For over 200 years Tipu Sultan of Mysore has been a controversial historical figure. Was he a cruel and bigoted tyrant or a wise and just ruler; an enlightened thinker or an obscurantist who looked for signs and portents in his dreams; a reckless adventurer or a proud nationalist determined to throw the British out of India? This short account of his life cuts through the myths to make this enigmatic king and his times come vividly alive, as it takes us from his tumultuous youth, his bold military and diplomatic exploits, his family life, and his dramatic swings of fortune, to his death in his final climactic battle against the British.
