Why The Founding Fathers Were Obsessed with This Muslim Ruler

"Hyder became the Sul­tan of Mysore in the sev­en­teen-six­ties: "a dan­ger­ous time to come to pow­er in South Asia," writes Blake Smith at Aeon, giv­en that "the British East India Com­pa­ny was expand­ing its pow­er through­out the Sub­con­ti­nent." Ally­ing with France, much like the rebelling Amer­i­can colonists, Hyder "held off the British advance for anoth­er two decades, dying in 1782, just a year before the US tri­umphed in its own rebel­lion against Britain.""

"Amer­i­ca's fas­ci­na­tion with Hyder and his suc­ces­sor Tipu, who died in bat­tle with the East India Com­pa­ny in 1799, remained for some time. "Mysore's rulers became famil­i­ar ref­er­ences in Amer­i­can news­pa­pers, poems and every­day con­ver­sa­tion. Yet, with­in a gen­er­er­ation, Amer­i­cans lost their sense of sol­i­dar­i­ty with the Indi­an Sub""

"The writ­ings of the Found­ing Fathers of the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca include many a ref­er­ence to the likes of Cicero, Mon­tesquieu, and John Locke. That the names Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sul­tan nev­er appear may not sound like much of a sur­prise, even if you hap­pen to know that they ruled the Indi­an region of Mysore, now offi­cial­ly called Mysu­ru, at the time."

Hyder Ali ruled Mysore in the late 1700s as the British East India Company expanded across South Asia. He became Sultan in the 1760s during a dangerous period for new rulers. He allied with France and resisted British advances for about two decades, dying in 1782. Tipu Sultan continued the struggle and died in battle against the East India Company in 1799. American figures such as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams followed these conflicts with interest. Mysore’s rulers became familiar references in American newspapers, poems, and everyday conversation, but American solidarity with the Indian subcontinent diminished within a generation.

Read at Open Culture