External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (file photo)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the launch of a book on Tipu Sultan. The book Tipu Sultan: The Saga of the Mysore Interregnum 1761-1799, written by historian Vikram Sampath, was released on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, the foreign minister said that history is “complex” and that today’s politics often cherry-picks facts on their own merits, which was largely the case in Tipu Sultan’s case.
He said that Tipu Sultan’s rule in Mysore was not viewed favorably but the focus of history had shifted to one side and more attention was focused on his fight against the British. Furthermore, his governance has not received much attention.
“A special narrative has been created”
The external affairs minister claimed that a special narrative had been created about Tipu Sultan, the former ruler of Mysore. Some of the fundamental issues we face today, Jaishankar said, are how much of our history is hidden, how much of the oddities are minimized, and “the facts are fabricated to facilitate governance.”
‘Changes have occurred in the past decade’
The Foreign Minister said that over the past decade, other perspectives had also found a place in our country’s politics. Now we are no longer prisoners of vote bank politics. Now, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, alternative views have found a place in India. Due to changes in the political system over the past decade, different perspectives have emerged. Jaishankar said he was deeply impressed by the information and insights about Tipu Sultan provided in the book.
“Tipu Sultan was a complex man”
Jaishankar said Tipu Sultan was a “complex figure” in Indian history. On the one hand, he was an outstanding figure who opposed British colonial rule in India. On the other hand, there is also the fact that his defeat and death can be considered a turning point in India’s destiny. Jaishankar said that the history of all societies is complex and that today’s politics are often busy choosing facts according to their own facts. To a large extent, this happened to Tipu Sultan.
Jaishankar further said that there was no doubt that Tipu Sultan was anti-British, but it was difficult to know how much of this was inherent and how much was due to his alliance with local rivals. He said he sought religious-based support from the rulers of Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran on many issues, perhaps because “we all have a sense of nationalism now that didn’t exist back then.”
