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Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain
Focusing upon the methods adopted by Tipu Sultan to establish his legitimacy as a parvenu ruler, this revisionary study takes an nnovative approach to the analysis of kingship in eighteenth-century south India.
- GenresHistory
206 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 3, 2018
This is an academic text that focuses on how Tipu Sultan (and his father - Haider Ali) tried to legitimize their rule after the deposition of the Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore. Given that the text is academic in nature (my guess is that this this book would have been one of the chapters from her PhD dissertation), the text DOES NOT read very fluently, neither does it attempt to give a chronological overview of the Anglo-Mysore wars, or explain the political landscape of the 18th century South India. On the other hand, it spends a lot of time explaining the religious landscape of South India in the late 1700s and how Tipu Sultan (and his father) tried to balance their patronage towards their Hindu and Muslim subjects. The book has copious footnotes, a huge bibliography and is extensively researched.
However, it is not for a general audience and is not an enjoyable read. It reads like a PhD dissertation and had the author consulted an editor, she could have made the text much more lively and easily understandable. As of now, it is a stolid piece of work that tends to overwhelm the general reader with obscure topics such as Sufi cosmology and religious superstitions of Hindus in the 18th century and how Tipu used these to legitmize his rule. On a more positive note, the author is very neutral about its subject (Tipu Sultan) and has no covert agenda to paint him in a positive or negative light (this can't be said for most books on Tipu who either glorify him as some proto-freedom fighter or else paint him as an Islamic bigot).
However, it is not for a general audience and is not an enjoyable read. It reads like a PhD dissertation and had the author consulted an editor, she could have made the text much more lively and easily understandable. As of now, it is a stolid piece of work that tends to overwhelm the general reader with obscure topics such as Sufi cosmology and religious superstitions of Hindus in the 18th century and how Tipu used these to legitmize his rule. On a more positive note, the author is very neutral about its subject (Tipu Sultan) and has no covert agenda to paint him in a positive or negative light (this can't be said for most books on Tipu who either glorify him as some proto-freedom fighter or else paint him as an Islamic bigot).
December 15, 2018
The chapter which describes use of symbol and religious icons for establishing political clout is good
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews