Tipu in Malabar

The Congress government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has marked the birthday of Tipu Sultan on November 10 as “Tipu Jayanti” for the past three years. These records in the Modi script are a gold mine for academics interested in the land reforms carried out by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in Malabar, which had a long-term impact on Kerala society. Nairs and Namboodiris comprised a fifth of the population of Malabar and the upheaval wrought about by Hyder and Tipu in the caste and class privileges of these two communities led to social upheaval. Kareem writes: “It was, therefore, the economic and social reforms that paved the way for the accusations of religious bigotry brought against Tipu Sultan.” It was also easy to see the issues of land and social reform along religious lines, as the main beneficiaries of Tipu’s land reforms were the mappilas. It has been proved by recent historians engaged in the study of the Sultan’s history that the descriptions of the widespread arson, loot and violence that the Hindus of Malabar faced at the Mysorean interlude were mostly fallacies of imagination or the result of the retaliation of the Sultans against rebels.” Tipu was aware that he was a Muslim king while his subjects were mainly Hindu and he legitimised his reign through generous support to temples in his domains.