> It is ironic that the current Hindu nationalist view of Tipu as a sadistic, fanatical war criminal so closely echoes the narratives of the British officers wh

> It is ironic that the current Hindu nationalist view of Tipu as a sadistic, fanatical war criminal so closely echoes the narratives of the British officers who fought and defeated him more than two centuries ago. It is equally surprising to find this Muslim autocrat, who revelled in the forced conversion of many thousands of Christian and Hindu prisoners, being hailed as a tolerant, secular nationalist by the Indian left. This is going to be interesting. > According to the memoirs of survivors, 52 British teenage boys were chosen for conversion to Islam in 1783. They were plied with bhang (hashish), held down by their arms and legs and circumcised by a barber. They were then plunged into scalding hot cauldrons of water to disinfect their wounds. Surprisingly, only one of them died. The rest were recruited into Tipu’s European brigades, while the youngest and prettiest became palace servants and dancing boys. Sadly, they were not released under subsequent peace treaties with the Company because Tipu maintained that they were willing converts and therefore his subjects. sigh I suppose that was tolerant for the time.