Update

Tipu Sultan's legendary chivalry has always been the subject matter of many a plays, stories and frescoes on the walls of the Summer Palace in Srirangapatna and cellings of a many temple in the state. But a concerted effort to put them into an exhibition is yet to see the light of the day. The Tipu Sultan Wakf Estate pieced together some memorabilia to organise a 3-day exhibition at Tipu's palace in Bangalore on May 24-26.

First such display was opened to public on May 24 at the Tipu's Palace in Bangalore by the Minority Affairs Minister Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan. The cloth in which the martyred ruler's body was carried from the battleground to the palace found the prime place among the exhibits. The cloth was handed over by the fourth generation descendants of Dewan Purnaiya to late minister Azeez Sait from Mysore. He in turn handed it over to Prof. Mir Mahmood Hussain, a Persian professor at Mysore University while the scholar was giving shape to some kind of a Tipu collection at Gumbaz mausoleum in Srirangapatna. A number of Tipu's swords, blunderbusses, an ewer used by him were gathered at the exhibition. Replicas of the Mysore ruler's famous lacquerware toy depicting a tiger mauling an Englishman was also among the collection. Two of Tipu's famous rockets that greatly perplexed the British Army were also placed for the visitor's review. This was the maiden attempt in Indian war rocketry by the Indians and the technology was imported from the French. A note from former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdulkalam is worth reading. Prof. Kalam had seen the items on display in Woolwich Museum in England. He later asked the National Aeronautical Laboratory in Bangalore to study the rockets and deputed sceintist N. N. Prahlada on the assignment.

Administrator of the Wakf Estate Mr. Azeezullah Baig IAS (retd) says the Estate is trying to gather material pertaining to Mysore ruler from various museums and archives to put them together in a museum. Archaeological Survey of India director Mr. K. N. Srivastava who recently visited the Palace in Bangalore, has evinced keen interest in preserving the memorabilia.