Man behind controversial play on Tipu Sultan says he ‘will stage 100 shows in Karnataka’

Cariappa’s book and the play have led to objections from historians following his claims that Tipu was not killed by the British, but by Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. Though Cariappa claims that “80,000 Coorgis were massacred by Tipu”, the actual population of Coorgis in those times was not beyond 10,000, historians have pointed out.

In fact, on Tuesday, the Additional City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru stayed the distribution and sale of the book in response to a petition filed by the former chairman of the District Wakf Board Committee. The petition claims that the book propagates inaccurate information about Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century Islamic ruler of the former Mysore province.

As per the court order, Cariappa’s book is prohibited from being distributed or sold until December 3. However, the court has allowed “printing the said books at their risk and storing the books which are already printed”. The order also observed that the court cannot grant an injunction to stop the play because it is being in Mysuru and there is no apprehension that the play would be arranged within the jurisdiction of the court. Three shows of the play have already been held under police protection.

“We will bring this play to every part of Karnataka including Bengaluru. People are turning up in large numbers and the next 10 shows in Mysore are housefull. I am confident about the facts of my story, and some people are trying to hide the cruel face of Tipu in the guise of his innocent face. And I also have evidence that it is Vokkaligas who killed Tipu and not the Britishers. I will present this evidence only to the court.”

He added, “The play actually ends with a Hindu and Muslim hugging each other and has shown the importance of unification. There were many plays, books and literary works on Tipu before, including one by Girish Karnad. Why is nobody questioning that? Or demanding evidence for claims made by Karnad on Tipu in his book The Dreams Of Tipu Sultan/Bali – The Sacrifice? Karnad has also glorified a fanatic ruler like Muhammad bin Tughlaq in his play Tughlaq. We did not stage a protest against this, but we treated it as freedom of expression. Why can’t you treat my play in the same way?”

N S Rangaraju, a professor of ancient history and archeology at Mysore University, said, “The very cover page of Cariappa’s book looks distorted. Such distorted pieces of literary works should be banned in society before it starts hurting the sensibilities of people. There are folk ballads existing for decades in Mandya and Srirangapatna that explain Tipu’s rule and his times. Is Cariappa trying to disprove all these people who have been singing these ballads for years on Tipu’s rule.”

Referring to the Rangayana director’s claim that Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda killed Tipu in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1798-99, Rangaraju said, “Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda are soldiers of Hyder Ali who actually saved and protected Tipu and his mother from the clutches of the Marathas in one of the wars. However, during the fourth Anglo-Mysore War, when Tipu died, it was actually a treaty between one Lakshmamanni, the British, Marathas and the Nizams which led to meticulous planning of the attack against Tipu, including the time, place and other strategies. It is because Tipu’s army was so powerful and impenetrable that no two individuals could kill him effortlessly.”

Sunil Baboo, a Bengaluru-based collector who has gathered maps detailing the British battle plan to corner Tipu Sultan said, “There is no mention of any Vokkaliga trying to kill Tipu. It was the allied forces comprising the British, Marathas and Nizams who killed Tipu. In fact, there are a lot of assumptions among history buffs, but none with accuracy and clarity that could actually explain the details of the events that transpired during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.”