Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan

The Sultans of Srirangapattana and the Wodeyars of Mysore: It lias been stated above that after the capitulation of and Tipu Chitradiirga, 20,000 Bedas were taken away to people the island Sultan of Srirangapattana. All the boys amongst these were converted and trained up as soldiers, forming what were called Chela battalions. A young Nair, who had been similarly taken from Malabar and forcibly converted to Islam with the name of Sheikh Ayaz, was appointed governor of Chitradurga. He was a hand­some youth, and Haidar had formed a very exalted opinion of his merits, frequently upbraiding his own son Tipu for inferiority to Ayaz. When he was appointed governor of Chitradurga, Ayaz is said to have modestly pleaded his incompetency to hold that post, as he could neither read nor write and was consequently incapable of a civil charge. And it is to him and at this time that Haider is said to have given his famous advice: "Keep a Korda at yonr right hand and that will do you better service than pen and ink"(160).

Henceforward little is heard of Chitradurga until the time of the attacks of Dhundia Wagh, immediately after the last Mysore war. Dhundia Wagh was a noted soldier of Maratha descent, who had been imprisoned by Tipu, but who, taking advantage of the chaos at the capital after the fall of the latter, managed to escape, collected a body of horse, about 5,000 strong, and took possession of some forts in the Shimoga region. But the English started operations against him immediately. Two field detachments were directed against him. One of these, under Lt. Col. James Dalrymple, marched against Chitradurga and took it without opposition on the 6th July 1799. On the 15th of the same month, he attacked with the cavalry a body of Dhundia's men who had been attacking the region in the neighbourhood of Chitradurga and destroyed nearly the whole party, which is estimated to have consisted of about 250 horse and 400 foot.

Two inscriptions belonging to this period have been found in this district. Both dated 1784, were found on a tomb, north of Chitradurga. Engraved in Persian script, they record the erec­tion of a tomb by order of Tipu Sultan for a holy man named Shah Ahmed.

Courtesy : Gazetteer of India, Chitradurga District, 1967.