Historical Documentation: Tipu Sultan's Anti-Hindu & Anti-Christian Campaign & Atrocities

Historical documents reveal the heinous anti-Hindu campaigns of Tipu Sultan, whose reign was marked by systematic persecution of Hindu populations. The documents contain detailed accounts of brutality attributed to his religious zealotry and anti-Hindu campaigns. His forces implemented widespread forced conversions, orchestrated violent marriages of Hindu women to Muslims, Further legalizing mass rapes as Islamic Marriages afterwards, and conducted brutal executions. Contemporary accounts emphasize his systematic campaign of forcibly converting captured Hindu populations, particularly in regions like Malabar and Kodagu (Coorg), demonstrating his fanatical anti-Hindu agenda.

The anti-Hindu brutality of Tipu Sultan reached new heights at Kuttippuram Fort, where his forces surrounded 2,000 Nayars and their families. After a prolonged siege, the Hindu defenders were forced to surrender to the tyrannical Sultan's terms. His religious fanaticism was evident in his cruel ultimatum: either voluntarily convert to Islam or face forcible conversion and exile. The captured Hindus were subjected to horrific religious humiliation - males were forcibly circumcised, and all, including women, were compelled to consume beef to complete their forced conversion. This act of religious persecution became a template for his forces to replicate elsewhere.

Among the most heinous demonstrations of Tipu Sultan's anti-Hindu brutality was the mass execution at Calicut. In an act of unprecedented cruelty, he commanded his soldiers to hang Hindu mothers alongside their children, forcing children to be suspended from their mothers' necks - a grotesque symbol of his campaign to terrorize Hindu populations. His forces systematically targeted Hindu women through forced marriages to Muslims, combining religious persecution with physical violence. Fra Bartolomaeo, a contemporary witness, documented these atrocities, describing Tipu's systematic campaign of terror and destruction against Hindu communities.

The fanatic Sultan's anti-Hindu agenda extended to the royal family of Kodagu, particularly targeting Veerarajendra's sister Neelammaji and cousin Devammaji. After demanding that Veerarajendra and his brothers convert to Islam, the tyrannical ruler focused his religious persecution on the Hindu princesses. Displaying his characteristic disregard for Hindu nobility and traditions, Tipu forcibly sent both young princesses to his harem in Srirangapatna. In a final act of religious humiliation, he stripped them of their Hindu names, renaming Neelammaji to Mehatab and Devammaji to Abtab, completing their forced religious conversion.

The true nature of Tipu Sultan's reign is marked by his systematic persecution of Hindu Brahmins and destruction of Hindu temples. Historical records documented by scholars like Lewis Rice reveal his focused campaign against Hindu religious institutions and leaders. His forces systematically destroyed Hindu temples and imposed Islamic practices on Hindu populations, demonstrating his agenda of religious persecution.

In one of his most heinous anti-Hindu campaigns, Tipu Sultan's army conducted a massacre of thousands of Brahmins in the Tanjore region. His forces presented the Hindu population with a cruel choice: convert to Islam or face execution. This systematic campaign of religious persecution resulted in thousands of deaths, highlighting his pattern of targeting Hindu religious communities.