Haidar ali complete history (1717-1782)
The rise of Haidar Ali from anonymity to prominence and fame reads like a fascinating story. Far-sighted by nature, he could see in his youth that the growing power of the English on the sub-continent would soon be a great menace to his people, a power that would ultimately subjugate them, and establish its own sovereignty over the whole of India, including the kingdom of Mysore. A fighter by instinct, his mind was measuring up the national foe and preparing for a time when he would take up arms to drive the enemy out of the country. At the same time, the rising power of the Marathas was carrying on plundering forays, inflicting military levies, Initiating wars on all those around them. The Marathas were bent on an expansionist policy and, in the pursuit of success in their undertakings, they did not bother about such petty details as morality, in which is included the virtue of being loyal to one's pledged word.
What could not be won on the battlefield, was sought to be obtained by treachery, and the language of the secret and concealed dagger was the medium through which treachery sometimes found its voice. Due to the two-pronged thrust on their liberty, from the English and the Marathas, Haidar Ali spent a lifetime in warding off their attacks and in waging wars against them. By his uncompromising attitude towards them, both on the field of battle and in the field of diplomacy, Haidar Ali has carved out for himself an honoured place among the fighters for our freedom. "The History of Hyder Shah, alias Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur; and his son, Tippoo Sultan", written by (M.M.D.L.T)., "General in the Army of the Mogul Empire", and revised and corrected by "His Highness Prince Gholam Mohammed, the only surviving son of Tippoo Sultaun”, and published in (1855), mentions that "Hyder Ali claimed the honour of being by descent a Coreishy, and consequently of the same tribe as the Arabian Prophet Mohumed."
His great-grandfather Wali Muhammad, migrated from Mecca to Baghdad, but in order to improve his prospects, he left Baghdad by the landroute via Iran and arrived in Delhi. After a stay of some years at Delhi, Wali Muhammad left that city in search of better employment, and, heading southwards, he made Gulbarga as his temporary place of residence. After his death his son Mohammed Ali settled in Kolar. Mohammed Ali had four sons, one of whom was Fateh Mohammed, who by his brave and excellent record in the army was raised to the rank of Naek. Later on he rose to be "a general of ten thousand horse in the army of the empire." Fateh Mohammed was married to Majidan Begum, a girl of Arab descent, and when she was with child, he took her to a saintly person, called Haider Ali Darvesh. He begged for the blessings of the Darvesh that a son be born to Majidan Begum. Haider Ali Darvesh assured them that their prayers would be heard, and the boy that would be born would rise to acquire great distinction and fame. The Darvesh also suggested to the two parents to name the child after his own name.
The two parents were overjoyed and “Hydar Ali Khan was born in (1717) at Divanelli, a small fortress or castle between Colar and Oscota in the country of Benguelour." The story of this boy, from being a sepoy and rising to become a sultan, reads like a page from a breath-taking book of great adven. ture.
After the death of his father, Haidar Ali was pressed to pay the debts of his late father. Persecution followed, and Haidar Ali was brought by one of his uncles to Seringapatam. Nanjaraj, the Savadhikari of Mysore, took kindly to Haidar Ali, and when the latter distinguished himself on the battlefield during the siege of Devanhalli, Nanjaraj invested him with the title of Khan, and put him in command of a company of his armed forces.
"Haidar Ali's newly introduced firearms greatly impressed Nanjaraj and in (1752) the latter associated him with his campaign in Trichnipoly.......... It was in this campaign that Haidar Ali benefited a great deal, getting first-hand knowledge of the advanced technique of modern warfare from French officers and soldiers. Greatly impressed by the qualities of leadership of Haidar Ali, Nanjaraj entrusted him with the task of fighting Mohammed Ali, his adversary, who was being sided by the English. Haidar Ali succeeded in subduding his foes, and came to be recognised as a military genius and a consummate diplomat. His army and his fortunes increased in proportion to his successes on the field of battle, and in order to organise his army better, he took into his service a number of French soldiers and officers.
At this time Devraj and Nanjaraj, two brothers, were in virtual control of Mysore, having reduced the status of the King, Krishnaraj, to that of a mere figurehead. Devraj was in charge of the army and Nanjaraj was in charge of the civil administration. This dual control, like fireworks, carried within itself the seeds of its own destruction. To add to their difficulties, Mysore was being harassed by the Nizam and by the Marathas, each of whom was making claims on Mysore for territorial accession and for payment of tribute. So that when Mysore was attacked on two fronts in (1755) by Salabat Jang and by the Peshwa of the Marathas, Mysore could buy peace on payment of rupees one crore to the two of them, leaving her internal finances in a state of chaos. There was, as a result of non-payment of wages, a revolt in the Mysore army, and the two brothers, Devraj and Nanjaraj, were unable to face the situation, which was saved by the great skill and tact of Haidar Ali. The people of Mysore from now on began to look upon Haidar Ali as their saviour, not the King nor his ministers, and from that day onward Haidar Ali became the central figure in the political and military history of that part of the sub-continent.
"The Marathas are the people who inhabit the triangular province of India known as Maharashtra, the base of the triangle lying upon the seacoast of Daman to Karwar and the apex running inland to Nagpur." Although the Muslim Emperor at Delhi was the overlord of India, the Marathas from the days of Shivaji, born in (1627), began to dream of setting up their own kingdom, and in doing so openly revolted against the established Government. The rise of the Marathas as a political and military power and of the appearance of the English in India were two contemporaneous events. "Until the lifetime of Shivaji there was no specifically Maratha State nor any sense of Maratha nationality." But with the emergence of Shivaji, the Marathas spread the tentacles of their loot and plunder to the territories lying around Maharashtra. "Shivaji's first successes had exhilarated the Hindus of the neighbouring districts, and many young Marathas left their ploughs and young Brahmans their books to enlist under him."
For over one hundred years after the days of Shivaji, the Marathas had carried on their wars and had succeeded in establishing a powerful kingdom. Their special hatred was against the Muslims, who began to look upon the rising power of the Marathas as a menace and a threat to their very existence. At the same time, the English were going from strength to strength, and it was clear that their ultimate aim was to subdue the Muslim power at Delhi and to substitute it by setting themselves up as the ultimate rulers of India. The Muslims of India were thus confronted with the twin danger of the English and the Marathas, and Haidar Ali was fully conscious of the perils that surrounded him and his co-religionists. He raised the banner of revolt against the Marathas and the English, and from now on his whole life was dedicated to liquidate the power and might of these two enemies. Haidar Ali chalked out for himself the career of a freedom fighter, a rebel in the cause of freedom, and in this task he never swerved for a moment, nor did he ever give up his resolute confidence in himself.
In (1758), the Marathas under Gopal Rao overran the city of Bangalore and its adjoining territory, and the fortunes of war were going against the Kingdom of Mysore. At such a difficult period, Haidar Ali was entrusted with the supreme command of the armed forces to face the Maratha might. It cannot be said that Haidar Ali emerged victorious in his first fight against the Marathas, but he did retrieve the position of his people and, after a peace treaty was signed between the two hostile forces, the Marathas retreated. Haidar Ali from this day onward was virtually the most important power in Mysore, whose finances and army at that time lay prostrate in a state of utter exhaustion. The army was in a sullen mood its wages mounting up in arrears. Haidar Ali alone could save Mysore, and he did. Without any opposition, or perhaps with the silent consent of the parties concerned, he automatically assumed virtual control of the Government.
However, he was not to remain in peaceful possession of the position that he came to occupy. Internal intrigues and treacherous alliances with the Marathas dogged his steps, but he was more than a match for all. The defeat of the Marathas at Panipat in 1761 came as welcome news to Haidar Ali, and he found his sworn enemy, the Marathas, in a more chastened mood after that defeat. The external foe had been met, but treason within Mysore itself began to trouble him, and it came out in the open in 1761, when he carried the fight to its relentless conclusion, and the King of Mysore conceded defeat. Haidar Ali was now in actual fact the King of Mysore. The soldier of yesterday was the Sultan of today. Thereafter his conquests went on pushing the boundaries of his dominions further and further. Haidar Ali wrested Mysore from feeble hands in 1761; Bednore fell to him in (1763-5); Soonda in 1764; Malabar in 1765-6; Barah Mahal in (1764-6); the states of some petty Hindu rajas and of Purseram Bhow in 1774-7; part of the Carnatic in (1776). By (1778), he had considerably shattered the army of the Marathas.
Concerning his wars with the English, W. W. Hunter writes, “The reckless conduct of the Madras Government had roused the hostility of Haidar Ali of Mysore and also of the Nizam of the Deccan, the two strongest Musalman powers in India. These attempted to close the Marathas into an alliance against the English. The diplomacy of Hastings was to back the Nizam and the Maratha Raja of Nagpur; but the army of Haidar Ali fell like a thunderbolt upon the British possessions in the Karnatik." His wars against the English had not completely eliminated that power in India, but he had certainly stemmed the rising tide of their conquests. "He had not indeed achieved," comments Browning, "his main object of driving the English out of Southern India. But he had overrun large tracts of their country, occupied most of their principal forts, and fought steadily and with success against his antagonists.
If the Nizam had remained Haider Ali's friend and ally instead of plotting and intriguing against him as a tool of the English, and if the French had adopted a more resolute attitude against the English than they actually did, Haidar Ali would have turned the course of history. In the face of these serious handicaps, it is not surprising that he did not fully succeed in his anti-English designs, the surprising thing is that he did attain a measure of success not possible under such difficult circumstances. Campbell's comments fully vindicate the correctness of this assessment, when he writes, “Haidar Ali was an extraordinary man, and perhaps possessed as great natural talents as any recorded in the pages of history... Perfectly illiterate, he has not only emerged from his native obscurity by the vigour of his mind and body but became the object of terror and admiration to surrounding potentates.
Assessing his administrative abilities, Munro comments, "Every department, civil and military, possesses the regularity and system communicated to it by the genius of Haidar and in which all pretensions derived from high birth being discouraged or extirpated, justice severely and impartially administered. ... ... and almost every department of trust or consequence conferred on men raised from obscurity, gives the Government a vigour hitherto unexampled in India." The extent of his kingdom was "not less than (80,000) square geographical miles, yielding a clear annual revenue of about three million sterling ..... Peopled by upward of six million inhabitants .... about (144,000) well disciplined troops, together a standing militia of (180,000) men.
It is not only as a soldier of undoubted military genius that history records the life of Haidar Ali, but also as a man of sterling qualities, a man who had broad human sympathies. Haidar Ali was annoyed with his brother-in-law, Mukhdoom, for his conduct of the war during the expedition to Pondicherry, although Mukhdoom had, in actual fact, proved himself to be a skilled general and a brave soldier on the battlefield. When Haidar Ali met him publicly on his return, he was indignant towards him and publicly insulted him for failing to raise the siege of Pondicherry. Without waiting for his reply or for any explanation, Haidar. Ali degraded Mukhdoom to the rank of an ordinary soldier. Other officers and soldiers, who had accompanied Mukhdoom in his expedition to Pondicherry entreated with Haidar Ali and assured him that Mukhdoom had been a source of great strength and inspiration to the home forces.
When Haidar Ali was convinced that he had erred in his judgment of his brother-in-law, he ordered his grand Sawari to be prepared, so that he could go to the house of Mukhdoom, followed by the whole assembly, to beg his pardon. As they marched to his house, they met Mukdhoom in the bazar, walking on foot like a common soldier. As soon as Haidar Ali saw him, he descended from his elephant, approached Mukhdoom, embraced him cordially several times, and said, “I find, by the account of your friends, that I was wrong in blaming your conduct and was going to your house to make an apology for my error. I am happy that I have met you, that the satisfaction I make may be the more public." Haidar Ali asked Mukhdoom to mount his elephant, and he himself mounted a horse and followed Mukhdoom until he had led him back in honour to his house.
At the time when Haidar Ali was the Regent of Mysore, one of his first acts was to get exact accounts prepared of the royal revenues and the royal treasure and jewels. He discovered that instead of their being in the public treasury, they were pawned with the court banker, who had acquired them by fraudulent means. Haidar Ali ordered that the jewels and the treasures be taken away from the banker, but his dues be paid to him. At the same time, he appointed a Commission to inspect minutely all these transactions. The Commission found the banker guilty of misrepresentation and fraud, and ordered that he be sentenced for life and that all his property, be confiscated by the State. Haidar Ali ordered the judgment to be put into execution, but fixed a pension for the aged banker, and took the banker's sons in his own service.
During Haidar Ali's stay at Rana Bidnoor there was a conspiracy by the King and Queen of Canara to blow up the house where Haidar Ali was staying. The conspiracy came to be known, as a Brahman of the place exposed the Queen's plot to Haidar Ali. The plotters were put to death, but he spared the life of the King and Queen of Canara, taking them as prisoners-of-war. "The discovery of the conspiracy was worth a fine Kingdom to Hydar .... The immene quantities of rice, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, coral, sandalwood and ivory that abound in this kingdom have caused it to be called the granary and warehouse of all India. In the mountains there are mines of gold, diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones and even In the fortress of Rana Bidnoor, there is a gold mine....... Hyder found an immense treasure in gold, coined and in ingots, In trinkets and precious stones ..... The prince caused pearls and precious stones to be measured with a corn measure. Having made two heaps of gold in ingots and trinkets, they surpassed the height of a man on horseback."
In (1767), Madame Mequinez, the widow of a Portuguese officer, whom Haidar Ali had held in high esteem, informed him that a Jesuit priest had cheated her of all her property in cash and jewels, and had left Coimbatur and fled to Goa. Intelligence also reached Haidar Ali that some of the Christian priests, under the garb of mission activities, were in actual fact engaged in espionage work. He ordered "A general of four sepoys and a corporal to be posted at every mission, but gave strict instructions that the priests shall be permitted "to perform their functions... ... without impeding them In the least ..... and to treat them with every mark of respect." Haidar Ali appointed a French commandant in his army to inquire into the allegations against the Jesuit priest, which the officer was reluctant to undertake, saying that "Not being a man of law, he could not pretend to undertake the distribution of justice, for fear of erring through ignorance."
Haidar All replied, “Certainly, you who are youself a Christian, must be better acquainted with the law of the Christians than any Judge in my dominions; and since my intention is that every one shall be judged by his own law, you cannot avoid accepting this commission." An inquiry was made by the French commandant and he found that the accusations against that particular Jesuit priest and against the Christian missionaries in general were absolutely fabricated. On this Haidar Ali ordered, "I am persuaded that the whole is an iniquitous contrivance against the revered fathers." "He immediately gave orders to remove the guard he had placed over the Jesuits." Madame Mequinez stood thoroughly exposed; "The good fathers were not, however, disposed to pardon the lady spiritually; she was ex-communicated, and condemned to public penance." This incident throws adequate light on the religious tolerance of Haidar Ali. The Raja of Coimbatore owed allegiance to Haidar Ali, who was informed by a French surgeon that the Raja had been operated upon by him successfully, but after he was cured, the Raja was refusing to pay him his fees.
The surgeon asked Haidar Ali to remove the Raja from his royal office. Haidar Ali replied it was a private affair of the Raja, and he could not, therefore, depose him. But he advised the surgeon to request his friends, the French officers and soldiers, to "Let no water come into the Raja's home till you are paid." This was done." The water carriers not daring to approach the palace, the surgeon received payment." Supremely confident of his own invincibility, Haidar Ali was, however, extremely humble. He believed that Man was merely an instrument in the design of Divine Providence, that everything emanated from God, that success and defeat were in God's hands. Once, while arranging the strategy of war, he addressed his soldiers and officers to stand steadfast at their posts, inspite of heavy enemy pressure. As for himself, he said that the enemy was very strong, “But, notwithstanding their number, I do not despair. It is the power of God that has raised me, and I possess nothing but through Him; as long as He supports nie.
I shall look down on my enemies; and if He should forsake me, I must submit with resignation to his pleasure." Haidar Ali was a farsighted General. Realising that with the advent of the English on the sub-continent, it was not enough to have only land forces, but that he must also have strong naval defences, he undertook to organise a powerful navy. But for the purchase of this, he had to depend on the Europeans, who were unwilling to oblige him. Nonetheless, Haidar Ali succeeded in possessing the semblance of a naval force. His navy "was composed of a ship purchased of the Danes, pierced for sixty guns, but furnished with no more than fifty; three others of thirty two guns; eighteen palms, vessels both for rowing and sailing, and carrying fourteen guns; and about twenty large galliots, carrying eighty men, and two cannons. Three or four English Company's frigates, that are always ready armed in the Indian Sea.
The fortunes of the English in India were still in the keeping of the East India Company, the value of whose shares had sky-rocketed in London, due to the phenomenal successes that the Company had achieved. But with the emergence of Haidar Ali as a power to be reckoned with, there came a time when the English were no longer the irresistible wave of conquest that they had proved to be. When Haidar Ali, however, attacked Madras, where the English were firmly entrenched, he threw the English forces into disorder and confusion, paving the way for the capture of that city. "The fugitives from the environs of Madras having spread themselves all over the coast, carried the news of the capture of that town by Haider; and it came to Europe by way of Pondicherry, Tranquebar, and the other European settlements. The caravans, and every possible conveyance distributed this news, with pleasure; for the jealousy and hatred that other nations have conceived against the English, smothered the account they themselves had given of their victory at Tranmale.
The consequence was that the price of the Company's stock, at London, fell at once from 275 to 222." While the value of the Company's shares were at a low ebb on the London Stock. Exchange, the reputation and fame of Haidar Ali as a redoubtable enemy of the English was spreading far and wide on the sub-continent. Once the outcome of a particular battle, although of not much importance, had gone against Haidar Ali and it was “variously narrated, according to the distortions of the narrators." His mother received alarming reports and she was seriously concerned about the future of her brave son. She left Haidar Nagar to see her son in his camp stationed in Savarl, about one hundred and fifty leagues from that city.
On being Informed that the Queen Mother with her retinue was nearing Savari, Haidar Ali, along with his sons and his army, marched out to meet his mother and to accord her a royal welcome. The retinue of Haidar Ali's mother consisted of two hundred ladies mounted on horses. "They were enveloped in large pieces of thick muslin, which prevented even the smallest part of their clothes from being seen." When Haidar Ali and the Queen Mother were alone in her tent, he asked her why she had undertaken such a long journey during the difficult rainy season. She replied, "I was desirous, my son, of seeing how you bear the ill-fortune you have sustained." Haidar Ali. in all humility, explained, "If heaven should put me to no greater trial, I should find no difficulty in supporting it." Haidar Ali believed intensively in God. Everything, he believed, was from Him.
Eight days after the capture of Mangalore, Haidar Ali, assisted by his son, Tipu Sultan, inflicted a crushing defeat on the English “taking the whole English army, consisting of the General, forty-six officers, six hundred and eighty English troops, and above six thousand sepoys, together with all their arms and baggage." Embracing his son, he wept for joy. "The Portuguese settlers believing that the English would win, had helped the English, and after the victory were acting as the agents of the English and were intriguing against Hyder Ali." "As soon as Hyder was informed of this circumstance, he called these merchants (Portuguese) to appear before him, with the chief of the Portuguese factory, and several Christian priests belonging to the three churches at Mangalore." He asked them according to their laws what punishment was to be inflicted on those, who had betrayed their benefactor and their sovereign and had helped his enemies.
One of the Portuguese officers promptly said that it would be nothing short of death. Haidar Ali, however, replied, "I do not judge in that manner, for our laws are milder..... since you have made yourselves English by engaging to serve them, your property shall be adjudged to belong to Englishmen; and yourselves shall be thrown into prison till I make peace with that nation." He was unafraid in defeat, and magnanimous in victory, often cancelling a death sentence on those who richly deserved it, and reducing it to a sentence for a specified term in prison.
Haidar Ali's brother-in-law, Mirza Ali Khan, had received every kindness and generosity at his hands. But tempted by the Marathas and the English with large territories to be conquered from Haidar Ali, Mirza Ali Khan had turned traitor and joined his forces with Haidar Ali's enemies. For a while Haidar Ali appeared to be overwhelmed by heavy odds, but he was soon turning the tables against his enemies. Then came a day, when Mirza Ali Khan repented over his disloyalty and treachery towards Haidar Ali Khan. Mirza with a large number of his followers approached Haidar Ali's camp in order to beg his forgiveness, in spite of the advice of his wellwishers and close advisers that he was taking a dangerous step, and that Haidar Ali would capture him and kill him. When he was brought into Haidar Ali's presence, Mirza said.l offer my head to your mercy." Haidar Ali raised him, embraced him, and said, "This is no surprise to me, Mirza." His sins and crimes were forgotten and forgiven.
The life of Haidar Ali is interspersed with conquests in war and victories through good deeds on the battlefield of life, where he rose to be a powerful monarch. Lacking the advantages of a sound education, he educated himself in the active school of warfare and thus came to acquire an extensive knowledge of war and politics. "Hydar Ali Khan was doubtless one of the greatest characters Asia has produced." He rendered justice with impartiality and was a great patron of agriculture and commerce. "He was indulgent to his subjects, but strict in his discipline of his army." He was generous to his soldiers and his officers. Some time before he died, he distributed from the public treasury one month's salary as gift to every one in his army, which consisted of a total strength of at least (180,000) men. Essentially a man of action, he did not like those who were prone to talk a lot, or to win his favours through the art of flattery, a common weakness of Eastern potentates. He was fired with an Irrepressible passion to subdue the English and the Marathas, so that his people may be saved the humiliation of an alien domination.
Dedicated to this noble cause, he developed a boundless energy for patriotic pursuits, never allowing pride or vainglory to befog his mind. He was a stickler for established regulations for work, never sparing himself to work long hours, and he expected the same discipline from those that worked under him or for him. “All the operations or measures undertaken by Hyder's Government, small or great, were superintended by himself in person; insomuch that even leather, the lining of bullock bags, or tent walls, and strands of rope, all passed under his inspection, and were then deposited in his stores." The horse was a very useful animal in times of peace and war, and Haidar Ali had a special liking for horses. He paid fabulous prices for some of the best horses that he purchased. "lf, on the road through his territories, any horse by chance died, he paid half the price of the horse, after the arrival of the tail and mane, with a certificate from the civil officers of the district."
A hard working man himself, he was indulgent to his soldiers, who were devoted to their duty and worked hard. But the indolent and those that were prone to easy living came under his displeasure. Ostentatiousness was contrary to his nature, and he looked upon it as the enemy of the life of a soldier. The backs and sides of his negligent and extortionate servants were frequently softened by stripes and the whip. A man that had been removed from his place, after proof of neglect or mal-administration of his duties to Government, or of extortion, extravagance, or oppression of God's people, and whose delinquencies were attested by official persons, was never restored to his office." Haidar Ali was a devout Muslim, but his religious outlook embraced within its fold sympathy for all other religions. He had a benevolent and reverential attitude towards Hindus and Christians.
Although he was continuously fighting the English, who professed the Christian Faith, yet, within his own dominions, he was gracious and generous towards the Christian priests. Whenever he was approached for financial help for building or repairing mosques, he would respond generously, and this generosity he equally bestowed over Hindu temples and Christian churches. Far from being a religious bigot, he looked upon it as his sacred duty as a ruler that every one living in his territories fully enjoyed religious freedom and the right of worship according to his own lights. The Mysore Archaeological Report, 1916, contains copies of original letters sent by Haidar Ali to the holy priests in charge of the temple of Sree Saran Giri Swami Nath and some other temples, wherein it is stated that he had sent cash to the priests for the upkeep of the Hindu temples, and clothes, food and fruits for the inmates of the temples.
Haidar Ali was about five feet six inches tall, of brownish complexion, "His features were coarse, his nose small and turned up, his lower lip rather thick; and he wears neither beard nor whiskers." He normally wore clothes and turban of white muslin. But, when attired for his military duties, he wore a military dress invented by himself for his generals-a uniform consisting of a vest of white satin, with gold flowers, held by cords of the same colour, and a red turban. The trousers were of the same material, and the boots were of yellow velvet. If he rode on horseback in his military uniform, he had a sword dangling by his side, and, if walking, he would carry a gold headed cane. Unlike other kings of the time, he was not much fond of jewellery. He had a handsome face, and there was something in the way he looked at people that inspired confidence. One was conscious that one was in the presence of greatness. A brilliant conversationalist, he left one in no doubt as to his real intentions.
"It is most astonishing, that this sovereign asks questions, gives answers, hears a letter read, and dictates an answer to another, beholds a theatrical exhibition, and even seems to attend to the performance-at the same instant that he decides concerning things of the utmost importance." He was easily accessible to all those who sought to meet him, "The Fakirs are alone excluded from this indulgence; but when one of these appears, he is conducted to the Peerzada or grand almoner, who supplies his wants." Working hard over his military strategy and over his duties of civil administration. Haidar Ali worked until midnight, and always rose with the sun. Immediately thereafter he plunged himself into the day's work, listening to letters received for him and read to him by secretaries of various departments and dictating answers to them.
After breakfast, Haidar Ali enters the hall of audience, where he discusses matters of state with his secretaries, signing on the spot all the answers dictated or orders issued. "To the packet is joined a paper, denoting the hour it was sent off; and at every station the time of its arrival is marked." The ministers, generals, ambassadors and other important persons meet him in the forenoon. After the foreign emissaries or ambassadors have completed their business with the King, “betel is then presented to the stranger, and it is understood as equivalent to a permission to retire." The work of the day completed, Haidar Ali retires for his afternoon siesta. He did not take lunch, as he lived all his life on two meals a day-one at eight in the morning and the second a little before midnight. The floor of his bedroom was covered with expensive Persian carpets, but over them was always spread a white muslin cloth. Haidar Ali had a special predilection for white colour, even the painted gilt on his furniture was covered with white muslin.
There is for the most part a comedy every night that commences about eight in the evening and lasts till eleven;It is intermixed with dances and songs." Haidar All was fond of playing chess.
He also delighted in the royal game of hunting wild animals, the stag, the 'roe-buck, the antelope and the tiger. When the tracks of a tiger were found, the hunters surrounded his hidIng place, and contracted the circle by degrees. When the tiger emerged into the open, and roared, Haidar Ali would attack the animal, and he would seldom fail in killing the wild beast. "If a battle has been gained, or any other glorious event has happened in favour of the prince, the poet of the court arrives ... all the world, at the voice of the poet, becomes silent and attentive .... The comedy or dance is interrupted; the poet enters ... and recites a poem ... The poem. ...is of short duration."
"At the present time, the court of Hyder is the most brilliant in India; and his company of performers is without contradiction the first." The dancers are superior in their performance to the comedians and singers; it may even be affirmed that they would afford pleasure on the theatre of the Opera at Paris." Usually, Haidar Ali asked some of his friends and relatives to stay with him after the comedy was over and to have supper with him. After the cares of the day and their consequential burden, he loathed solitude and a lonely meal. Reticent and speaking with gravity with strangers, he freely conversed with the select company that he would invite to his nightly dinners.
Busy as he was warding off the attacks of the Marathas and the English, facing the enemies within the boundaries of his own realm, consolidating his position, he had no time to adequately look after his own health. He was dedicated to the cause of freedom, and such personal considerations occupied a secondary position in his scheme of things. For a long time he had suffered excruciating pains in his back as a result of cancer. He was carrying the murderous germs of this disease within his soldierly body, and it was only his robust nature that had enabled him to live such a busy and dangerous life, inspite of his failing health. The fatigue of long marches, undertaken in good and bad weather, the responsibilities and anxious moments that go with military campaigns, were making heavy inroads on his health.
By November, (1782), while camping with his army, he found himself in a very poor state of health. He retired to the city of Arcot, where he died on the 1st of Moharrum, (1197 A.H), equivalent to 6th December, (1782). "His death was for several days kept a profound secret, and the body was privately sent away by night on the road to Sera. By their taking this route, it was probably the intention of his friends to have him buried near his father at Kolar; but, by direction of his successor, the body was conveyed to Seringapatam, and buried with much state, under a magnificent mausoleum, in the garden called Lall Bag."
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