Rangayana’s play on Tipu Sultan to ‘unveil his true nature’

Playwright claims history surrounding the Mysuru ruler ‘is cloaked in lies’

A new play on Tipu Sultan produced by theatre repertory Rangayana is set to make its stage debut during the month and the playwright claims that it is an attempt to ‘’unmask” the 18th century ruler.

Addanda C. Cariappa, who has written the play and is also the director of Rangayana, said here on Saturday that the history surrounding Tipu had been ‘’wrapped in lies’’ and his play titled ‘The Real Dreams of Tipu’ ( Tipu Nijakanasugalu) would bring out the ‘’suppressed facts’’ about the ruler.

It may be mentioned here that playwright the late Girish Karnad has penned a famous play called ‘Tipu Sultan Kanda Kanasu’ (The Dreams of Tipu Sultan), which Mr. Cariappa claimed to be a “distortion”.

Mr. Cariappa said the play was based on the collection of letters written by Tipu which are preserved in the British Library. These letters in Persian were translated by historian and former Vice-Chancellor K.M. Panicker into Malayalam. ‘’The letters of Tipu Sultan reveal his true dreams and the same work has been translated into Kannada by M. Chidananda Murthy,” said Mr. Cariappa.

“The incessant attack on Indian culture by Muslim rulers has been suppressed by historians and the true nature of Tipu too has been cloaked in lies,” alleged Mr. Cariappa who had stoked controversies in the past by patronising and inviting people espousing Hindutva ideology to Rangayana events, resulting in protests.

When asked about the obsession with Tipu, Mr. Cariappa said he belonged to a family that was “wronged” by the ruler. ‘‘Tipu Sultan has been valorised as a patriot, warrior, and a secular who funded Hindu temples, and vote bank politicians and pseudo-intellectuals have fortified this image of Tipu to further their interests,” said Mr. Cariappa. His play was ‘’an exercise to strengthen nationalism’’.