Tipu Sultan's Fort is a historical fort located in

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

, the historical capital city of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

in present-day

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

n state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. Built by the Timmanna Nayaka in 1454, the fort was modified by King Haider Ali & King Tipu Sultan and fully fortified in the late 18th century with the help of French architects. King Tipu Sultan wanted to protect it against British invaders associated with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. Rivers protect the fort on three sides. The river

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

borders the fort in one direction; in the West and Northern directions it is protected by the river Cauvery. The fort contained Lal Mahal and King Tipu Sultan's palace, which were demolished when the British captured it in 1799. There are seven outlets and two dungeons. Several structures and elements are maintained as protected monuments under the Bangalore Circle of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

: Colonel Bailey's Dungeon; Daria Daulat Bagh; Gumbaj containing tomb of King Tipu Sultan; Juma Masjid (Masjid-E-Ala); Obelisk monuments, and Fort walls near the breach the spot where King Tipu Sultan's Body was found; the Sri Kanthirava statue in Narasimha Temple; Sri Ranganatha Svami Temple; and Thomas Inman's Dungeon.

History

The fort is believed to have been built in 1454 CE by Timmanna Nayaka, a ruler of the

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belonging to ...

. The fort was in the hands of the Empire until 1495, when the Wodeyars overpowered the Vijayanagar rulers. The fort subsequently changed hands among the competing Nawab of Arcot, Peshwas and the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

. The Wodeyars moved their capital from Mysore to Srirangapatna and established the fort as the seat of the empire. The region and the fort were changed during the rule of Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1673 to 1704), but the three subsequent rulers did not affect it. During the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1734–66), the kingdom became a strong military force; it was controlled by military general

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

. During 1757 King Hyder Ali had to cede the fort to the invading Marathas for 32 lakh rupees, but he regained it later. During 1782, King Tipu Sultan, the son of King Hyder Ali, took control of the fort and added fortifications. King Tipu Sultan's territory was invaded many times by British forces. King Tipu Sultan had an alliance with the French and appealed by letter to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

for aid. After several unsuccessful attempts, British forces of the

, under the command of Colonel

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

, attacked on 4 May 1799. The forces had 2,494 British soldiers and 1,882 Indian troops. The soldiers waited in trenches until mid-day before advancing across the river, as that was the period of rest for the fort watchmen. Colonel Beatson wrote an account of the offensive in his manuscripts. After King Tipu Sultan was martyred in the battle, the English officials signed a treaty with the Wodeyar queen. Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley of Norragh, was in charge. Later known as Mornington, he was

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

(1798 and 1805). This battle is considered one of the turning points in the colonization strategy of the

Architecture

The fort is protected in the West and Northern directions by river Cauvery. The fort had Lal Mahal and King Tipu Sultan's palace, which were demolished during the British capture of 1799. There are seven outlets and two dungeons. The Ranganathaswamy Temple, located inside the fort is believed to have been built by

Ramanuja Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...

, the proponent of Vaishnadvaita philosophy with the grants from

Vishnuvardhana Vishnuvardhana () was a king of the Hoysala Empire in what is today the state of Karnataka, India. He ascended the Hoysala throne after the death of his elder brother Veera Ballala I in 1108. Originally a follower of Jainism and known as ...

, the 12th century

Hoysala The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...

king. Thompson 1990, p. 2 The temple is found in the open grounds on the western side of the fort. The other temple, the Narasimhaswamy temple, is located on the other side of the open ground. The northern part of the fort houses the dungeons, where European prisoners are believed to have been confined. King Tipu Sultan's palace is located opposite to the main entrance of the Ranganathaswami temple. Juma mosque, built by King Tipu Sultan in Indo-Islamic architecture is one of the major mosques inside the fort. Juma Masjidh of Tippu

Legacy

The sword and the ring of King Tipu Sultan are maintained in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and believed to have been taken at the battle by Hon. Arthur Henry Cole, son of the

Earl of Enniskillen Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The tit ...

. Colonel Bailey's Dungeon, Daria Daulat Bagh, Gumbaj containing tomb of King Tipu Sultan, Juma Masjid (Masjid-E-Ala), Obelisk monuments and Fort walls near the breach, spot where King Tipu Sultan's Body was found, Sri Kanthirava statue in Narasimha Temple, Sri Ranganatha Svami Temple and Thomas Inman's Dungeon are maintained as protected monuments under the Bangalore Circle of the

Image Gallery

File:Armoury house.jpg, Armory File:Bathghat on Kaveri.jpg, Bathing Ghat File:A Minaret of Jama Masjid (Masjid-i-Ala) against deep Blue coloured sky.jpg, A Minaret of Jama Masjid (Masjid-i-Ala) against deep Blue coloured sky

Notes

References

External links

{{coord, 12.425, 76.676, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Forts in Karnataka Buildings and structures completed in 1454 1454 establishments in Asia 15th-century establishments in India Buildings and structures in Mandya district Tourist attractions in Mandya district Srirangapatna