¹ Majumdar, R. C., The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vols 7, 8 (Bombay, 1974)Google Scholar.

² Macaulay, Lord, Critical, Historical and Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. IV (New York, 1860), p. 207Google Scholar.

³ Vartavarian, Mesrob, ‘Warriors and states: military labour in southern India, circa 1750–1800’, Modern Asian Studies 53.2 (2018), p. 2Google Scholar.

⁴ Kirmani, M. H. A., Nishan-i-Haidari (Bombay, 1890), p. 102Google Scholar.

⁵ Forrest, Denys, Tiger of Mysore: The Life and Death of Tipu Sultan (London, 1970), p. 18Google Scholar.

⁶ Kaveh Yazdani, ‘Mysore at war: the military structure during the reigns of Haidar ‘Ali and Tipu Sultan’, in A Great War in South India, (eds) Ravi Ahuja and Martin Christof-Füchsle (Berlin, 2020), pp. 18–19.

⁷ Gopal, M. H., Tipu Sultan's Mysore. An Economic Study (Bombay, 1971), p. 71Google Scholar.

⁸ Kirmani, Nishan-i-Haidari, p. 477.

⁹ Brittlebank, K., Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain (Delhi, 1997), pp. 45–56Google Scholar. The universe that Tipu Sultan inhabited was one where the Diwan of Hafiz and Rumi's Mathnawi existed side by side with Hindu astrology and talismans.

¹⁰ M. H. A. Khan Kirmani, History of Tipu Sultan being a continuation of The Neshani Hyduri, (trans.) Col. W. Miles (Delhi, 1997), p. 134. Here Tipu was described as having ‘no equal in the management of horse and spear’.

¹¹ Forrest, Tiger of Mysore, p. 29; Hasan, Mohibbul, History of Tipu Sultan (Delhi, 1951) pp. 7–8Google Scholar. Haidar was so proud of his son's exploits (in the Balam expedition) that he conferred on him the command of 200 horsemen to act as his bodyguards.

¹² Yazdani, ‘Mysore at war’, p. 21. As early as 1786, Cossigny opined that: ‘I believe that, in effect, Tipu will soon be able to surpass the foreigners with regard to machinery and implements of war, guns, cannons, bullets, etc.’

¹³ Nigel Chancellor, ‘Tipu Sultan, Mysore state and the early modern world’, in Tipu Sultan. The Tiger of Mysore, (ed.) R. Gopal (Mysore, 2010), pp. 23–24.

¹⁴ Hasan, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 350. His field guns, which were larger than those of the English with a much longer range, had a great effect in action. On one occasion in November 1787, Tipu sent back 500 muskets forwarded to Mysore by Conway because they were inferior in quality to those produced in Mysore.

¹⁵ M. P. Sridharan, ‘Tipu's drive towards modernization: French evidence from the 1780s’, in Confronting Colonialism: Resistance and Modernization under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, (ed.) Irfan Habib (New Delhi, 2004), p. 146.

¹⁶ Werrett, Simon, ‘William Congreve's rational rockets’, Notes and Records. The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 63.1 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁷ Hidayat Hosain, ‘The Library of Tipu Sultan’, Islamic Culture XIV.2 (1940), p. 146.

¹⁸ Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, p. 6.

¹⁹ Michael Soracoe, ‘Tippoo the Tyrant, Tyrant! Tipu Sultan and the Re-conception of British Imperial Identity, 1780–1800’, PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, 2013. He argues that the figure of Tipu Sultan and the spectacle of the Mysore Wars were key contributors to shifting British attitudes about empire in the late eighteenth century; it is an important resource to understanding how the vilification of Tipu was linked to the development of an imperial culture.

²⁰ Abraham Eraly, ‘The poor rich country’, in The Mughal World (New Delhi, 2007), p. 167. Visitors to the Vijaynagara and Mughal court during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, such as Athanasius Nikitin and Francois Bernier suggested that Indian rulers and noblemen lived in luxury, while those in the country were miserable.

²¹ Beatson., Alexander A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun (London, 1800), p. 14Google Scholar.

²² Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, p. 10. She highlights the fact that many major sources of the events that led to the Fourth Anglo Mysore war were produced as a result of a deliberate attempt by the governor-general Richard Wellesley to justify his invasion of Mysore, the news of which had not been well received in Britain.

²³ Secular Statecraft, https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/socialscientist/text.html?objectid=HN681.S597_152_007.gif (last accessed 2 February 2021).

²⁴ Treatises on all subjects of government and social life have been recorded in India from ancient to modern times. The Sivatattva Ratnakara written in 1699 ad by the ruler Basavappa Nayaka I of Keladi, a kingdom that was later incorporated into Mysore during Haidar Ali's time, is a shining example of such a work that deals with all fields of knowledge such as astrology, astronomy, medicine, education, architecture, science and technology, polity and royal administration, warfare, economy, agriculture, fine arts, hydrology, food, and cookery, among others. Radha Krishnamurthy (trans.), Sivatattva Ratnakara of Keladi Basavaraja (Keladi, 1995).

²⁵ Capt. Stewart notes that the Hukumnamas from Tipu Sultan's library contain ‘Rules and regulations for the different departments of Government; viz. revenue, treasury, seals of office, herald's office, caravan department, kitchen, hospital, wardrobe, armoury, granary, fortifications, &c; all compiled under the immediate inspection of the Sultan’. Stewart, C., A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Documents of Tipu's Government (Calcutta, 1924), p. 757Google Scholar.

²⁶ There are several instances where Tipu Sultan orders that copies of important manuscripts be made and distributed across the kingdom. Prominent examples among these are the Mysorean Revenue regulations, Fath-ul Mujahideen and the Fakhr-e Shaikh. Kirkpatrick, William, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan to Various Public Functionaries (London, 1811), p. 328Google Scholar

²⁷ Ehrlich, Joshua, ‘Plunder and prestige: Tipu Sultan's library and the making of British India’, South Asia: Journal of Asian Studies 43.3 (2020), pp. 478–482CrossRefGoogle Scholar. He also mentions that most of the contents of Tipu Sultan's library was acquired through plunder, while acknowledging that the large majority of the original collection is now lost.

²⁸ Price, David, Memoirs of the Early Life and Service of a Field Officer on the Retired List of the Indian Army (London, 1839), p. 446Google Scholar.

²⁹ Hosain, Hidayat, ‘The Library of Tipu Sultan’, Islamic Culture XIV.2 (1940) pp. 139–140Google Scholar.

³⁰ Asiatic Society Library, Calcutta, The Descriptive Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts. Documents of Tipu's Government (Calcutta, 1924), p. 757.

³¹ Stewart, A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Asiatic Society, p. 757.

³² A letter from Tipu Sultan to the Daroghas (In-charges) of the Toshe-khana (Treasury) asks them to make 40 copies of a single manuscript and keep the first and last 15 pages inside blank. While no specific reason for this order is known, it could be to accommodate future additions to the text. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan, p. 328.

³³ Ahmadi was one among the various denominations given by the Sultan to his government; the others being Asadullahi, Hyderi, and the Khudadad Sarkar. Ibid., p. 18.

³⁴ This was one of Tipu Sultan's two official seals. Ursula Sims-Williams, ‘Making his Mark: The Seals of Tipu Sultan’, British Library, African and Asian Studies Blog, https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/04/making-his-mark-the-seals-of-tipu-sultan.html (accessed 19 September 2022).

³⁵ Tipu dated this new era from the year not of Muhammad's flight to Medina but that of his birth, which was considered to be 572 ad by Tipu Sultan. This mawludi (also called Muhammadi) calendar used the Hindu Luni-Solar calendar instead of the Islamic lunar calendar for determining the months of the year. J. R. Henderson, The Coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan (Madras, 1921), pp. 9–11.

³⁶ These instructions are dated 1124 ah/1787 ad according to Kirkpatrick, who after Tipu's fall was privy to his personal and official correspondence as well as state documents. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters, p. 325. In a letter to his father dated 17 January 1790 Thomas Munro mentions that Tipu had issued ‘regulations of late’. This also ties in very closely to the year 1787–1788. G. R. Gleig, Life of Major General Sir Thomas Munro, Vol. I (London, 1830) p. 84.

³⁷ The ‘bismillah al- rahman al- rahim’ in the Bubri (Tiger) script written on several of Tipu Sultan's letters are contained within the image of the Sun with bubri design rays emanating from the centre. Buddle, Anne, Tigers round the Throne. The Court of Tipu Sultan (1750–1799) (London, 1990), p. 36Google Scholar.

³⁸ Persian for sun-shaped.

³⁹ These are the governors of the hill (taran), coast (yam), and flat (ghabra) regions.

⁴⁰ Bubri from ‘bubur’, Persian for lion/tiger was the typical ‘S’ shaped motif, hollow at the centre and re-curved at the ends denoting a tiger stripe. Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, p. 146.

⁴¹ A girah is a Hindustani (Indian) measure of length that is equal to one-fourteenth or one-sixteenth of a gaz. The gaz was the equivalent of a yard and varied across geography and time in India, but was largely about 33 inches. This made one girah equal to two inches approximately.

⁴² Hilal numa is Persian for moon-shaped.

⁴³ Sudur taran: depot in-charge for the flat lands; sudur ghabra: depot in-charge for the hilly regions; sudur yam: depot in-charge for the coastal areas. The sudur kacheri supervised the manufacture, storage, and protection of arms and ammunition in military forts across Mysore. It also kept the forts and other defences well stocked with troops, provisions, and war material. It was headed by the mir sudur and the medals were meant for the different sudurs across the three subas of Mysore.

⁴⁴ It can be inferred from the description that the chain would pass through the tiger head suspension for the crescent medal and from there go through the passages at the tips of the crescent and around the neck of wearer.

⁴⁵ The jaish or infantry was divided into kacheris or brigades. The commander of the kacheri was called the bakshi and their duties involved, among other things, being responsible for the statement and payment of salaries of his men on the first of every month. The soldiers in the jaish were armed with muskets and bayonets manufactured in Mysore and disciplined in the European fashion with Persian words of command. Hasan, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 350.

⁴⁶ The list provided above shows this medal as awarded to bakshis of seven jaish kacheris which means the existence of seven infantry brigades at the time of the creation of this manuscript.

⁴⁷ Tipu's regular cavalry, also called the sawar-askar, consisted of men whose horses were owned by the state and maintained at its expense. This cavalry was also divided into kacheris or brigades, each of which was headed by the bakshi. The cavalrymen were armed with firelocks and swords which were far superior to those used by European cavalry. They could rely upon the speed of the horses which were well bred, trained, and nourished. The uniform of the regular cavalry was a red turban and a short coat made of red or green cloth, with linen breeches and slippers. Michaud, J. (trans.), History of Mysore (Madras, 1926), p. 63Google Scholar.

⁴⁸ Each kacheri consisted of a number of qushoons or regiments, each of which was headed by a sipahdar or commandant. The ahmadi kacheri comprised Sunni men from the Koreish tribe and the asadullahi was possibly made up of new converts to Islam. These two kacheris always received special attention from Tipu.

⁴⁹ Balakrishnan, Usha R. and Kumar, Meera Sushil, Dance of the Peacock. Jewellery Traditions of India (Mumbai, 1999), pp. 22–53Google Scholar. The Mughals believed that the inherent potency of the gemstones could be enhanced by engraving religious verses, words, titles, and symbols on them.

⁵⁰ Balakrishnan, Usha R., Lintracht, Oppi and Levin, Cecilia, Icons in Gold. Jewelry of India (Geneva, 2005), p 17Google Scholar.

⁵¹ Suba = province; yam = sea; taran = height (hills); and ghabra = dust (plains). Lewin Bowring, Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan (Oxford, 1899), p. 209.

⁵² Moienuddin, Mohammad, Sunset at Seringapatam (North Delhi, 2000), p. 58Google Scholar.

⁵³ Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, p. 146.

⁵⁴ R. Wigington, The Firearms of Tipu Sultan 1783–1799 (Hatfield, 1992), p. 11.

⁵⁵ Jagadish, Measurement System in Karnataka (Hospet, 2005) pp. 72, 103.

⁵⁶ Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, pp. 43–44. Tipu's dream register has him conversing with Husain, Imam Ali. M., The Dreams of Tipu Sultan. Dream XII (Karachi, 1957), pp. 61–62Google Scholar.

⁵⁷ Tipu Sultan was inclined to Sufi Islam and this manuscript itself is a testament to his belief. Folio 75b of the Risala-i-Padakah depicts an alam or standard with the names of several prominent Sufi saints on them. Among the Sufis mentioned on the standard was Khwaja Abdul Khaliq whose name was given to one of Tipu Sultan's sons.

⁵⁸ Star and crescent flag, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Ottoman_Empire (accessed 19 September 2022).

⁵⁹ Lord Egerton of Tatton, A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour (North Delhi, 2001), p. 125. Tipu Sultan's army used large raw hide shields, two feet in diameter, painted black, and decorated with brass bosses or crescents.

⁶⁰ From Quran 24:35 (Surah An-Nur)—Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. Dr Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran (Chicago, 2016).

⁶¹ Azim, ‘Study—The Significance of Stars in Islamic Art’, blog, available at https://starsinsymmetry.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/study-the-significance-of-stars-in-islamic-art/ (accessed 19 September 2022).

⁶² Orders and Medals Society of America, ‘The Miniature Medals of Field Marshal Sir William Gomm, G.C.B.’, https://www.omsa.org/the-miniature-medals-of-field-marshal-sir-william-gomm-g-c-b/ (accessed 19 September 2022).

⁶³ Electronic communication dated 11 July 2020. The authors are grateful to Ms Deepthi Sasidharan of Eka Cultural Resources for her assistance in relating the medals to jewellery of that period.

⁶⁴ ‘I am sending my vakeels (ambassadors) with the presents of some jewels, a horse and a dress for your kind acceptance’: Tipu Sultan to Raja Rama Varma of Travancore, June 1789; Kareem, C. K., Kerala under Haidar and Tipu (Trivandrum, 1973), p. 91, note 5Google Scholar.

⁶⁵ ‘The Seringapatam jewels’, a remnant of the vast war booty from the sack of Seringapatam can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where they are on loan from the Harris charity. An important gem-set gold Navratna octagonal pendant, with a large central cushion flat-back cabochon Columbian emerald, within a border of topaz, blue sapphire, zircon, cat's eye, ruby, coral, diamond, and pearl was sold at the Bonhams auction house in September 2011. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19576/lot/163N/ (accessed 19 September 2022).

⁶⁶ In Mughal times, receiving a bejewelled turban ornament (kalgi) and the robe of honour (khilat) was a sign of royal favour. Balakrishnan and Kumar, Dance of the Peacock, p. 133.

⁶⁷ Jouq is Arabic for ‘group of people’ and the jouqdar was the commander of this company. The jouq comprised 121 men who were constituted into several ranks. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan, Appendix, pp. lxxiv.

⁶⁸ The sarysaqchi was an important officer in the army whose duty was to visit his risalas every day to enquire into the well-being of the men and then submit a report of it to the sipahdar, then to the jaish kacheri of the huzur and finally to the Sultan himself. The huzur kacheri was the revenue department that reported to the Sultan directly. Kacheri is also the Kannada word for department or office. Hasan, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 352.

⁶⁹ The sarkhel was a part of the jouq and reported to the jouqdar. He was responsible to for ensuring that the guards on day and night duty carried out their duties properly. Ibid., Appendix, p. lxxv.

⁷⁰ Kirmani, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 113.

⁷¹ Shejeshwara, R. and Olikara, Nidhin G., Rockets from Mysore under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan: Preliminary Studies of Tipu Rockets from the Nagara Find (London, 2018), p. 353Google Scholar.

⁷² Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan, Appendix, p. xcvii.

⁷³ Ibid., Appendix, p. xcvii.

⁷⁴ Hasan, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 353.

⁷⁵ Cassell, Grant J., History of India (London, 1898), p. 344Google Scholar.

⁷⁶ Khalasi is a Hindustani term for a sailor or labourer in the navy or the army. Wilson, H. H., Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms (London, 1855), p. 275Google Scholar.

⁷⁷ Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan, Appendix, p. xcvix.

⁷⁸ Godfrey Dalrymple-White, ‘On collecting war medals’, JSAHR (1938).

⁷⁹ https://scroll.in/article/834429/photos-the-deccan-medal-and-other-honours-awarded-to-indian-troopswho-fought-for-the-british (accessed 19 September 2022).

⁸⁰ Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, pp. 7, 8.

⁸¹ Ibid., p. 94.

⁸² Cited in Guha, N., Pre-British State System (Calcutta, 1985), p. 75Google Scholar

⁸³ Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, p. 109.

⁸⁴ C. H. Rao and B. L. Rice (eds), Mysore Gazetteer (Bangalore, 1930), p. 2698. This was from a palace in one of Tipu's provincial towns and not Seringapatam.

⁸⁵ Kirmani, Nishan-i-Haidari, p. 313.

⁸⁶ Ibid., p. 375. There is no reference for design of medals for mir-i-miraans in this manuscript which leads us to believe that the large number of blank pages inside may have been reserved for text to be entered later.

⁸⁷ Ibid., p. 394.

⁸⁸ Pauline Rohatgi and Graham Parlett, Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists (Mumbai, 2008), p. 155.

⁸⁹ Kirmani, History of Tipu Sultan, p. 113. Here Miles uses the words ‘jewelled gorgets’, while the original Persian text (see note 86 above) uses the words padak hai mursa (inlaid medals).

⁹⁰ Ehrlich, Joshua, ‘Plunder and prestige: Tipu Sultan's library and the making of British India’, South Asia: Journal of Asian Studies 43 (2020), p. 478CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁹¹ Beatson, Alexander, A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun (London, 1800) p. 148Google Scholar.