Jaishankar Says Tipu Sultan's Legacy 'Cherry-Picked', Rues 'Facts Tailored For Regime Convenience'

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar stresses the complexity of Tipu Sultan's legacy, highlighting his foreign policy and diplomatic engagements while ruing 'cherry-picking' of facts about him.

File Photo of EAM S Jaishankar

Source : PTI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday criticised the selective portrayal of Tipu Sultan in historical narratives, describing it as an example of "airbrushed history" driven by political convenience. Speaking at the launch of historian Vikram Sampath's book, Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore Interregnum 1761-1799, Jaishankar said, “How much of our past has been airbrushed, how awkward issues have been glossed over, and how facts are tailored for regime convenience are basic questions that confront us all today.”

He noted that the politics of the day often "cherry-picks facts," particularly in Tipu’s case, leading to an unbalanced portrayal. “Contemporary history writings, certainly at the national level, have focused largely on Tipu Sultan’s resistance to British colonial control while underplaying, if not neglecting, other aspects of his rule,” Jaishankar remarked, as per news agency PTI.

“History in all societies is complicated, and the politics of the day often indulges in cherry-picking facts. To a considerable extent, that has happened in Tipu Sultan's case,” Jaishankar said, adding that contemporary writings at the national level have largely focused on Tipu Sultan’s resistance to British colonial control while neglecting his controversial actions.  

Jaishankar praised Sampath's book for presenting a nuanced perspective on Tipu Sultan, capturing "the flavour of a fast-moving and complicated era" while delving into politics, strategy, administration, sociology, and diplomacy. “It is something very much more than a biography,” he remarked.  

Acknowledging Tipu Sultan as a "key figure who resisted the imposition of British colonial control," Jaishankar noted that his defeat marked a turning point for peninsular India. However, he also highlighted that Tipu evokes "strong adverse sentiments" in regions like Mysore, Coorg, and Malabar due to his policies and actions.  

"Contemporary history writings have focused largely on the former aspect, underplaying, if not neglecting, the latter. This was not an accident," he claimed.  

Notably, Jaishankar emphasised that Tipu Sultan’s legacy is a complex one. “There can be no doubt that Tipu Sultan was fiercely and almost consistently anti-British. But how much of it was inherent and how much a result of their allying with his local rivals, that is difficult to distinguish,” he said. Tipu’s collaboration with the French, he added, makes a straightforward anti-foreign narrative difficult to assert.

Jaishankar On Tipu Sultan’s Foreign Policy As He Calls For Objective Look At History

Jaishankar discussed Tipu Sultan’s foreign policy, including his collaborations with the French and outreach to rulers in Turkey, Afghanistan, and Persia for faith-based support. “Perhaps the truth is that the sense of nationhood, which all of us have now, was simply not there then,” he posited.  

The minister highlighted Tipu Sultan’s diplomatic engagements, including his emissaries’ interactions with French and Turkish counterparts, as well as lessons on understanding global developments. “On crucial occasions, Tipu was caught on the wrong side of events in France,” he said, adding that Napoleon Bonaparte had written to Tipu Sultan, but the letters were intercepted by the British.  

“Ironically, Tipu’s fate was largely decided by diplomacy, as the British created an all-encompassing coalition. That he was left so friendless at the end should itself be a cause for introspection,” Jaishankar remarked, as per PTI.  

Jaishankar emphasised the need for open-minded scholarship to foster a balanced understanding of history. “In the last decade, the changes in our political dispensation have encouraged the emergence of alternative perspectives and balanced accounts. We are no longer prisoners of a vote bank, nor is it politically incorrect to bring out inconvenient truths,” he said.  

He also highlighted the importance of understanding rulers’ self-descriptions, orders, and communications, adding that Sampath’s book sheds light on Tipu Sultan’s mindset and actions. “This larger assessment of Tipu’s character has to get that balance right,” Jaishankar concluded.