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Administration of Tipu Sultan
Administration of Tipu Sultan was the reflection of his brilliant administrative knowledge that enabled him to reign the state.

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Administration of Tipu SultanTipu Sultan, the great King of Mysore had enriched the administration of his state to a great extent by enacting some regulations in the economic, religious, military and foreign policies.

Tipu Sultan was a devout Muslim but he had respect for other religions also and due to this reason he established several Hindu temples and mutts and maintained regular correspondence with them. Some of the historical evidences notify that Tipu Sultan was personally involved with the Hindu religious places and helped them to establish temples. He also gifted the authorities of the temples with several articles like bells, silver cups etc for the use of the temples. Some of the deities were established and decorated as per his desire and he, in person was involved in the completion of the entire purpose. It has been said by the scholars that the involvement of Tipu Sultan in religious matters was the great influence he derived from his father Hyder Ali.

The mastery of Tipu Sultan was also seen in the sector of economic policies. Though agriculture was the main sector of the pre-modern eco¬nomy of Mysore, Tipu Sultan also tried to improve trade to support his territory with better economy. As his purpose was to bring the agricultural improvement, he took different measures to make agricultural development.

After Hyder Ali, Tipu took necessary steps in modifying the land tenure and restored what had existed in the lower Carnatic where Mughal influence had not penetrated deeply. Chiefly, he laid down certain rules for the distribution on arable land between the old and the new "rayats". There were four kinds of land, wet, dry, "hissa" and "ijra". "Hissa" lands were those where the produce was equally distributed between the state and the Peasant and he was not expected to pay any fixed tax like the "bhagra" lands in Bengal. "Ijra" land was that which was leased to the "rayat" at a fixed rent, like "theka" land in Bengal. Out of these four categories of land every peasant would have an equal share. The grain seeds sown in "ijra" land were greater in quantity than in "Hissa" land.

Administration of Tipu SultanTipu encouraged chiefly two varieties of land tenures, the institution of hereditary property and the fixed rent. The first may be described in technical language as "meeras", signifying inheritance. According to this the peasant secured the hereditary right of cultivation or the right of a tenant and his heirs to occupy a certain ground, so long as they continued to pay the customary rent of the district.

Apart from having an excellent economic and religious administration, Tipu Sultan possessed good military administration. He also possessed naval for¬ces. Tipu"s interest in the navy is evident from his letter to Ghulam Hussain dated 27 September 1786. The Mysore sovereign turned his thoughts seriously to building a navy after the defeat of 1792. A separate Board of Admiralty was established in September 1786 and express orders were issued for the building of 40 warships and a number of transport ships at the Jamalabad, Wajidabad and Majidabad dockyards and other places on the west coast. The army of Tipu Sultan was well constructed too. In the India Office Library there is a small but interesting manuscript containing the regulations for the encampment of Tipu Sultan"s army. It consists of seven tables preceded by a brief intro¬duction. There seems to be no doubt that it was drawn up not only for Tipu Sultan"s army, but under his guidance. The introduction lays special stress on the proper selection of that site for encampment of Tipu Sultan"s army. It stipulates that advantage should be taken, wherever possible, of rivers, streams, shrubs, rice-fields, hills, and thickets, which should be kept on one side and, after leaving an open space in the centre, soldiers should be encamped on the other side.

In addition to these policies, Tipu had made his mark in the foreign policies. To bring out the secular and liberal identity of his administration was the aim of Tipu. Being in very close relationship with France, Tipu was sure about the support and involvement in his political necessities. Moreover, Tipu had a desire to establish Islamic rule in the country and to make this work out he had to defeat the British. This was the reason why he solicited the assistance of Muslim countries namely Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey. Knowing the fact that the French were the rivals of the British, Tipu Sultan asked for the help of the French and maintained a good relationship with them for his benefit. Looking at the back and observing that the constant strife among the foreign powers for the struggle of supremacy had created a political turmoil in India, he decided to make an alliance with the French. Though the other foreign powers were defeated by the British, only the French survived and was in a powerful position. Thus it was difficult to defeat the French and due to this reason he made the presence of the French power visible in almost all sectors of his regime. He made his territory and power stronger by incorporating the French troop in his army, their influence at his court, and frequent visits of French adventures to his capital. It has also been said that the support of the French were observed since the reign of Tipu"s father Hyder Ali and this raised the hope in Tipu to stand against the British.


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