commit theft or fraud, or be proved guilty of prevarication, misrepresentation, or deceit, or if he should be detected in taking presents without orders, or carrying on secret intrigues, he consents to be strangled, or to undergo some other condign punishment. It is evident from the contents of this curious paper, which was discovered at Seringapatam after the siege in 1799, that Haidar was well aware of the unstable and fickle temperament of his son. It was also asserted by many who knew Tipú in later life that his understanding was at times clouded over in a way that betrayed symptoms of mental aberration[1].
So many instances have been given of the atrocities which he committed in the name of religion, that it would be superfluous to add to them. In this respect he rivalled Mahmúd of Ghazní, Nádir Sháh, and Alá-ud-dín the Pathán Emperor of Delhi surnamed the Khúni, or the Bloody, all of whom were famous for the number of infidels slaughtered by their orders. For this very zeal for the faith, notwithstanding the cruelties which attended his persecutions, the name of Tipú Sultán was long held in reverence by his co-religionists in Southern India – a proof how readily
- ↑ Among the papers found in his library was a register of his dreams, some of which are not a little extraordinary. In one of these visions he saw a person dressed like a man, whom he caressed as if he were a woman, when the apparition suddenly threw off its garments, let down its hair, and exposed to view its bosom, which revealed a female form. Tipú deduced from this vision the fact that his enemies, the Maráthás, though clothed like men, were really only women in character.
