Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hills. They looked serious. Many possessed green-hued flesh, as if
sick with fright.
I hadn't seen a film in nearly a year, and my thoughts began to
wander to those British troops I'd been reading about who had passed
not far from this cinema, almost two hundred years earlier. They
were on their way to crush Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore and one of
the noblest and most heroic figures in Indian history. Just as serious
as the centurions on the screen and aware of Tipu's reputation for
military genius, they, too, would have been prepared for the worst.
The great Indian leader's skill had impressed some of the British
campaigning against him. What won their respect even further was
his chivalry in war, his mercy and sheer decency.
Looting a conquered enemy enriches a few, impoverishes the
nation and dishonours the entire army. Wars must be linked to
battlefields. Do not carry it to innocent civilians. Honour their
women, respect their religion and protect their children and the
infirm.
- From Tipu Sultan's Decree, 1783
Tipu deeply admired the ideals of the United States' Founding
Fathers. He even raised funds for Benjamin Franklin. He had been
the first to grasp the significance to Britain of the loss of its American
colonies - a blow linked to Britain's sudden decision to massively
colonise India. In other ways, too, Tipu scared the hell out of London
because his virtues were ones the West like to think of as unique to
its own civilisation. One British general died saying that the greatest
moment of his life was being told by Tipu Sultan, to whom he had
surrendered, that he had done his duty valiantly and should feel
proud of his regiment and himself. Only great men are respected by
their enemies, and only great men respect their enemies when they
merit that respect.
. . . four hundred beautiful women, all bleeding with wounds
from the bayonet and either dead or dying in each other's arms,
while the common soldiers, casting off all obedience to their
