LAHORE: Tipu Sultan was killed during the Battle of Seringapatam or Siege of Seringapatam on May 4, 1799. A play, Sher-i-Mysore, was enacted at the Government College University (GCU) to commemorate the fall of Mysore and killing of Tipu Sultan by the British who were supported by the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas.

The objective of the play, as told by a character at the start, is to revisit the story because the historical version of Tipu Sultan’s legend tells only what happened but not why it happened. Most of the cast included the students of the GCU; however, the lead role of Tipu was played by an old Ravian, Dr Salman Bhatti, the chairperson of the Department of Urdu at the University of Education. The character of Lord Wellesley was played by Dr Sameer Ahmed of the GCU English Department who was also the writer of the play.

The play is a take on the circumstances that led to the debacle of 1799 and the fall of the last fort against the British capture of India. At the start of the play, the spirits of the characters, who conspired against Tipu Sultan and secretly supported the British, talk about retelling the story and their versions of it, interpreting it in their own way.

In the flashbacks, Tipu’s childhood is revisited where the wisdom of his father, Hyder Ali, in the act of war is shown. The character propagates accepting defeat when one is surrounded and there is no way out. The dialogue is repeated at the end of the play too.

The play retells the background story at what transpired the fall of Tipu Sultan who had lost all the friends in the region and made enemies of the Marathas and Nizam who had fought against the East India Company in support of his father, Hyder Ali. All his efforts to get the support from the French and the Ottomans didn’t bear fruit.

The character of Tipu Sultan appears as an isolated man, very stubborn and looking backwards while other characters around him like his Wazirs and his wife play his foils, trying to talk some sense into him. The dialogues of his wife in a scene appear more prophetic who tries to make him realise that the British are not going to leave. She urges him to deliberate on the situation, which is ‘inevitable.’ The inevitability looks like the leitmotif as it recurs in the play, propagated by Tipu’s wife, Wazirs and Lord Wellesley. The dialogues of the characters in Tipu’s opposition, including his wife’s, look more convincing than Tipu’s even if it might not be the intention of the playwright. The last scenes of the play try to retrieve the situation in favour of the character of Tipu with the famous dialogues like “to live like a lion for a day is far better than to live for a 100 years like a jackal” but then it’s too late to revive the image of the Sultan who finds himself isolated at the end.

In real life too, Tipu Sultan when defeat became ‘inevitable’ at Seringapatam was asked by his French advisers to escape the fort to fight against the British from his other fronts but he had refused to do so.

The set design of the play was magnificent, depicting the summer palace of Tipu Sultan in Banglore (Bangaluru). Playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed on the opening of the play was all praise for it, saying it depicted exactly the same scenes as were the palaces of Tipu Sultan in Mysore that he had seen during his visit to the city.

The play raises some pertinent questions including whether it was possible for Tipu Sultan to evade his complete downfall as the victory of the British was ‘inevitable’ or whether he could find a middle way, of course by striking a deal with the invaders. However, it’s also important to note that it’s hard for a 21st century post-colonial mind of this region to understand the mind of the ruler of Mysore with all his inherited grandeur.

The comic relief was provided by the two darbans, Qutbuddin and Raja Khan, who at times appeared like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, they did succeed in making the historical tragedy somewhat light for the audience. The acting of all the actors was flawless with some exception with one odd hyperbolic performance here and there. There was a tinge of stereotyping of Purnaiah, the Hindu statesman who was an important figure in the court of the Sultan but who also betrayed him like Mir Sadiq. The actor in the lead role, Dr Salman Bhatti, deserves accolades for his performance despite the somewhat subdued character of Tipu Sultan.

The team of directors was led by Muzammil Shabbir. Today (Sunday) is the last day of the play.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2023