Tipu's Religious Policy In Kerala
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
4 July 2023
One subject
that has been heavily criticized by history books is the religious policy
implemented by Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, in the Malabar region. The
allegation that even the so-called authentic historians of Malayalam did not
follow the general principles of historical analysis in their references to
Tipu is noteworthy. By repeating the false narratives created by the occupying
powers, they have succeeded in inheriting the role of the British and upper
caste supremacy. When we look at the experience of colonial politics and upper
casteism, it is possible to see that the misinterpretations against Tipu are
not just a fabrication, but a precise anti-Islamic historical construction has
taken place. There was a reason for that.
Tipu Sultan
-------
As PK
Balakrishnan says, ‘Tipu's religion was not born with rituals. It was very
active and unmovable. Consolidation of this uncompromising religious life in
one ruler was equally unpalatable to imperial powers and upper castes of all
ages. These two elements can be seen to have worked hand in hand in the hate
campaign in Kerala’. PK says that historians including KM Panicker have made a
mistake in failing to see that the Mysore rule in Malabar was a radical social
transformation. What Balakrishnan mentioned is memorable at this juncture. The
crux of the problem lies in their inability to see it that way.
Tipu's
Religious Policy
Tipu's
religious policy was very simple and clear. The subjects are the community
entrusted by God, the master of all. This was something that was beyond the
reach of the Kerala society, which was dominated by caste discrimination. It is
no wonder that this slogan of social equality created distaste in a land where
only Namboothiris and Nayars were considered human beings. There is a law
beyond man-made laws. That law says that a country that ignores the rights of
its people will perish. Tipu believed that as God's creatures all men are one
and all have their own rights. This foundation can be seen in any of Tipu's
reforms.
So, Tipu's
fight was not against any particular community or caste. Rather, it was with
all the elites who exploited the weak and bled them. It had no caste and
religion discrimination. It was Ravi Varma Eralpada, a Hindu who once
suppressed the feudal arrogance of the Mancheri Gurus on behalf of Tipu. In
short, Tipu's political mission was to fight against the social scourge of
economic exploitation in the name of caste system and injustice and immorality
under the guise of priesthood. It is understood that Tipu's religious faith and
moral commitment served as the basis for this political policy. 'Those who ring
bells in temples and pray in mosques are my people. This country is mine and
theirs', Tipu used to tell.
What
happened was that Tipu's agrarian and economic measures implemented by viewing
the diverse community as a unit not only created a rift in the prevailing
economic and political equations and moral and ethical concepts, but shook them
all. Kerala had a caste system. It was not just about religion. Rather, this
caste system was the foundation of the religious, social and political life of
that time. Accordingly, the upper caste Brahmins, among them the Nambuthiris,
held all kinds of power. All the political power as the natives and of the
religious as the learned and teachers of the Vedas were concentrated among
them, who constituted only one-fifth of the population.
They were
considered as born warriors. Uncontrollable powers especially the use of
weapons was also available to them. Most of the people were from the lower castes
called untouchables.
Social and
political affairs were going on according to Dharma system. No one could
disturb it. This dharma system served as a means of perpetuating the caste
system. The caste system, on the other hand, was maintained through a type of
feudal system known as the village system. However progressive the steps taken
by Tipu to eradicate the political and moral anarchy created by this feudal
system, it invited many misunderstandings. Tipu was prepared for reform
activities mainly in two areas.
Ownership
Of Land
The chaos
created by the feudal village system was destructive. The feudal lords
monopolized the wholesale rights over the land and robbed the poor peasants who
worked the land. 75 percent of the land was in the hands of these feudal lords.
The remaining 25 per cent was either land in the hands of kings or Devaswam
(temple) properties earmarked for temple development. The common man had no
birthright to even an inch of land. There was no restriction on land tenure.
Rulers had no right to levy or collect taxes on landed property. Major Walker
recorded in 1801 about this absolute freedom of the landlords. Nowhere else is
this peculiarity of land more evident than in Malabar. Nowhere else is
ownership of land so strictly enforced. All the rights over the land belong to
the feudal lords. No power in the world was capable of controlling his right to
any justice.
Tipu Sultan
tried to uproot this arbitrary ownership of the landlords. He guaranteed the
rights of the farmers to the agricultural land. He declared that the newly
cultivated lands would be the property of the farmer and his descendants and no
one had the right to take the land away from them as long as taxes were paid.
Land survey tax collection was centralized and farmers were saved from
exploitation by the feudal system.
Although
Tipu's reform was in the agricultural sector, it was the Nambuthiris who were
the land owners and the Nayars who were the castes that suffered the most.
Since they represented a special class called upper castes, Tipu's action was
portrayed as an encroachment against them. It was easy to interpret this as
religious fanaticism against the Hindus, as the Brahmins had elevated
themselves to the position of God. Thus, it is said that a section of the Janmi
migrated to Travancore due to these agrarian reforms and some of the Nayars,
having lost their means of livelihood, chose to settle in South Kerala.
Social
Reforms
Kerala was
in a situation where religious beliefs and practices were imposed by the Brahmin
priesthood. Without any codified law or statute, cases were decided according
to the Bhashyas then dictated by the Brahmin scholars. C. Achyutamenon in the Kochi State Manual said that the
Brahmins made the ritual practices of Kerala based on Parasurama's order that
Shudra women should not keep chastity and that they should be ready to fulfil
the desires of Brahmins. Achyutamenon says in the Kochi State Manual (Page:
193). The strange custom of Sambandham was also practiced as a way for upper
castes including the Namboothiris to use Nair women at will. As a result of
this system, polyandry was born. Both
Barboza and Buchanan recorded that the more men a woman had, the more
respectable she was considered by the people, and that the women of noble
houses used to boast that each of their husbands included so many Brahmins and
so many Kshatriyas. Due to matriarchy, a very strange system of succession and
patrilineal relationship came into existence. Even the high royal families were
not exempted from this.
Along with
these immoralities, another obscene law was enforced by the Brahmins in Kerala.
It was that women should not cover the upper part of the body.
Tipu, a
virtuous ruler, could not resign himself to such immorality and immorality
carried out under the guise of religious faith. He decided to stop them. For
that, Tipu first checked whether the religious practices are in accordance with
the commandments of their religion. Tipu's letter to the Malabar Governor in
1785 reveals that. ‘I felt pain when I saw some women in Malabar walking around
without covering their breast. That sight brings hatred and damage to friendly
thinking. It is definitely against moral thinking. You explained to me that
these women belong to a particular religion and according to their custom they
should not cover their breast. I was thinking about that. Do they do so because
of long tradition or because of poverty? If it is due to poverty, you should
provide them with things to clothe their women decently. If it is an age-old
custom, they should try to eradicate it by persuading their community leaders.
There should be only amicable advice so that their religious thought is not
harmed in any way.’
Tipu Sultan ordered Nair women to cover their
upper part like Muslim women. It is nothing but the moral-ethical-discipline of
a virtuous ruler.
Tipu
questioned the practice of polygamy and advised its end. ‘For one woman among
you has intercourse with ten men, and you allow your mother to make her
daughters so lascivious, and all of you are born of adultery and are more
shameless than the cattle that graze in the fields in the matter of intercourse
between men and women. We hereby command you to renounce such evil practices
and walk like ordinary people.’ At the end of this proclamation is added the
threat of converting all to Islam if they do not do so. The veracity of this
claim has been questioned. This report quoted by Colonel Wiltus is not
mentioned elsewhere.
Now, even
if the said declaration is true, it can be seen that the subject it deals with
is moral and ethical discipline only. Tipu could not have assumed that the
punishment for those who violated these was to bring them to Islam. Religion
was not a punitive measure for Tipu. But as pointed out by CK Karim, it is
possible that Tipu was ordered to wear a turban in order to lead a moral life,
and since the language in question was understood at that time to mean becoming
a Muslim, it is likely that it was translated as Tipu was ordered to become a
Muslim.
In any
case, it can be understood that Tipu Sultan tried hard for the moral discipline
of his subjects. In turn, it was not limited to Malabar. Prohibition of
polygamy was also enforced in Coorg. It is also read here that the order to
stop the human cruelty that was taking place in the temple of Kali near the
city of Mysore. It was a valuable moral principle for him that men and women
should live in good marriages. He announced that parents who have no money to
get their daughters married will be helped by giving donations from the state
and instructed officials to do so. Prohibiting women from going outdoors
without covering the upper part and issuing a popular edict to abolish the
practice of polygamy were a continuation of moral measures. He hated alcohol
and enforced a law that no alcohol should be made or sold in any form in his
kingdom. Discouraging excessive spending, when he noticed extravagance for Onam
celebrations, he issued orders to control it.
It is a
fact that the Nayars and other upper castes were affected the most by Tipu's
moral reform measures. It scratched their social identity. Many powers that
have been monopolized for ages had been relinquished. But such a setback is
natural for an ecosystem that existed in a process of social innovation.
Moreover, to say that Tipu Sultan discriminated on the basis of religion is a
meaningless allegation.
Conversion
Stories
3000
Brahmins fled to Travancore as Tipu Sultan ordered conversion. Tipu issued an
order to arrest all Brahmins and send them to Srirangapatna for circumcision.
2000 Nayars along with their families were converted and fed beef in
Kuttipuram. 7000 people converted to Islam in Coorg. It can be seen that
history books narrate about Tipu a number of conversion stories like Tipu
converting 4000 relatives on his son's wedding day. But none of these came from
reliable sources. Moreover, it is another picture that is completely
contradicted by the actual sources. After nearly three decades of rule by the
Mysore Sultans, there was no significant increase in the number of Muslims in
the Mysore Kingdom in general and in Malabar in particular. Muslim population
after Mysore rule was only 5 percent. If Tipu's army was largely non-Muslim, he
would have Islamized his army first. Moreover, we can see that many Brahmins
were appointed to high positions in Tipu's administration. From Srinivasa Rao,
who went to Mangalore to negotiate peace with the English, Krishna Rao, who
surrendered the fort of Bangalore, and Purnaiah, who eventually continued as
Diwan under the English, were many in his service.
It is said
that the Nambuthiris fled to Travancore fearing Tipu's intervention. The
Malabar Joint Commissioner's report states that the Namboothiris fled to
Travancore in 1788-89. S. F. Dale states that during 1784-88 the majority of
Namboothiris and Nair feudals were in their own place and they lost control
over land and tenants between 1788 and 1789. It is therefore understandable
that many of the Janmis, who had lost their aristocratic status due to Tipu's
land reform act and centralized taxation system, migrated to Travancore. It has
nothing to do with religion.
Temple
Destruction Stories
A number of
temple destruction stories have found their way into history books, alleging
looting of Mysore temples and slaughtering of cows on idols. Padmanabha Menon and Raman Menon and Shaktan
Tampuran have cited such stories. But Padmanabhan himself has written that Tipu
did not defile or deface it in any way, quoting the Devaswam Granthvari, which
says that the army of Hyder and Tipu encamped in the Vadakkumnath temple. All
other temple destructions are hearsay. Nowhere does it say that the temple
itself was destroyed.
Another
important thing is that the Sriranganath temple at Srirangapatna, which was the
capital of the Mysore empire, is still standing there without any scratch.
Moreover, the statistics of the Sultan's donations to various temple complexes
have come out. It is also clear from the records in the Kozhikode archives that
apart from giving free land to the Guruvayur temple, 8000 Parosas were paid in
cash every year. In South Malabar alone, CK Karim gave an estimate of the
donations given by Tipu to fifty thousand temples.
Conclusion
Tipu's
contribution to the religious and social history of Malabar in his short life
is that he was able to teach and propagate that all classes of people have
rights and pride in a society where powers and rights were determined on the
basis of caste. Those so blinded by intolerance that they could not accept that
his creeds, devotion to God and moral integrity served as the foundation in
this process of revival, had no choice but to portray the social reformer Tipu
Sultan as a religious fanatic.
----
This
article is second of series that look into Tipu’s legacy in Kerala history
First
Part of the Article: Tipu Sultan and the Modernisation of Kerala
-----
A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir
V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance
journalist.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/tipu-religious-policy-kerala/d/130126
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic
Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism