| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The death at the hands of British troops of Tipu Sultan Fath 'Ali Khan (r. 1782-1799), the Muslim ruler of the predominantly-Hindu south Indian kingdom of Mysore, led to the discovery of an intriguing manuscript. Amongst the large amount of 'prize' or loot removed by the victors from Tipu's palace at Srirangapattana was a small 'diary', primarily containing a record of thirty-seven of the late ruler's dreams.1 Covering the period April 1786 to January 1799, and written in Persian in his own hand, this manuscript is probably the most personal document associated with Tipu Sultan that remains extant. William Kirkpatrick, the British officer who found the register and who was a Persian linguist, described how it had been located 'in an escritoire among several papers of a secret nature', noting in a letter to the governor-general, Lord Mornington, that the Mysore ruler had 'always [manifested] peculiar anxiety to conceal it from the view of those who happened to approach him while he was either reading or writing in it'.
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