Tiger in the museum
K.S.S. SESHAN
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Watching his toy tiger tear the English soldier to pieces amused Tipu.
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An illustration of the mechanical toy found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Tipu Sultan of Mysore was an enemy of the British and tried all his life to drive them out of the country. He fought several wars against them; the first two, when his father Hyder Ali was alive, and after becoming the Sultan in 1782, the last two Mysore wars.
But with the strength of arms and with the help of other rulers and the treachery of some of Tipu's own nobles, the British ultimately won. Tipu was defeated in the last Mysore war in 1799 and he fell fighting against the forces of Wellesley, the then Governor-General. Tipu was a courageous fighter and earned the name "Indomitable Tiger of Mysore". The British, after killing Tipu, looted his Palace in Srirangapatam near Mysore and took away many of his personal belongings and costly artefacts.
Tipu Sultan, while engaged in wars against the British, designed a mechanical tiger. This toy represented his anger and animosity against the English. It is a large life-size ferocious tiger with bright yellow stripes, pouncing on an English soldier and tearing him to pieces. The soldier in uniform, with all his medals, is armed and carries with him a chain, suggesting that he has come to chain the Tiger of Mysore. The soldier's hands are raised in anguish, the eyes are wide open with horror and his face shows great fear.
But the curiosity reaches its climax when the toy starts moving with greater ferocity, gripping its prey and trying to maul it all the time growling while the soldier cries out helplessly. Pulling a mechanical lever from behind its hind legs makes this tiger come alive. The sounds are created with the reeds of harmonium fitted and concealed in the tiger's bosom. The toy was a favourite of Tipu Sultan and he kept it in his bedroom. It is said that the gruesome theme of this toy was associated with the death of the son of Sir Hector Munro, Tipu's bitter enemy in 1792. Sir Hector had been sent to Mysore, by the Madras government to avenge the death of his son.
After Tipu was killed on May 4, 1799, Srirangapatnam was occupied and the palace was ransacked. Arthur Wellesley, the Commander, who led the attack, took away the toy tiger. In 1808, it was exhibited in London to the elite of the city. The Penny Magazine of London published a detailed description of the toy tiger with an illustration in 1835.
P.B. Shelley, the famous English poet, saw this toy, was inspired to write a poem about it and immortalising it in verse. Tipu's toy tiger is securely placed in a large glass casket in the Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum in London. The fact that it is the only object kept in a sprawling room with a special sentry is indicative of the importance that the toy commands.
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