Tippu Sultan and the Real Tyrants of Malabar– an Astrological Look K. Chandra Hari
¨ÉÉiɦÉê®úʴɦÉpùEòÉʳýÊ´ÉVɪÉää ´ÉÉ®úÉʽþ Ê´É·ÉɸɪÉä* ¸ÉÒÊ´Étä ºÉ¨ÉªÉä ¨É½äþ榃 ¤ÉMɱÉä EòɨÉä榃 ´ÉɨÉä ®ú¨Éä** ¨ÉÉiÉÆÊMÉ ÊjÉ{ÉÖ®äú {É®úÉi{É®úiÉ®äú º´ÉMÉÉÇ{É´ÉMÉÇ|Énäù* nùɺÉÉä½Æþ ¶É®úhÉÉMÉiÉ& Eò¯ûhɪÉÉ Ê´É·É·É®úÒ jÉÉʽþ ¨ÉÉÆ** Hindu = Ha + Indu = Sun + Moon = Isvara + Ardhanari = Hindu is one who has realized the sun and moon in his body. Sun and Moon are the breaths within the body and are described as Nagas in the siddha wisdom. As such the human body itself is Nagapuram and the siddhas did name numerous places in our country as Nagapuram – the abode of the Nagas sun and moon. A Hindu has no reason to be biased against one in the name of labels like religion. Hindu is one who adores sacrifice – Hindu is one who beholds eternity at the feet of Mahakali in sacrifice. Life is eternal and divine and names which make history are transient... Minds that carry names interpret other names in their colored views... emotions rooted in history are irreligious and non-spiritual for a Hindu. Realization of sun and moon means the transcendence of manomayakosa – the domain of mental and psychic feelings. It is real fun to hate Tippu in the name of wars. Akbar did a greater massacre at Chitor – a total of 33,000 peasants – and even in modern times, innumerable genocides have taken place and we tend to regard the perpetrators of such crimes as heroes in the name of some form of allegiance, nationalism or ideology or religion...
I. Introduction Tippu is a controversial name in the history of South India, especially in the history of Kerala. Portrayed differently as a secular nationalist and a religious bigot, Tippu invokes mixed emotions as a result of confusions created by different stories. Documents attest both the descriptions mentioned above and leaving aside the fierce postures of the critics of Tippu, it can be safely concluded that he had a zeal for being religious and he proved with his life that he lived and dead like a warrior. Tippu is despised for tyranny in Malabar without realizing that the region had been facing a greater tyranny from the feudal lords and their chieftains like Zamorin of Calicut. C. Radhakrishnan’s biographical fiction on Tunchathezhuchan ‘teekkadal kadanju thirumadhuram’ presents a poignant account of the experience of Tunchathacharyan at the hands of the feudal lords of Malabar who were enemies to both the people and the Gods of the region. The martial race of nayars were fooled into a game of sacrifice which came to be known as ‘chaver pada’ in the name of the tutelary deity of the race, Bhadrakali and for hundreds of years, innocent young men got sacrificed at Mamankam for political gains. Casteism also achieved its peak so as to make the Brahmins receive the description as ‘Bhu_devas’ (Gods on the earth) in Harinamakirtanam. Tantrik worship of the deities got replaced by Brahmnical 1
nonsense – frauds of the kind we saw at Sabarimala in 2006 had its early beginnings after the revival of Brahminism by Sankaracharya in the 8th century AD. Tippu was no tyrant if we objectively evaluate the rulers of the British period, 18-20th century, those who sacrificed British women and children in Sepoy mutiny, those who betrayed the Rani of Jhansi, those who compromised the dignity as a Hindu to maintain their kingship. One who sacrificed his life for dignity obviously shall be of better morals and standards than those who treated British as dispensers of destiny and saluted them. When the feudal lords and the Zamorin did not spare the Tunchatu tharavad of Ezhuthachan from their tyranny, one can imagine the plight of the ordinary folks. If the common man in Hindus of Kerala remembers Pazhassi Raja and Velu Tampi with pride, they must take pride in Hyder Ali and Tippu as well for the fact that the invasions by them helped to put an end to the Brahmnical paradigm under which the innocent young men were made to bleed in the name of Bhagavathi at Tirumandhamkunnu. Present paper is an attempt to take a closer look at his life astrologically with the help of the available birth details. Birth details: In ‘Notable Horoscopes’ BV Raman had relied on some horoscope he had occasion to see, to fix the date of birth and time as 1st December 1751, 08:00 at Devanahalli, time obviously based on the Lagna seen as Dhanu. But the information available on the web entirely contradicts what Raman has given as the dates seen are: 1. 10 November 1750, [Friday, 10th Zil-Hijja, 1163 AH]1 2. 20 November 1750 (Friday, 10th Dhu al-Hijjah, 1163 AH ]2 Now, both the above dates differing by 10 days cannot be true as can be understood from the weekday given as Friday. Friday may have been specifically noted for his birth as he was born in a very religious Islamic background. Relying on such an anchor, the correct date of birth can be identified as Friday, 20 November 1750, 20th Dhu al-Hijjah, 1163 AH and the birth time can be fixed as 09:12 IST by matching his life profile to the divisional charts like Rasix10 (Dasamsa). Jup (R)
Sikhi
Merc Rahu Moon Ven
Jup (R)
Lagna Jup Sun Mars
Moon Rasi
Dasamsa Rasix10
Navamsa Lagna
Lagna Rahu
1 2
Sat Merc Mars Sun Venus
Mars
Sikhi Sat
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Tippu_Sultan http://internet.pl.dmoza.net/en/Tipu_Sultan.html
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Sun
Rahu Sikhi
Ven
Merc
Sat Moon
Lagna 240:48, Sun 216:40, Moon 118:58, Mars 213:29, Mercury 198:20, Jupiter(R) 05:59, Venus 203:12, Saturn 222:42, Rahu 242:04, Sikhi 62:04 Date arrived at can be ascertained as correct owing to Friday and the lunar tithi is Krishnasaptami which falls as 22nd tithi corresponding to the lunar visibility count of 20 days given for the month of the Hijra Calendar. Given the fact that he belonged to a devout Muslim family, the Hijra date must be given precedence over other details especially when we find that the day was Friday and he was born with the blessings of a saint. Moon thus occupies the Aslesha nakshatra, 4th pada and the dasa at Birth is: 01Y – 03 M – 24 D Budha. BV Raman’s analysis in ‘Notable Horoscopes’ gives the tithi of 13th in 1751 which could not have been Friday and the Hijra date of 20 seen in many web resources. The 1751 positions simply served for a negative portrayal of the character and may be the product of some Pandit who may have articulated the positions based on hearsay in later times with poor computations. An astrological assessment need not be concerned with the social notions and history created by the victors. Irrespective of the controversies, the fact remains that the native had been a warrior who could not surrender himself and opted sacrifice unlike many Indian rulers of the day. (a) Horoscope is remarkable for the religious zeal and the spiritual bent of mind. Dhanu, the natural 9th house of Dharma is on the ascendant while its lord Jupiter is retrograde – looking at his past life. (b) Eighth house of the ‘siddhis’ is well-placed with the moon in its own house on Aslesha nakashtra. (c) Jupiter-Mars-Mercury form a Rajayoga across 5-11 houses in the company of Venus who is lord of the 11th house. (d) 5th house is remarkable for its intellectual dimensions and is indicative of his faith in destiny and the will to sacrifice self for the principles. He was not unscrupulous like the irreligious Hindu rulers who sided with the British to maintain their kingship. Planetary positions indicate a great genius and a man of good qualities rooted in spiritual faith. May be the circumstances and philosophy he subscribed to not suitable for the unfoldment of his personality as it is.
II. Truth of the Chart from Events Based Verification The following important events of his life and the dasa-bhukti intervals characterizing such events illustrate the truth of the birth time and the vargas given. 1. The surprising dash on Madras at the age of 17 (September 1767) happened during VenusRahu-Mercury. Rahu is placed in the war-like and heroic sign of Dhanu and Mercury is the 7th and 10th lord – lord of the opponent and one’s own authority had been the same.
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2. His ascension to be the ruler of Mysore, 7 December 1782 on the death of his father Hyder Ali happened at the end of Surya dasa Sani bhukti. Surya and Sani are in the 12th house together and Surya is in the dasamsa (rasix10) Lagna as well. 3. Tippu had his attack on Kerala in 1789 and in January 1790 faced the reversals on confronting the Travancore lines. He was having Moon-Saturn from 11 June 1789 to 10 January 1791 and thus the misadventure into Kerala and injury happened in the dasa of 8th lord and bhukti of 2nd and 3rd lord Saturn placed in 12th house. 4. Death of Tippu happend on 4 May 1799 during Mars-Merc-Rahu-Ketu and death coincided the Sun-Moon-Rahu conjunction in his 5th house Aries and the solar eclipse had been due soon after. His death, sacrifice as a devout Islam, coinciding a solar eclipse alone is evidence for his spiritual credentials and provided the right culmination for a warrior’s life. For his secular credentials, the following details seen in the newworldencyclopedia can serve as a pointer: The portrayal of Tipu Sultan as a religious bigot is disputed, and some sources suggest that he in fact often embraced religious pluralism. Tipu Sultan's treasurer was Krishna Rao, Shamaiya Iyengar was his Minister of Post and Police, his brother Ranga Iyengar was also an officer and Purnaiya held the very important post of "Mir Asaf." Moolchand and Sujan Rai were his chief agents at the Mughal court, and his chief "Peshkar," Suba Rao, was also a Hindu. There is such evidence as grant deeds, and correspondence between his court and temples, and his having donated jewelry and deeded land grants to several temples, which some claim he was compelled to do in order to make alliances with Hindu rulers. Between 1782 and 1799 Tipu Sultan issued 34 "Sanads" (deeds) of endowment to temples in his domain, while also presenting many of them with gifts of silver and gold plate. The Srikanteswara Temple in Nanjangud still possesses a jeweled cup presented by the Sultan.
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Can a religious bigot administer his country with so many Hindus in the most responsible positions?
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With such Hindu officers in power, how could his army play havoc with Hindus? If at all the atrocities happened, then it speaks of the so called Hindus who enjoyed authority under him and allowed the desecration of their own temples.
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Another big question is the ethics and morality of a man who is ready to sacrifice himself for his independence. Can Tippu be regarded as ethically and morally inferior to the Hindu Kings who chose to align with the British? Can Tippu be condemned for moral and ethical lapses more than the rulers like those of Gwalior who betrayed even the Rani of Jhansi in her last and crucial fight?
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The warrior he was finds reflected in his words: "It is far better to live like a Tiger for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years" and emulation of such spoken words or heroism is rarely seen among Hindu Kings of the British period. From the age of 15 he had been a warrior and had shaken the East India Company many times with his grit and dashing abilities.
5. It transpires that irrespective of his religion, he was born to sacrifice himself for the human spirit of dignity and freedom from all shackles. 4
III. Person Behind the Chart He was a great ruler as may be noted from the following details given in a website: Despite the hectic political and military involvement, Tipu never ignored the main task of improving the life and conditions of his people. His improvement of agriculture and industry, his promotion of trade and commerce, his novel system of the administration of justice, his building up of a navy, his opening of factories far and near, and his dispatch of embassies to different and distant lands, linked the small State of Mysore with the bigger world. He built an exceedingly efficient system of administration, which launched upon a series of innovative measures that would transform his State into a humming center of great industrial activity. He exerted his utmost to secure artisans and craftsmen from different countries to manufacture guns, muskets and a host of other commodities. His reforming zeal touched almost every department of life including coinage and calendar, weights and measures, banking and finance, revenue and judiciary, army and navy, morals and manners, and social ethos and cultural affairs. His creative vision envisaged the construction of a dam across the river Cauvery, the details of which still exist in an inscription installed at the gates of the present K.R.S. Dam. He was the one who developed the technology of rocket systems, and thought of establishing a university, which he named Dar-ul-Umur.
As the temple grants suggest, he may have been a spiritual being who honoured plurality of faith and may have been worshipping the Hindu Gods and Goddesses as well.
IV.
Hyder, Tippu and North Malabar
Today a large number of people sympathize with the Brahmins, Nayars and the Zamorin of Malabar as if they were innocent victims of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan. Lot of crocodile tears are being shed for the temples and idols destroyed by Tippu forgetting the fact that the Brahmins and their Nayar brigades had been executors of worser tyranny against the common population. •
Military service was compulsory and every nayar was supposed to weild the sword for protecting the hegemony of Brahmins and their stooges who occupied seats of feudal or political power?
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Worship at most of the Bhagavati temples got Braminized and the deities got mutiliated with the distorted Brahmnical worship.
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Zamorin and his Brahmnical lobby had enjoyed human sacrifice at Mamankam for the sake of asserting the Zamorin authority over the poor folks.
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Can we decry a few religious conversions as worse than the human sacrifice that had taken place on the banks of Bharatapuzha till 1755 when the Zamorin had a very narrow escape?
Human Sacrifice for Political Games of Feudal Lords The following account of Mamankam and the Chaver pada may help us to understand the game of human sacrifice that had been happening at Ponnani during 1200/1400 AD to 1755 or 1767 AD. According to some historians ,Mamankom was a grand assembly of the rulers of Kerala who would then selected one among them as the 'emperor of Kerala.An emperor thus selected ,ruled over 12 years and after that he would abdicate the throne for the newly elected successor.In the earliest phase it was the Chera emperor who presided over the Mamankom assembly and the festivities in
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connection with it by standing on a platform called 'Nilapaduthara',In later centuries it became the right of the Raja of Valluvanadu.In 12th century A.D.the Zamorin( 'Samoothiri') of calicut attacked Thirunavaya and wrested the right of presiding over Mamankom from of presiding over Mamankom from the Valluvanadu raja .In all the following Mamankoms,the Valluvanadu Raja used to send 'Chaver Pata (suicide squads)to kill the Zamorin.It is said that Mamankom was celebrated for the last time in 17553.
Zamorin and the Vettathu Konatiri and their feudal lords had been instrumental in causing this 12-yearly sacrifice of the sakta devotees of Tirumandhamkunnu Bhagavathi just for political game sake.
V. Politics in the Name of Bhagavati The feudal lords of Malabar, Brahmins and Nayars and their chieftains like the Zamorin and the Valluvakonatiri had been misusing the spiritual notions of Nayars – the local martial tribe which had Bhadrakali as the tutelary deity. If the Nayars today claim of themselves as Hindu and boasts of the spiritual notions like ‘satyameva jayate’, the dispensation of justice by providential decree and rebirth of the soul for exhaustion of prarabdha etc, with a moment’s reflection it can be realized that both Hyder Ali and Tippu were the reincarnation of the victims of the Mamankam game played under the lead of the Zamorin of Calicut. As Hyder Ali’s birth details and horoscope is not reliably known, nothing can be said about him. Web resources are silent about date of birth and the only source where a date is discussed is BV Raman’s account in Notable Horoscopes. As per the date 8.12.1722, Hyder was born on Kartika amavasi coinciding Monday which is very auspicious. Rahu
Sat Ven
Sikhi
Sun Jup Rasi
Navamsa
Venus Moon Jup, Mar Sikhi Sat, Sun Lagna Merc
Lagna Mars
Merc
Merc Lagna Rahu Mars Moon
Ven Rahu Sikhi
Dasamsa Rasix10
Sat
Moon
Jup Sun
Two Poles of Life The two poles of life are little known and discussed in the conventional astrology. But it is undeniable that Jyotihsastra had its genesis in Tantra and the original precepts are known only to the Aghoris. One of the cardinal principles on which Jyotihsastra is based is the eternity of life – there is nothing like death – life alone is there and it is eternal. None dies and simply a change of name and address take place as per the laws of Karma. This is reflected in the peculiar halfthe-wheel depiction of life in Jyotisha – the first house signifies birth and the seventh house is
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http://it.manoramaonline.com/advt/it/malappuram.htm
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death – and then the question arises: What is the use of the other houses, the second half of the wheel defined as Rahu-Sikhi Chakram? In fact the definition of the wheel of time as Rahu-Sikhi chakram itself suggests that the two apparent poles of earthly life are spread across 180 degree only. It becomes apparent that Jyotihsastra spells out two worlds: (1) The social, visible unfolding of life governed by the Lagna or the Ascendant (2) The spiritual, occult or invisible dimensions of life under the 8th house in an equal house division Lagna has the social life and death in the 7th house which means a new life as life is eternal and death is an abstraction invented by the mind. In the same manner, 2nd is the 7th from 8th house and hence the end of the spiritual life for a change. This plurality of life is reflected in the design of Jyotischakra where in the fiducial star is chosen at the 8th house or 240 degree – the reference longitude ascribed to Mūla nakshatra. Jyotischakra is the abode of Mahākāli and at 240 degree the Mahākāla is located. It becomes apparent that the Mahākāla is the spiritual aspect of the Cosmic Being while Mahākāli or the manifestation of Leela, Life or Lalitha is the social aspect of the Cosmic Being. From 0 as well as 240, the vimsottari yields the same pattern of Dasas and suggests that the social and spiritual blossoming happens concurrently for the Cosmic Being. In the case of Tippu, the horoscope when read from the 8th house as Lagna has a great spiritual yoga with Jup, Mercury and Venus in Kendraa joined by Mars in movable signs. Moon was vargothama in navamsa, dasamsa etc and hence great vargabala. Further: •
He was born in Aslesha nakshatra with an extra-ordinarily strong Moon which suggests great devotion and occult pursuits.
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A strong eighth house and positions with reference to that is indicative of a divine purpose in his life.
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Tippu’s sacrifice happened on a very remarkable day, Chaitra amavasya 4 May 1799 when the Sun and Moon had conjoined Rahu in the Bharani nakshatra, very auspicious for tantrik rites. Solar eclipse on Bharani made the day very exalted for worship.
In the only known date of Hyder discussed by BV Raman too, one can see a remarkable conjunction of planets in the 7th from 8th while the lord of 8th is placed in 4th, the 9th from pole2. Horoscope in fact is an overlapping picture of the present life from Lagna to Seventh house and the past which is hidden from Eighth house to 2nd house. It is this hidden segment or the past that decides the Longevity (8th house), Fortune (9th), Karma (10th), Gains (11), Losses (12) etc. Eighth house in fact is the house of resurrection as the seventh marks the house of death for the body which is represented by the first house Lagna. In other words, the eighth can be described as the house of eternal life and when the eighth dominates present becomes insignificant. The Kendras of eighth (2-5-8-11) are indicative of the spiritual grace of an individual and this is precisely the reason that makes the 5th and 11th house significant for personal gains. Tenth house of the past becomes the fifth in the present and the fourth house of the past becomes 11th for the present. 7
VI.
Conclusions
It is meaningless to look into history and judge people or society. One seldom gains a complete picture of the circumstances that shaped the destiny. Carrying the past into the present is also meaningless because one knows only a very limited past, only a fraction. Unless man gains a complete knowledge of the game of life, any analysis of people’s lives shall remain a poor drama like the blinds describing an elephant. In Kerala, lot of hue and cry happens in the name of Tippu that he had destroyed the Hindu temples and did a lot of forced conversions to Islam. May be some of his accomplices did so as it happens in the case of corruption in these days. Yes, may be the responsibility rests with Tippu as the man who led the forces but individually he may have little to do with the crimes. Had he been selfish as to seek the gratification of his senses through evil means, he would not have been ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of dignity and independence of his kingdom. We must judge a lamp by its light rather than by its shadow and as far as human life is concerned, the greatest light it can cast is self sacrifice. He had all luxuries at his command and stood to maintain everything like other Hindu kings who compromised their dignity by kneeling before the Britishers. The real tyrants of Malabar in fact were the Zamorin and the feudal lords who were sacrificing the poor men by making use of their faith. Tippu’s horoscope is extra-ordinary and suggests the reincarnation of a soul to dispense justice in the name of Bhagavati at Thirumandhamkunnu with whose name the Zamorin, Kolatiri and the feudal lords have been playing for centuries. It is well known in Nayar tradition that the Kulams are destroyed when the actions invite the wrath of Kuladevi and apparently the same had happened in the Malabar of Tippu’s times. A religion dies only when its followers kill it and this is true of the Malabar of 18th century. The feudal lords and their unscrupulous chieftains have been thriving on the ignorance of the local population and their doom was inevitable. The poor were denied access to their deities and hegemony got maintained with the help of nayars who were the ‘tradition’ bound mercenaries to kill and die for their masters. The sacrifices of the hapless were sure to cause a backlash and one may interpret the advent of Hyder and Tippu as two such events in the history of Malabar.
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