Thursday 20 November 2014

Tipu Sultan's Rockets, Tiger and sword !!!!


Tipu Sultan's father had expanded on Mysore's use of rocketry, making critical innovations in the rockets themselves and the military logistics of their use. Hedeployed as many as 1,200 specialised troops in his army to operate rocket launchers. Also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a scholar, soldier and poet.

Tipu expanded the iron-cased Mysorean rockets which he deployed in his resistance against military advances of the British. He laid the foundation for a dam where the famous Krishna Raja Sagara Dam across the river Cauvery was later built. He was a devout Muslim although the majority of his subjects were Hindus, and few were also Christian. At the request of the French, Tipu built a church, the first in Mysore. He was fluent in Kannada,Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, English and French. 

It is said that Tipu Sultan was hunting in the forest with a French friend. When he came face to face with a tiger, his gun did not work, and his dagger fell on the ground as the tiger jumped on him. He reached for the dagger, picked it up, and killed the tiger with it. That earned him the name "the Tiger of Mysore". He even had French engineers build a mechanical tiger for his palace. The device, known as Tipu's Tiger, is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not only did Tipu place relics of tigers around his palace and domain, but also had the emblem of a tiger on his banners and some arms and weapons. The British Army's National Army Museum named Tipu Sultan among the 10 Greatest Enemy Commanders that the British Army ever faced, including him among the ranks of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Read more & watch the video...