Why Mysore? the Idealistic and Materialistic Factors Behind Tipu Sultan’S War Rocket Success

62 Emory Endeavors in History 2013 Why Mysore? The Idealistic and Materialistic Factors Behind Tipu Sultan’s War Rocket Success Arish Jamil Abstract War rockets trace a long history in South Asia. The Kingdom of Mysore, under the leadership of Tipu Sultan, oversaw a revolution in war rocketry long before they had been popular in ‘the West.’ Mysore’s rockets later influenced the making of the Congreve rockets, which were used in the Napoleonic Wars and American War of 1812. How was it that Mysore was successful in catching the attention of the British instead of the countless other South Asian kingdoms which were also using rockets? Why were the Tipu Sultan’s rockets so unique? This paper seeks to analyze the idealistic and materialistic factors that went into the making and success of these rockets in order to answer these questions. “And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there” s American as anyone might claim it to be, the Star Spangled Banner cannot help but recall that terrifying day in Pollilur (in present day AIndia) in September 1781. To say that the rockets had a “red glare (and) bursting in air” is an understatement. A shower of rockets attached to swords came swinging down into cavalry, slicing and blowing up whoever came in their way. In the late eighteenth century, rockets much more advanced than those known to Europe were being used in South Asia, most notably in the state of Mysore. These rockets influenced the Congreve rockets, which were used in the British attack on Fort McHenry (in the United States) and inspired the writing of The Age of Gunpowder 63 the Star Spangled Banner.152 Much of rocket history begins with a Eurocentric manner and is mostly from European sources. This is primarily because of a general lack of information and sources of South Asian history. Although it is true that a significant amount of modern rocket development took place in the ‘West,’ little credit is given to its ‘Eastern’ counterparts without which the technology would not have been developed in the way we know it, as shown in works by authors Ley and Werner. South Asia is known in the tradition of war rockets, but the Mysore rockets were revolutionary because they were able to extend their influence to the Western world and beyond. Although a decent amount of literature reports the presence of the rockets in South Asia, we still know little about the origin of these rockets in Mysore because of a large scatter of information. Within the historiography that does pertain to rockets in South Asia, most of the information is centered on specific events and European anecdotes of when the Mysoreans used their rockets. These include accounts from authors including Major Dirom, Quintin Crawford and Innes Munro. Some sources by authors such as Jaim, Winter and Naramsimha give a broad summary of rocket use in Mysore by delving into the design and usage. There are few sources that go into detail about the factors that might have led to these rockets. These factors are paid heed to in separate sources by authors Mohibbul Hassan, an author who writes about the French relationship with Tipu Sultan, and Nikhiles Guha, an author who writes about Iron Production in Mysore. The primary goal of this paper will be to delve into how Mysore was able to produce this technology and why Mysore was the only state to have inspired the Congreve missiles, despite the fact that South Asia had had rockets for decades, if not centuries, prior. The crux of this paper is to highlight the factors that made the Mysore rockets revolutionary and able to influence the Congreve missiles of Britain. In doing so, it seeks to formulate a consensus between the materialistic and the 152 H M Iftekhar Jaim and Jasmine Jaim, “The Decisive Nature of the Indian War Rocket in the Anglo-Mysore Wars of the Eighteenth Century,” Arms and Armor 8, No. 2 (2011): 131. 64 Emory Endeavors in History 2013 idealistic factors that might have influenced the revolutionary Mysore rockets. This encompasses subjects ranging from the production of iron in Mysore to Tipu Sultan’s ideology on warfare and science. This being said, rocket revolution in Mysore is not just limited to the factors listed here; rather, this paper seeks to spark discussion and shift the floor of world history towards a fine balance of idealism and materialism. Although this ‘fine balance’ is impossible in reality, the struggle towards it will allow us to understand and recognize that there is no single answer to the events that humans witness in history. Rockets in South Asia The history of rockets, like most topics in South Asian scientific history, is plagued with a lack of sources. The majority of sources about South Asian rocketry are European. Being accounts from European sources, many fail to examine their actual development and focus on the rockets’ effectiveness by means of first-hand accounts. Regardless of the challenges facing South Asian scientific historians, it is a fact that rocketry was commonplace in South Asia before the Mysoreans ever revolutionized it. Frank Winter is a well renowned author on the history of rocketry. In his book, The Golden Age of Rocketry, he mentions that it wasn’t until the start of the Congreve era that England actually started using rockets for war purposes. The use of war rockets in South Asia, however, stretches back further than the Congreve era.153 The concept of weapons of fire is written in Vedic hymns. The terms vana was mentioned in the text Ramayana from 300 BC. Rama, however, was a literary character and the earliest meaning of vana was probably an arrow. Although these weapons of fire were likely not rockets, it is not surprising that rockets found their place in South Asian history afterwards. The non-Sanskrit word bana appears in AD 1400; bana was often the term used for rockets by South Asian states. Later sources report items/weapons that are closer to actual rockets. 153 Frank H Winter, The First Golden Age of Rocketry: Congreve and Hale Rockets of the Nineteenth Century (Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990), 3. The Age of Gunpowder 65 According to Winter, ra’andazan, or fire pots, were used by Sultan V against the Mongol Timurlane in 1399 AD. During this age, fireworks of burning pitch tipped with iron, or atish bazi taksh-andazan, were also popular. These weapons might have just been grenades or modified fire pots, but there is no evidence to prove this. Before war rockets, festive rockets appeared in the sixteenth century. Confirmed war rockets first appeared during reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. These rockets appeared in such frequency that it is safe to say that South Asians were rocket warfare experts. These rockets, which were carried by infantrymen, were anti- cavalry. This included setting fire to arsenal and ammunition wagons. 154 The eighteenth century was the peak of rocket use in South Asia, and this is when the British began taking note of their existence. Evidence shows that by this time, the Mughals, Adhdanagars, Mysoreans, Marathas, Polygers, Sikhs, Rajputs, Sikhs, Rajputs, Rohillas, Jaipur, Golcondans, Vijaynarans, Naga Sannyasis and Vairagis all possessed rockets. They were, however, favored by the Mughals, Mysoreans and Marathas.155 Rockets in Mysore of South Asia I. The use of rockets Like other states in South Asia, Mysore was not new to the use of war rockets. It was, however, under Tipu Sultan’s reign that the kingdom saw a dramatic improvement in rocketry, which caught the attention of the British. Tipu’s war rockets came into the British limelight during the Anglo Mysore Wars, which were fought during the period 1767-1799, between the British East India Company and Mysore’s Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. The first of the Anglo Mysore Wars saw the crushing defeat of an allied army of the Marathas, British and the Nizam of Hyderabad at the hands of Hyder Ali from 1766 to 1769. The second, fought between 1780 and 1784, saw the ascent of Tipu Sultan after Haider Ali’s death in 154 Frank H Winter, “The Rocket in India from ‘Ancient Times’ to the 19th Century,” Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 32, (1979): 467-468. 155 Winter, “The Rocket in India from ‘Ancient Times’ to the 19th Century”, 467-468 66 Emory Endeavors in History 2013 1782. In the famous Battle of Pollilur or 1780, the British were defeated at the hands of Tipu’s forces that were armed with rockets. The major defeat in Pollilur was inflicted upon Colonel Bailey when his army’s ammunition was destroyed after being shot at by a barrage of rockets. Innes Munro, Captain in the late 73rd and Lord Macleod's Regiment of Highlanders, gives an account of Pollilur: Hyder's means of intelligence were so multiplied and superior to ours, that nothing went on in either of our camps which he was not immediately informed of; and, finding that both our armies were in this perilous situation, he suddenly decamped about midnight, before it was possible for us to obtain the least knowledge of his intentions, and formed a junction with his son Tippo. The fires of his camp were left blazing; and two or three thousand horse and rocket- men kept hovering round our main army, in order to conceal his enterprise from us; and early that morning he laid his whole force in ambush behind the woods and village of Polliloore, a place that greatly favoured his design, being a commanding spot of ground, intersected by deep ravins and water-courses, and upon the only road for guns leading to Congeveram.156 Another account from the History of Mysoor by Rao narrates: Colonel Wellesley, advancing at the height of his regiment, the 33rd, into the tope, was instantly attacked, in the darkness of the night, on every side, by a tremendous fire of musketry and rockets.

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