Another palace visited while in Bangalore was built and occupied by Tippu Sultan (1750-1799), a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore who was soldier, scholar and poet. Tippu is a legendary leader who fought against the British, allying himself with Napolean and French-trained armies in his efforts. Fighting commenced throughout the 18th century until he lost half his kingdom, pledged his sons as payment and the fourth
Anglo-Mysore War finally toppled him in 1799.
Tippu’s summer palace in Bangalore was built in the second half of the 18th century, surrounded by a mud fort and made entirely of teak wood. There are a total of 160 pillars with lotus carved capitals, 5 arches, 2 balconies facing east and west, along with 4 rooms positioned at all corners of the “audience chambers”.
The shell of this palace remains today but one can still imagine the splendor during its day. Museum rooms occupying the four corners of the courtyard contain artifacts from this palace depicting some of the wars fought by Tippu and manufactured magnificence.
Tippu adopted the tiger as his emblem, used in the design of his throne and throughout the palace. It is believed that tigers and cheetahs were kept chained in his palace, and his favorite sport was hunting these animals. In fact, he was known as the
Tiger of Mysore and associated himself with the tiger even in spiritually-interpreted dreams that he recorded in his
Register of Dreams. In a 1790 entry, we read that as a devout Muslim Tippu was shown that he was blessed by God and would “subdue the impious Christians”. This interpretation obviously did not materialize as the British conquered Tippu's kingdom and he died in 1799.
