The Tiger of Mysore: A Story of the War with Tippoo SaibHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
The Tiger of Mysore: A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
India -- History -- Mysore War, 1799 -- Fiction; Tipu Sultan, Fath 'Ali, Nawab of Mysore, 1753-1799 -- Juvenile fiction
"I see you still carry the pistols I left for you, and doubtless you
also received the letter I placed with them."
"Thanks be to Allah," the old colonel said, "that we have thus met
again! Truly I rejoiced, when my first anger that I had been fooled
passed away, that your father had escaped, and that without my being
able to blame myself for carelessness. Your letter to me completed my
satisfaction, for I felt that Heaven had rightly rewarded the efforts
of a son who had done so much, and risked his life for a father.
"Is he alive? Is he here? I should be glad to see him again; and
indeed, I missed him sorely. I have been here for two years, having
been appointed to a command among the troops here."
"My father is well, and is in England. He will, I know, be glad indeed
to hear that I have met you, for he will ever retain a grateful
remembrance of your kindness. Now I must finish my work here, and will
then go to the general, and beg him to give me an order for your
release."
An hour later Dick returned with the order, and carried Mahomed
Buckshy off to the Rajah's camp. Here his arm was set by one of the
surgeons, and he was so well cared for by the Rajah, Dick, and
Surajah, that a fortnight later he was convalescent, and was able to
join his wife in the town.
"I am thankful," he said, on leaving, "that my life as a soldier is
over, and that I shall never more have to fight against the English.
Tippoo was my master, but it is he who, by his cruelty and ambition,
has brought ruin upon Mysore. I have saved enough to live in comfort
for the rest of my life, and to its end I shall rejoice that I have
again met the son of my friend Jack."
The capture of Seringapatam was followed, at once, by the entire
submission of the whole country. A descendant of the old Rajah of
Mysore was placed upon the throne. His rule was, however, but a
nominal one. A very large amount of territory was annexed. The island
of Seringapatam was permanently occupied as a British possession. The
new rajah was bound to receive, and pay, a large military force for
the defence of his territories; not to admit any European foreigners
into his dominions; to allow the Company to garrison any fort in
Mysore that might seem advisable to them; and to pay, at all times,
attention to such advice as might be given him as to the
administration of his affairs. He was, in fact, to be but a puppet,
the British becoming the absolute rulers of Mysore.
The family of Tippoo, and the ladies of the harem, were removed to
Vellore, where they were to receive a palace suitable to their former
rank and expectations, and allowances amounting to 160,000 pounds a
year.
Thus Mysore, one of the most ancient and powerful of the kingdoms of
India, fell into the hands of the English, owing to the ambition,
bigotry, and besotted cruelty of the son of a usurper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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