The Last Effort and Fall of Tipu Sultan

Circa 1840–1855

Steel engraving on paper

Print size: 6.25 x 8.25 in (16 x 21 cm)
Sheet size: 7.25 x 10.75 in (18.5 x 27.5 cm)

The Last Effort and Fall of Tippoo Sultaun—A 19th-Century Historical Battle Engraving

This dramatic and intense scenario depicts Tipu Sultan and his supporters being forced to retreat in front of the oncoming enemy. It resembles a moment in time captured in real life.

Beneath the main composition appears a small ornamental vignette depicting a grouped ceremonial or historical scene, framed within a scroll-like cartouche. This secondary image serves as a symbolic narrative supplement, broadening the print’s historical scope beyond the moment of Tipu Sultan’s death to the broader political theatre of empire and conquest.

At the far left and right margins are two lightly engraved silhouetted standing figures, rendered as spectator-like presences. Their function appears allegorical or framing, reinforcing the print’s role as a constructed historical tableau rather than a purely documentary record.

The left figure appears in Indo-Islamic court dress, likely intended to represent Tipu Sultan (1749–1799) in a commemorative or emblematic role, distinct from his dramatic depiction in the central battle scene. The right figure wears a European military uniform, consistent with portrayals of British commanding officers involved in the Siege of Seringapatam, most plausibly General George Harris or Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington).

In a sense, Tipu's downfall and death marked a turning point in Mysore's history toward the present. But just as no love tale is complete without a tremendous tragedy or a heartbreak, no significance is complete without the mention of plots and betrayals. There are two noteworthy events that should be recognized and discussed from Indian history. The betrayal of Mir Jafar in 1757 cleared the path for the East India Company to establish British rule in India, and the betrayal of Mir Sadiq in 1799 at the fourth Battle of Mysore served as the final catalyst for the confirmation and consolidation of foreign rule.

In 1799, three armies marched into Mysore: two British, one of which included Arthur Wellesley, and one from Bombay. During the Fourth Mysore War, they besieged Srirangapatna, the capital. While Tipu Sultan's army numbered barely 30,000, the British East India Company had around 26,000 soldiers, of whom about 4,000 were Europeans and the remainder were Indians. With the active assistance of his own chief minister, Mir Sadiq, Tipu Sultan was "martyred" by the British soldiers on May 4, 1799, the last day of fighting after a 32-day siege of his castle. Tipu Sultan was offered a "disgraceful" compromise or surrender by the British before his "martyrdom", but he turned them down, saying, "A single day of life of a tiger is far better than that of 100 years of a jackal"; hence, the name "Tiger of Mysore".

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