The Gumbaz at
Srirangapattana is a Muslim mausoleum at the centre of a landscaped garden, holding the graves of
Tippu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...
, his father
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...
, and his mother Fakhr-Un-Nisa. It was built by Tippu Sultan to house the graves of his parents. The British allowed Tippu to be buried here after his martyrdom in the
Siege of Srirangapatna in 1799.
History
The Gumbaz was raised by Tipu Sultan in 1782-84 at
Srirangapattana to serve as a mausoleum for his father and mother.
The mausoleum was surrounded by a
cypress garden which is said to have different species of flowering trees and plants collected by Tippu Sultan from
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Ottoman Turkey
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
,
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
and
French Mauritius.
The original carved doors of the mausoleum have been removed and are now displayed at the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London. The present doors made of ebony and decorated with ivory were gifted by
Lord Dalhousie
James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...
Architecture
Gumbaz Srirangapatam 2015.jpg, Gumbaz, Seringapatam
Gumbaz Plan - Copy.jpg, Plan of the Gumbaz at Ganjam, by B L Rice (1894)
The Gumbaz is designed in the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
style, with a large rectangle shaped garden, having a path leading to the mausoleum. In the middle of the garden, the Gumbaz stands on an elevated platform. The dome is supported by sharply cut black granite pillars. The doors and windows have latticework cut through in stone on the same black granite material. The walls inside are painted with tiger stripes, the colours of Tippu Sultan. The three graves of
Tippu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...
, his father
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...
and his mother Fakr-Un-Nisa are located inside the mausoleum. Many of Tippu's relatives are buried outside the mausoleum in the garden. Most of the grave inscriptions are in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. Next to the Gumbaz is the Masjid-E-Aksa, which was also built by Tippu Sultan
The Gumbaz uses the Bijapur style of construction, and consists of a dome placed on a cubical structure, with ornamental railings and turrets decorated with finals which are spherical shaped. The dome is supported by 36 black granite pillars, and has an east facing entrance.
Burials
Gumbaz Entrance, Seringapatam Edited.jpg, Gumbaz entrance, Seringapatam
Mausoleum of Hyder Ali and Tipoo Sultan (XV, May 1858, p.48) - Copy.jpg, Mausoleum of Hyder Ali and Tipoo Sultan (1858)
![BURIALS OUTSIDE THE GUMBAZ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/BURIALS_OUTSIDE_THE_GUMBAZ.jpg)
Inside the mausoleum, the middle grave is that of Hyder Ali, to his east is Tipu Sultan's mother, and to his West Tipu Sultan is buried. On the southern side of the veranda outside are the graves of Sultan Begum - Tipu's sister, Fatima Begum - Tipu's daughter, Shazadi Begum - infant daughter, Syed Shahbaz - Tipu's son-in-law, Mir Mahmood Ali Khan, and his father and mother. On the East side is the black grave supposedly of Tipu's foster mother Madina Begum. There is an elevation on the veranda with 3 rows of graves, with the first having no headstones. Another row has 14 graves - 8 women and 6 men, including that of Malika Sultan e Shaheed or Ruqia Banu, Burhanuddin Shaheed - brother-in-law of Tipu and brother of Ruqia Banu, Nizamuddin and 1 unmarked grave. The third row consists of 14 graves, 9 women and 5 men and includes Nawab Muhammad Raza Ali Khan or Ban Ki Nawab who was killed in the Battle for Coorg, and an unidentified grave. On the northern side, there are many rows of graves of both sexes, with only a few having headstones.
British Occupation, 1792
Gumbaz Entrance Back, Seringapatam Edited.jpg, Gumbaz entrance (backside), Seringapatam
Tomba d'Hayder-Ali-Khan - Copy.jpg, Tomb of Hayder Ali, by Dottor Giulio Ferrario (1824)
The grounds of the Gumbaz was briefly occupied by British India forces in 1792, towards the end of the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Angl ...
. The army camped on the grounds, and cut down many cypress trees in the garden surrounding the tomb of
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...
, to be used as tent poles and fascines. The flower beds surrounding the mausoleum were dug up for the burial of those who fell in the battle. The landscaped lawns were used to exercise the horses, and the walkways used for target practice. The choultry meant for the Muslim fakirs were converted into a makeshift hospital to treat the battle wounded. These scenes were depicted in the illustrations by the military artist Charles Gold's book ''Oriental Drawings'' published in 1806. His painting shows Hyder Ali's tomb rising to the skies, but with a backdrop scene of British soldiers camping in the gardens. British forces wearing red coats with axes, cutting down the cypress trees, directing Indian workers to carry away the wood, and generally disrupting the garden.
Charles Gold describes the scene as
During this occupation, the Gumbaz was sketched by military artists such as Charles Gold,
James Hunter (d. 1792), Robert Home (1752-1834) and Sir. Alexander Allan (1764-1820).
Vintage Gallery
File:Hyder Ally's Tomb, Seringapatam.jpg, Hyder Ali's Tomb, Seringapatam by James Hunter (d.1792)
File:Hyder's tomb in the Loll Baug Gardens.jpg, Hyder's tomb in the Loll Baug Gardens, by Robert Home (1752-1834)
File:Mausoleum of Hyder.jpg, Mausoleum of Hyder, by Sir. Alexander Allan (1764-1820)
File:Mausoleum, Laul Baug, Seringapatam with tombs of Hyder Ali, his wife, and son Tippoo Saib, Aug 1832.jpg, Mausoleum, Laul Baug, Seringapatam with tombs of Hyder Ali, his wife, and son Tippoo Saib, by Henry Jervis, Aug 1832
Robert Home's Description
![Front view of Tipu Sultan's Tomb Seringapatam, 1895](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Front_view_of_Tipu_Sultan%27s_Tomb_Seringapatam%2C_1895.jpg)
Robert Home, the official military artist the
Madras Army led by
Lord Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
, sketched the Gumbaz (see Vintage Gallery above) and described it. According to Home, the gardens called the Lal Bagh (garden of rubies), covered a third of the river island and was the largest garden in the Mysore Kingdom. The garden was landscaped beautifully with designs which was a combination of several Asian traditions, and in its middle was the mausoleum of Tipu's father Hyder Ali. He further describes the garden during the British occupation at the end of the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Angl ...
as
''This garden was laid out in regular paths of shady cypress; and abounded with fruit trees, flowers, and vegetables of every kind. But the axe of the enemy he British
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
soon despoiled it of its beauties; and those trees, which once administered to the pleasures of their master, were compelled to furnish materials for the reduction of his capital''.
Tipu's Burial
Gumbaz Rice - Copy.jpg, Gumbaz at Ganjam, by B L Rice in the Epigraphia Carnatica
''Epigraphia Carnatica'' is a set of books on epigraphy of the Old Mysore region of India, compiled by Benjamin Lewis Rice, the Director of the Mysore Archaeological Department. Over a period of about ten years between 1894 and 1905, Rice publis ...
(Vol. 3), 1894.
Tipu Sultan's Tomb, Seringapatam (Caine, 1891, p.519) - Copy.jpg, Tipu Sultan's Tomb, Seringapatam (Caine, 1891, p. 519).
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...
was buried at the Gumbaz, next to the graves of his father and mother, after his death in the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99.
This was the final conflict of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured ...
in 1799.
The burial took place the next day after the end of the war, on 5 May 1799 at 5 May. The British allowed for Tipu to be buried at the Gumbaz, next to his father's grave, and also provided full military honours for his funeral. The body was carried in a procession, accompanied by European soldiers of the Grenadier division. The chief mourner was Tipu's son Abdul Khaliq, followed by some officials and people. A severe thunderstorm is recorded to have struck Seringapatam at the time his body was buried.
The burial of Tipu Sultan is described by many British Officers such as Lieutenant Richard Bayly of the 12th Regiment. According to Lieut. Bayly
''I must relate the effects and appearance of a tremendous storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning that ensued on the afternoon of the burial of Tippoo Saib. I had returned to camp excessively indisposed. About five o'clock a darkness of unusual obscurity came on, and volumes of huge clouds were hanging within a few yards of the earth, in a motionless state. Suddenly, a rushing wind, with irresistible force, raised pyramids of sand to an amazing height, and swept most of the tents and marquees in frightful eddies far from their site. Ten Lascars, with my own exertions, clinging to the bamboos of the marquee scarcely preserved its fall. The thunder cracked in appalling peals close to our ears, and the vivid lightning tore up the ground in long ridges all around. Such a scene of desolation can hardly be imagined; Lascars struck dead, as also an officer and his wife in a marquee a few yards from mine. Bullocks, elephants, and camels broke loose, and scampering in every direction over the plain; every hospital tent blown away, leaving the wounded exposed, unsheltered to the elemental strife. In one of these alone eighteen men who had suffered amputation had all the bandages saturated, and were found dead on the spot the ensuing morning. The funeral party escorting Tippoo's body to the mausoleum of his ancestors situated in the Lal Bagh Garden, where the remains of his warlike father, Hyder Ali, had been deposited, were overtaken at the commencement of this furious whirlwind, and the soldiers ever after were impressed with a firm persuasion that his Satanic majesty attended in person at the funeral procession. The flashes of lightning were not as usual from far distant clouds, but proceeded from heavy vapours within a very few yards of the earth. No park of artillery could have vomited forth such incessant peals as the loud thunder that exploded close to our ears. Astonishment, dismay, and prayers for its cessation was our solitary alternative. A fearful description of the Day of Judgement might have been depicted from the appalling storm of this awful night. I have experienced hurricanes, typhoons, and gales of wind at sea, but never in the whole course of my existence had I seen anything comparable to this desolating visitation. Heaven and earth appeared absolutely to have come in collision, and no bounds set to the destruction. The roaring of the winds strove in competition with the stunning explosions of the thunder, as if the universe was once more returning to chaos. In one of these wild sweeps of the hurricane, the poles of my tent were riven to atoms, and the canvas wafted forever from my sight. I escaped without injury, as also my exhausted Lascars, and casting myself in an agony of despair on the sands, I fully expected instant annihilation. My hour was not, however, come. Towards morning the storm subsided; the clouds became more elevated, the thunder and lightning ceased, and nature once more resumed a serene aspect. But never shall I forget that dreadful night to the latest day of my existence. All language is inadequate to describe its horrors. Rather than be exposed to such another scene, I would prefer the front of a hundred battles''''
Renovation by Lord Dalhousie
![Tippu's Tomb, Seringapatam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Tippu%27s_Tomb%2C_Seringapatam.jpg)
In 1855,
Lord Dalhousie
James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...
,
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
visited Seringapatam on his way to the
Nilgiris
The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...
. During his visit he found most of the monuments in a state of neglect, slowing falling into decay. He then ordered that buildings to be renovated and maintained, as they not only provided memories for the war for the Deccan, and the exploits of the Duke of Wellington, but were also architecturally beautiful. Lord Dalhousie also paid for the replacement doors for the Gumbaz. Dalhousie also ordered for the murals in the
Daria Daulat to be restored, and the building be repaired, a sum approved for the annual maintenance of Daria Daulat, Gumbaz and other associated monuments. A minute to this effect was recorded by his staff, and a fund was established for the maintenance of these monuments at Seringapatam
Persian Epitaphs
The
Persian epitaphs at the Gumbaz were studied by
Benjamin Lewis Rice
Benjamin Lewis Rice (17 July 1837 – 10 July 1927), popularly known as B. L. Rice, was a British historian, archaeologist and educationist. He is known for his pioneering work in deciphering inscriptions, especially in Kannada, and in Sansk ...
and appear in his work,
Epigraphia Carnatica
''Epigraphia Carnatica'' is a set of books on epigraphy of the Old Mysore region of India, compiled by Benjamin Lewis Rice, the Director of the Mysore Archaeological Department. Over a period of about ten years between 1894 and 1905, Rice publis ...
: Volume III: Inscriptions in the Mysore District (1894)
File:SR-PA-16-30 - Copy.jpg, Persian Epitaphs at Gumbaz, Seringapatam, by Benjamin Lewis Rice in Epigraphia Carnatica (Vol. 3), 1894
File:SR-R-16-30c - Copy.jpg, Roman Script of the Persian Epitaphs at Gumbaz, Seringapatam
File:SR-P-16-30c - Copy.jpg, English Translation of the Persian Epitaphs at Gumbaz, Seringapatam
William Baillie Memorial
In the gardens of Lalbagh, next to the Gumbaz is located the memorial for
William Baillie. The memorial was commissioned, 35 years after Col Baillie's death, and 17 years after the
fall of Tippu Sultan, by William's nephew Lt. Col. John Baillie, who served as the
British Resident
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...
in the Court of the
Nawab of Oudh
The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...
,
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
. It is an austere, but poignant and pretty structure.
File:William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam.JPG, William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam
Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...
File:Plaque of the William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam.JPG, Plaque of the William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam
Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...
His Majesty's Cemetery, Ganjam
According to Rev. E W Thompson and other accounts, there used to exist a Madras Army cemetery called ''His Majesty's Cemetery'' at
Ganjam
Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha is situated in this district.
Geography
Ganjam is located at in the Ganjam district of Odisha with an ...
, near the Gumbaz (a short distance in the North-West direction), much before the
Garrison Cemetery. The cemetery was enclosed by a wall, with an inscription on the gate-post, ''His Majesty's Cemetery, Ganjam, a.d. 1799-1808''. It contains burials between 1799 and 1808, mainly from the 33rd Regiment. Daniel Pritchard, the music master of this regiment was buried at this cemetery in July 1799. Elinda Harmonci, a child aged 4 years was also buried here in November 1799.
Col. Edward Montague of the Bengal Artillery, died 8 May 1799, 4 days after the final assault is buried near the Sangam, on the extreme east end of the island.
See also
*
Garrison Cemetery, Seringapatam
*
Scott’s Bungalow, Seringapatam
References
External links
{{commons category, Tipu Sultan Gumbaz
Mausoleums in Karnataka
1799 in India
Tipu Sultan
Srirangapatna
Monuments and memorials in Karnataka
Tombs in Karnataka