Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:05:37.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tipu Sultan's female entourage under East India Company rule

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

JENNIFER HOWES
JENNIFER HOWES*
Affiliation:
Independent scholar jhowes@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After the Fourth Mysore War, when the British were dismantling Tipu Sultan's establishment, the East India Company unexpectedly took charge of 601 women who resided permanently inside Srirangapatnam Palace. Along with Tipu's sons, they were moved 200 miles east, to Vellore Fort, in the Company-controlled territory of Madras Presidency. Documentation about these court women held in colonial archives describes moments when they behaved in unexpectedly difficult ways. Because historians have traditionally cast the women of Tipu Sultan's court as voiceless victims, their actions, as described in these colonial sources, have been overlooked. When examined, the descriptions show that they were using the domestic powers granted to them under Tipu Sultan's establishment to influence their treatment by the East India Company. By placing these accounts alongside the broader context of the Company's military history, it becomes apparent that the women of Tipu Sultan's female entourage fomented the events that led to the Vellore Mutiny of 1806.

Keywords

IndiaMysoreVellore1806 MutinywomenEast India CompanyTipu SultanHaidar Alicolonialismgender
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , October 2021 , pp. 855 - 874
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Bentinck, W. C., Memorial addressed to the Honourable Court of Directors by Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, containing an account of the Mutiny at Vellore, with the Causes and Consequences of that event, February 1809 (London, 1810)Google Scholar; Gillespie, R. R., ‘Account of the Vellore Mutiny, 1806’, The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany 69, 1 (1806), pp. 466–467Google Scholar.

2 R. O'Hanlon, ‘Cultures of Rule, Communities of Resistance: Gender, discourse and tradition in recent South Asian historiographies’, Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology, 25 (Sept 1989), p. 94.

3 Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was descended from the Wodeyar family of Mysore that Tipu Sultan's father, Haidar Ali, usurped the throne from in the early 1760s.

4 Nair, J., Mysore Modern: Rethinking the Region under Princely Rule (London, 2011)Google Scholar, Chapter 3.

5 Valentia, G. A., Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt (London, 1811)Google Scholar, i, pp. 398–399.

6 Salmond, J., A Review of the … Decisive War with the Late Tipu Sultan in Mysore (London, 1800)Google Scholar, appendix D, 2, pt. 32; British Library, IOR/F/4/113, 2126, p. 1.

7 Letter from A. Anderson to A. Wellesley on the condition of buildings at Srirangapatnam, 5 May 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

8 Letter from H. Clive to E. Clive, 16 March 1800. N. Shields, Birds of Passage (London, 2009), p. 115.

9 There is an architect's drawing of Vellore's mahal buildings in the British Library's Mackenzie Collection, WD2729.

10 Letter dated April 1803 on the cost of building projects in Madras and Vellore. British Library, IOR/E/890, pp. 636–638.

11 Report by Col R. R. Gillespie. British Library, IOR/H/509, pp.163–179.

12 C. Macfarlane, Our Indian Empire: Its History and Present State (1847), 2, 1847, note on p. 158.

13 Hathaway, J., Rebellion, Repression, Reinvention: Mutiny in comparative perspective (California, 2001)Google Scholar, p. 96.

14 Robb, P., ‘Completing “Our Stock of Geography’” or an Object “Still Sublime”: Colin Mackenzie's Survey of Mysore, 1799–1810’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 8 (1998), pp. 181–206Google Scholar.

15 British Library, IOR/P/6/30, p. 9065.

16 M. Archer, India and British Portraiture (London, 1979), p. 223.

17 Letter from J. Webbe to A. Wellesley, 26 June 1800. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/45, folder 3.

18 Bentinck, W. C., Memorial addressed to the Honourable Court of Directors by Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, containing an account of the Mutiny at Vellore, with the Causes and Consequences of that event, February 1809 (London, 1810), p. 15Google Scholar.

19 Grier, S., ‘Vellore, 1806’, The National Review (London, 1911)Google Scholar, p. 865.

20 Letter from W. Hastings to R. Marriott, 9 Oct 1800. British Library, Mss Eur C133/1, f. 23v.

21 Valentia, Voyages and Travels to India, i, p. 401.

22 T. Marriott to J. Webbe, 1800. British Library, IOR/H/461, p. 171.

23 Ibid., pp. 172, 174.

24 T. Marriott's notes following the English translation of an Arabic manuscript dated 1800. British Library, Mss Eur C639, f. 37.

25 British Library, IOR/H/461, p. 174.

26 Ibid., pp. 176–177.

27 Schofield, K., ‘The Courtesan Tale: Female Musicians and Dancers in Mughal Historical Chronicles, c.1556–1748’, Gender & History 24, 1 (April 2012), pp. 154–171CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Ibid., pp. 154–155.

29 British Library, IOR/H/461, pp. 172–173.

30 Report on the character of Tipu's four oldest sons by T. Marriott, April 1804. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 347.

31 Ibid., p. 355

32 British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 361.

33 Ibid., p. 367.

34 British Library, IOR/F/4/886/23065, pp. 42–62.

35 Letter from T. Dallas to A. Wellesley, Vellore, 16 March 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/113, folder 2.

36 Memorandum from T. Marriott to A. Wellesley, 27 March 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/112, folder 3, p. 1.

37 Letter from T. Marriott to T. Dallas, 9 May 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

38 Letter from T. Dallas to T. Marriott, 7 May 1802, pp. 1 and 3. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

39 Letter from T. Dallas to A. Wellesley, 12 May 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

40 Letter from T. Marriott to T. Dallas, Bangalore, 9 May 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

41 Letter from T. Dallas to A. Wellesley, 12 May 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/116, folder 1.

42 Account of expenses from the 1802 move. British Library, IOR/F/4/113, 2126, 105.

43 Letter from A. Wellesley to T. Marriott, 26 June 1802. Wellington Archive Southampton, 1/119, folder 2.

44 List of women and children in Vellore Fort compiled by T. Marriott, 28 August 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, pp. 180–181.

45 Report on Tipu's sons by T. Marriott, 1804. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 347.

46 Nair, Mysore Modern, p. 205.

47 British Library, IOR/ E/4/897, pp. 125–126.

48 British Library, IOR/E/4/897, p. 132.

49 British Library, IOR/F/4/113, 2126, pp. 4, 24A-24M.

50 Bowen, H., The Business of Empire. The East India Company and Imperial Britain, 1756–1833 (Cambridge, 2006)Google Scholar, p. 206.

51 Clive, E., To the Honorable the Court of Directors for the Affairs of the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies (London, 1803)Google Scholar, p. 53.

52 Chatterjee, I., ‘Monastic Governmentality, Colonial Misogyny, and Postcolonial Amnesia in South Asia’, History of the Present 3, 1 (Spring 2013), pp. 57–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Singh, L., ‘Courtesans and the 1857 Revolt: Role of Azeezun in Kanpur’, Indian Historical Review 34, 2 (July 2007), pp. 58–78Google Scholar.

54 Bentinck, Memorial addressed to the Honourable Court of Directors, p. 71.

55 Kopf, D., British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance (Berkeley, 1969)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, p. 136.

56 A havildar is a sepoy whose rank corresponds to that of a sergeant.

57 Report of J. Darley, Vellore, 10 May 1806. British Library, IOR/H/507, p. 19

58 Report by Captain Moore, 19 May 1806. British Library, IOR/H/507, p. 26.

59 Testimony of Shaick Hamed Sepoy, Weds 30 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 216.

60 Testimonials of the “Court of Enquiry” at Vellore, July-August 1806. British Library, IOR/H/507 and 508.

61 Account of Shaik Ahomed Sepoy, 21 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, pp. 382–383.

62 Report of J. F. Cradock, 25 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 412.

63 Pinch, W. R., ‘Women, Gender, Emotions: Rethinking Meerut in 1857’, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Occasional Paper, History and Society, New Series 83 (New Delhi, 2015)Google Scholar.

64 T. Marriott's account of Tipu Sultan's daughters, Fri 8 Aug 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, pp. 280–284.

65 Gooroopah Hercurrah's account of Noor Ulnissa Begum's wedding in Vellore Fort, 9 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 198.

66 Description of marriage celebrations of Tipu Sultan's daughter on 9 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 161.

67 Account of Tipu's daughters by T. Marriott, Fri 8 Aug 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 283.

68 G. Harcourt's report to the Governor in Council at Fort St George, 23 July 1806. British Library, IOR/H/507, p. 423.

69 Sworn statement of T. Marriott, 9 August 1806. British Library, IOR/H/508, p. 166.

70 Lal, R., Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World (Cambridge, 2005)Google Scholar, p. 105.

71 Atwal, P., Royals and Rebels: The rise and fall of the Sikh Empire (London, 2020)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, p. 113.

72 Jhala, A. D., Courtly Indian Women in Late Imperial India (London, 2008)Google Scholar, p. 110.

73 Pillay, K. K., ‘The Causes of the Vellore Mutiny’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 20 (1957), pp. 306–311Google Scholar.

74 Letter from T. Marriott to his parents, quoted in a letter from his mother, Elizabeth, to W. Hastings, 13 April 1807. British Library, Mss Eur C133/2, ff. 90-1.

75 Letter from E. Marriott to W. Hastings, 17 April 1807. British Library, Mss Eur C133/2, f. 94.

76 Letter from E. Marriott to W. Hastings, 15 June 1807. British Library, Mss Eur C133/2, f. 106.

77 T. Marriott to his parents, quoted in a letter from E. Marriott to W. Hastings, 13 April 1807. British Library, Mss Eur C133/2, f. 88.

78 T. Marriott to his parents, quoted in a letter from E. Marriott to W. Hastings, 10 Dec 1807. British Library, Mss Eur C133/2, f. 116.

79 C. H. Philips, The East India Company 1784–1834 (Bombay, 1961), pp. 160–161.

80 Accounts of sepoy insubordination in response to the new turban, May-June 1806. British Library, IOR/H/507, pp. 64, 93, 136.

81 Bentinck, W. C., ‘Minute on Sati, 8 November 1829’, in The Correspondence of Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, (ed.) Phillips, C. H. (Oxford, 1977)Google Scholar, i, p. 334.

82 British Library, IOR/E/4/963, p. 1083.

83 Correspondence between Lieut J. Jones, and E. Wood, 2 June 1820. British Library, IOR/F/4/881/23029, ff. 7-11.

84 Letter from A. Andrews to Fort St George, 27 July 1820. British Library, IOR/F/4/881/23029, f. 20.

85 Letter from A. Andrews to Fort St George, November 1820. British Library, IOR/F/4/881/23029, ff. 41-42.

86 Letter from G. M. Stewart and W. Cullen to Sir F. Adam, 31 Oct 1834. British Library, IOR/F/4/1485/58544, p. 51

87 “Servants Employed in the Paymasters Department for the Month of March 1834”. British Library, IOR/F/4/1485/58544, p. 29.

88 Letter from G.M. Stewart to Chief Secretary Fort St George, 21 Nov 1834. British Library, IOR/F/4/1485/58544, p. 95.

89 British Library, IOR/F/4/1485/58544, pp. 102–106.

90 Letter from G.M. Stewart to Chief Secretary Fort St George, 9 December 1835. British Library, IOR/F/4/1485/58544, p. 187.

91 Minutes of the Political Department at Fort St George, 21 May 1845. British Library, IOR/E/4/963, pp. 1083–1085.

92 Charlotte Canning's diary, Monday 15 March 1858. British Library, Mss Eur F699/2/2/3/5, f. 24v.

93 For example, see K. Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy (Oxford, 1995), pp. 96–97.

94 British Library, IOR/H/461, pp. 169–170.

95 Ibid., p. 173.