense
in jungle,
densewas described
jungle, by Buchanan
was described
as 'very by Bu
celebrated'.74
celebrated'.74

Fig.
Fig. I. Calligraphic
I. Calligraphic
design of a tiger's
design
mask. of a tiger's mask.
Source:
Source:Anne Buddle
Anne et al.,
Buddle
Tiger round
et the
al.,
Throne:
TigerThe Court
roundof Tipu
the
Sultan
Throne:
(1750-1790) The Court of
(London,
(London,I990), p.38.
I990), p.38.

That these warrior divinities are to be found within a culture that

is obviously martial is no coincidence. For example, the expansion in
the worship of the goddesses was tied to the rise in power, following
the decline of Vijayanagara, of the petty rulers or warrior chiefs
known as poligars or nayakas.75 Hindu rulers in the south, including
the Vijayanagara kings, celebrated a festival in honour of their patron
goddess - in the case of Vijayanagara it was Durga - which symbol-
ized conquest of a new kingdom and called upon the blessings of the
goddess for both themselves and their subjects.76 Known variously as
Navaratri, Mahanavami and Dasara, this festival was instituted in
Mysore by Raja Wodeyar in A.D. I6Io.77. The Muslim warrior pir,

73 M. N. Srinivas, The Remembered Village (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1976), pp.
295, 302.
74 Ibid., p. 302; Buchanan, Journey, II, p. I82.
73 Bayly, Saints, p. 30. 'Poligar' is a term coined by the British from the Tamil
'palaiyakkarar' or 'men of military encampments'. Stein, Peasant, p. 50. On the rise of
the Wodeyar Kartars of Mysore, see Rao, History, I.
76 Bayly, Saints, p. 66; Mahalingam, Polity, p. 28. See also Dirks, Hollow Crown, p.
167; Stein, Peasants, pp. 384-92.
77 Rao, History, I, p. 68. For a detailed description of the festival as it was celeb-
rated by Kanthirava-Narasaraja Wodeyar I in the seventeenth century, see pp.
I86-93.

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268 KATE BRITTLEBANK

saint
saint martyr,
martyr,or shahid
or shahid
was easilywas
accepted
easily
into accepted
this traditio
ated as he was with the world of the forest, which in Hinduism is the
world of Siva.78 Bayly writes: 'The martial pir was not a divisive
being in south Indian society. On the contrary, he was a figure of
universal power with deep roots in the world of the Tamil goddess
cults and power divinities'.79
And this leads us back to the tiger, who features strongly in Saivite
tradition. As we saw earlier, the Saivite Colas took the tiger as their
emblem. Madeshvara, for example, rides a tiger,80 and the link
between the warrior pirs and the martial goddesses is clearly displayed
when we realize that the former are often 'lion-mounted', while the
vehicle or vahana of Durga-Kali is the lion or the tiger;81 the tomb of
one lion-mounted warrior saint, Sultan Saiyid Baba Fakiruddin Hus-
sain Sistani, which apparently received patronage from Tipu, was
attended by a tiger.82 In addition, as noted above, the power of the
warrior goddesses is sakti, '... the dynamic, awesome, and sacred
power which is the goddess Durga-Kali'.83 In fact, Kali is Para-sakti,
absolute power,84 and '... the fury of Devi, the Supreme Goddess
may be projected as a ravenous lion or tiger'.85 The power of the pir,
on the other hand, is his barakat. But in south India these two concepts
have merged, so that in the biography of a Tamil pir, the word used
to describe his awesome power is not barakat but sakti.86
There is no reason to doubt that Tipu was steeped in this warrior
culture, that as a warrior and a ruler he wished to convey to both
his subjects and his enemies the awesome power that was his, a power
which in the mind of the south Indian was synonymous with the
power of the gods, the sakti and the barakat of the warrior goddess

78 Bayly, Saints, pp. 34, i20-I.

79 Ibid., p. I90. Tipu's close association with Sufi pirs and their descendants is
unquestioned. Kirkpatrick writes that the Mysore ruler was frequently in contact
with the 'priests' of shrines throughout the south, who, it seems, held him in very
high regard. Letters, pp. 306, 459. Also see, for example, Letters CCCLXIX,
CCCLXXXV.
80 Srinivas, Remembered, p. 299. It has been suggested that the tiger was
ive vehicle of Siva, prior to Nandi the bull. Bhattacharyya, 'Tiger-Cu
81 Bayly, Saints, p. 122; Beane, Myth, p. 52.
82 Bayly, Saints, pp. 122-3. See also her 'Islam in Southern India', p
83 Beane, Myth, p. 41.
84 Ibid., p. i80.
85 Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilizatio
1946), cited ibid., p. 53. Alternatively, the tiger has been described as 't
Sakti'. As the master of this power, Siva '.. . carries the skin of the tiger
Alain Danielou, Hindu Polytheism (New York, 1964), p. 216.
86 Bayly, Saints, pp. 136-7.

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 THE POWER OF TIPU'S TIGER 269

and the martial pir.87 Little wonder that he surroun

images of the tiger and used it as his emblem. F
animal was associated with Ali, the archetypal
whose name was invoked when going into battle.
ive symbol could Tipu have chosen than one whic
sakti of the tiger and the barakat of Ali's name: the
mask which glares out from his banner at all who

87 That Tipu, following his 'martyrdom' has been given th

is now himself revered as a shahid, complete with an 'urs fest
of his death, suggests that he achieved his aim. I am gratefu
manyam for this information.

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