THE Register from which the following letters have been taken, and which has been cursorily noticed in the Advertisement, is the fragment, only, of a record, which, if it had reached us in a perfect state, would probably have exhibited copies of all the public or official correspondence of Tippoo Sultan, from the commencement to the close of his reign. Unfortunately, however, the portion of these highly interesting docu­ments which has been preserved, or, at least, hitherto discovered, is not so extensive as could have been wished; the correspondence, in question, not beginning till February 1785, and ending with November 1793. But, even in this period, considerable chasms occur; while, from 1794 to 1799, is an absolute blank. In short, we are, at present, in possession of little more than a third part of the correspondence, which may rea­sonably be supposed to have taken place within the time spoken of: in which account, however, I do not include such detached letters of the Sultan as have come to us through other channels, and all of which are of a subsequent date to the latest of those recorded in the Register.

But whatever cause we may have to regret the actual deficiency of our present materials, we ought not, perhaps, absolutely to despair of its being yet supplied by the successful diligence of future enquirers. Ad­verting to the extreme regularity observed by the Sultan in the registry of his official correspondence, little doubt can be entertained of the exis­tence of the now missing part of it, at the time of his death. Supposing it therefore, to have escaped the destruction, which, as was stated in the Advertisement, swept away but too many of the archives of his government, it is still possible, that it may be recovered, out of the private hands into which it has probably fallen. In the mean while, the value of the portion actually preserved, is not, perhaps, essentially diminished, by the loss that appears to have been sustained. Enough remains, if not to elucidate every transaction of the Sultan’s reign, at least to develope his singular character in the most satisfactory manner. The importance of these letters, indeed, does not consist so much in the light which they are calculated to shed on several material occurrences of the period they relate to (though, in this respect, they will certainly be found a useful guide to the future historian of Mysore) as in the vivid illustration which they afford of the genius, talents, and disposition of their extraordinary author, who is here successively and repeatedly delineated, in colors from his own pencil, as the cruel and relentless enemy; the intolerant bigot or furious fanatic; the oppressive and unjust ruler; the harsh and rigid master; the sanguinary tyrant; the perfidious negociator; the frivolous and capricious innovator; the mean and minute economist; the peddling trader; and even the retail shop-keeper. The painter will not be suspected of overcharging the unfavorable traits of the picture, when it is considered that that picture is his own.

In making the present selection from about a thousand letters,* I have confined myself, almost entirely, to such as either appeared to exhibit the Sultan in some new light; to unfold some of his political, financial, or commercial views; or to elucidate some historical fact. Those which merely related to the details of ordinary business, without eliciting any thing peculiarly characteristic of the writer, have been passed over. I have also judged it unnecessary to insert any part of the Sultan’s cor­respondence with the several British Governors of India, as most of these documents are already in the possession of the Public.

I will now proceed to give some account of the rules, by which I have, in general, been guided in the course of the present translation.

My principal object, in this work, being to present as striking a likeness of Tippoo, as the nature of my materials, and the extent of my ability to employ them advantageously, would admit, I thought it essen­tial to this end, to render his sentiments, on all occasions, as closely as the different idioms of the two languages would allow, without involving the sense in difficulty or obscurity. In short, what I wished, but cannot hope to have attained, is, that the reader, losing sight entirely of the translator, should fancy himself in presence of the Sultan, listening to the latter, while dictating to one or other of the different secretaries by whom he was usually attended.

Proceeding on this principle, I have, for the most part, adhered more strictly to the phraseology or diction of my original, than is usually deemed necessary, or expedient, in translations from a foreign language; and I am ready to admit, that my unwillingness to relinquish the slightest turn of expression, appearing particularly to denote the feeling which suggested it, may have sometimes led me too far. Still, however, my translation is not absolutely a verbal one; since I have not scrupled to exercise a certain license, as often as either our language could not be easily bent to the form of the Persian, or ambiguity was likely to result from the attempt. There are, indeed, two points, in which I acknowledge to have uniformly deviated from the strict letter of the original, and on which it may not be improper, in this place, to submit a few obser­vations to the notice of the Reader.

One of the points alluded to consists in my making the writer of these letters almost constantly use the first person plural, when speaking of himself; but though it is true, that the precise words, corresponding to we, our, and us, are not employed by the Sultan, yet are the latter entirely agreeable to the genius of the language, in which nothing is more common than the substitution of the plural for the singular pronouns, unless it be that of the third for both the first and second.* In these letters, however, the pronoun of the first person, whether singular or plural, scarcely ever occurs,* the words <Arabic> Hûzoor (Presence), and <Arabic> Sircar (state or government), being every where used instead of them. As, therefore, the perpetual recurrence of such terms would have had a very awkward appearance in English, if it would not, also, have sometimes embarrassed the sense, I did not hesitate at con­verting them generally into pronouns. It may be further urged, in justification of the liberty I have taken, that while, on the one hand, the style of majesty, thus assigned to the Sultan, is in perfect conformity with the usage of the East, it is also the best suited to the mandatory nature of the chief part of the letters, and to the actual rank of the writer. In a few instances, where the persons addressed are of a differ­ent description from the generality of his correspondents, I have judged it right to make the Sultan descend (as, indeed, he more or less does himself in the original) to the customary style of equality.

The second point, in which I have ventured to depart pretty constantly from the manuscript, respects the tense, as the preceding one does the person. Instead of the perfect, or preterpluperfect tense, in which the letters of his correspondents are always spoken of by the Sultan, I have adopted, as more agreeable to the idiom of our language, the use of the present and compound preterite: thus, for <Arabic> it was written (by you), or you wrote, I have put, you write. In the same manner I have rendered <Arabic> passed under view, by, has passed under (our) view;* and so in other similar cases.

With the exceptions which have been stated, and scarcely with any other, my general rule has been, to retain, as nearly as possible, every word and thought, that seemed to mark, in any prominent degree, the peculiar cast of the writer’s mind.

Tippoo Sultan, indeed, rarely took up his pen, without its laying open some recess or other of his various and irregular mind. He seldom issues an order, that does not bespeak, either the general tone of his nature, or the particular impulse of the moment. He seems to have felt no hesi­tation in avowing, in the course of the letters which follow, the most flagitious sentiments; and this may be accounted for on one or other, or on both, of these principles. The letters being, in the first place, addressed, with few exceptions, to persons in absolute dependence on him, he consequently would be wholly free from that sort of reserve, which arises from the fear of incurring the censure or reproach of the world. He knew his will to be a law, the propriety of which, as it might concern others, would never be canvassed or doubted by any of his slaves. In the next place, he probably measured the sentiments in question, by a different standard from that with which we estimate them. Thus, the various murders and acts of treachery, which we see him directing to be carried into execution, were not criminal, but, on the contrary, just, and even meritorious, in his eyes. They might, and most likely did, in a great degree, proceed from a disposition naturally cruel and sanguinary: but, perhaps, an intolerant religious zeal and bigotry were not less active motives to them. The Koran taught him, that it was not necessary to keep faith with infidels, or the enemies of the true religion, in which class it was not difficult for him to persuade himself that it was right to include all who opposed, or refused to co-operate in, his views, for the extension of that religion; or, in other words, for his own aggrandisement. Hence it was, that our Musulman allies and subjects were scarcely less obnoxious to his hatred and ven­geance than ourselves. With regard to the secret murder of his English prisoners, his dreadful slaughter of the Koorgs and Nairs, and his forcible conversion of so many thousands of the two latter tribes to the Mahommedan faith, he most probably thought such enormities no less warranted, both by the example and precepts of the founder of his religion, than the infraction of oaths and engagements in transactions with unbelievers.

It may be thought, that admitting the propriety of a close adherence, in general, to the original of a work of the peculiar nature of the present, still there was no necessity for retaining, so scrupulously as I may seem to have done, its numerous pleonasms and tautologies, both in matter and expression. With respect, however, to the former of these defects, (namely, the perpetual reiteration of the same opinion or direc­tion) I confess I did not deem it right to retrench superfluities, which did not appear as such to their author; who, though he undoubtedly too often wearies us with a repetition of the same thing, might, never­theless, in so doing, have had it in view to stimulate the diligence and zeal of his servants: and where the fault may not seem to have proceeded from this cause, it at least marks an earnest solicitude of mind, for the accomplishment of the objects so incessantly impressed on the attention of the persons addressed. These observations will be found, perhaps, more especially applicable to the letters written to Kumrûddeen Khân, to Bûrhânûddeen, and to the diplomatic agents at Poonah.

With regard to the mere verbal tautologies, I am ready to admit that they might have been considerably abridged, without any injury to the general sense of the original, and certainly with advantage to the style. As, however, they appeared to me, in many instances, strongly characteristic of the genius and temper of the writer, I have, on such occasions, thought it right to preserve them in the translation, though somewhat at the expence of good taste and brevity. On the other hand, where the perpetual recurrence of an unmeaning form of speech would have become grating to the ear, or tiresome to the eye, I have not scrupled to vary it occasionally. I shall be found to have exercised this liberty most frequently in the introductory part of these letters, where, instead of “your humble address has passed under view, and the circum­stances set forth therein are manifest, or duly comprehended, &c.” with which, or similar words, they usually begin, I have generally contented myself with a simple notification of the receipt of the letter referred to. Now and then, only, for the sake of variety, I have retained the cir­cuitous phraseology of the original. On the whole, however, I have no where, for the mere sake of improving the general style of the transla­tion, or of infusing more spirit into any particular passage or expression, deviated intentionally from my manuscript, of which my endeavour has been to give as faithful a version as was compatible with a due regard to perspicuity. If I have not always succeeded in this object, I am willing that the failure should, for the most part, be attributed to my incompetency. At the same time, I owe it to myself to observe, and trust my readers will believe, that it has sometimes proceeded entirely from the obscurity of the original, occasioned either by the carelessness of my author, or by the errors of transcribers.

Notwithstanding the few redundancies of style which have been noticed as pervading the following letters, their general characteristic is cer­tainly brevity, which, perhaps, might proceed, in some degree, from a notion of the writer, that the laconic manner was the one best suited to the authoritative nature of his dispatches, as well as to the relative situa­tion of the persons to whom they were chiefly addressed. It was certainly, too, well adapted, if not absolutely necessary, to the purpose of one who had his pen for ever in his hand, and who himself (whether from inclina­tion, or from an universal distrust of all whom he employed, or from a passion to be thought, not only the principal, but the sole originator, of every thing) directed, either by writing or orally, the most minute details of his government. Such a one could not have had leisure to compose long letters, had they been necessary; which, however, would rarely be the case. But be this as it might, the Sultan does not appear to have possessed a sufficient stretch of thought upon any subject (even those that he most delighted in or affected) to enable him to discuss it, either with logical force or precision. A consecutive train of argument was a thing of which he no where seems to have had an idea: yet some of the occasions, on which he wrote or dictated, certainly afforded ample scope for the display of the reasoning faculty. His writings, however, furnish as little proof of his having possessed this faculty, as his actions in general did. Even in his own Memoirs, which he did not begin to compose till he was past forty, we meet with nothing indicating capacity of any kind. He did not even write with facility. This is clearly shewn, by various memoran­dums in his hand-writing, which, though very short, and on subjects of no difficulty, abound in erasures and corrections. One, in particular, relating to the question, whether Major Doveton should be allowed to accompany the hostage princes, on their return from Madras? is nearly unintelligible, in consequence of the interlineations which disfigure, and the general confusion of ideas and dates which pervades it. As this cu­rious document, besides serving to establish the truth of the position just advanced, is, in some other respects, extremely interesting, the Persian reader may not be displeased to see a fac simile of it, which has been engraved for this work, and forms Appendix A.

Although the authenticity of these letters will hardly be disputed, even by the most sceptical, yet the reader may hesitate to believe, that, with the exception, perhaps, of those addressed to the Emperor of Hindostan (the late Shah Allum), and a few others of the more elaborate or finished kind, if any of them may be so considered, they were either dictated by the Sultan, or actually proceeded from his pen. Nor, indeed, does this notion admit, at present, of any direct or positive proof. Its probability only can be contended for; and that, I think, sufficiently deducible from the internal evidence afforded by these documents themselves. Their laconic and abrupt style, their commanding and peremptory tone, and the asperity of language which distinguishes so many of them, all abun­dantly indicate their origin. No Mûnshy, or secretary, in short, can be reasonably supposed to have drafted such letters; while, as to the labour attending the composition or dictation of so many dispatches, as sometimes appear under the same date, it will scarcely be thought to constitute any objection to the present hypothesis, in the case of one so addicted to writing, and so indefatigable in business, as the Sultan was.

To return from this digression, to the account I proposed giving of the plan of the following translation. The notes which I have annexed to it are of two kinds: those merely explanatory of a single word, or phrase, or referring to other letters, or relating to dates, appear at the bottom of the page. When, on the other hand, a particular letter or passage has suggested to me any reflections, to which I wished to draw the reader’s attention, I have, instead of encumbering the page with them, placed them under the title of “OBSERVATIONS,” at the end of the letter giving rise to them. Upon this commentary, if I may so call those observations, I have taken occasion to engraft, besides other original matter, a con­siderable portion of a highly interesting manuscript, purporting to be a Memoir of Tippoo Sultan, written by himself. This curious document was among the numerous papers discovered by Colonel Ogg. The copy with which that gentleman favored me was entitled Tareekhe Khodâdâdy, i. e. the Khodâdâdy Annals, or History of the Khodâdâd Sircar. The work was, from the beginning, in an imperfect state; the narrative being brought down to no later a period than the termination of the Mah­rattah war, or the month of February 1787. My copy, however, has been rendered still more incomplete, by an unfortunate accident, which occasioned the destruction of several leaves of it. The original Memoir evidently formed, as far as it went, the ground-work of the more diffuse and elaborate history of Zynûl Aabideen Shoostry, mentioned by Colonel Wilks, and called by its author, in allusion to his master’s name, “the “Sultan of History.” I am not enabled to say, whether the copy of the fragment found by Colonel Ogg was in the actual hand-writing of the Sultan: but, however this may be, I venture to think, that no just doubt can be entertained of its genuineness. It was discovered in the palace of the Sultan, and along with other documents of unquestioned authen­ticity. The style and matter of it, moreover, abundantly support its claim to credit. It is written throughout in the first person; and while it states some facts which could be known only to the Sultan, it every where breathes the same over-weening spirit, which so strongly distin­guishes almost every production of his pen. The Persian scholar, how­ever, who may wish to judge on this point for himself, will have it in his power to do so, by inspecting the manuscript in question; which, together with the original of the following letters, will be deposited in the East-India Company’s Library.*

Such technical terms (and especially the names of offices and employ­ments) as I could not render into English, with perfect reliance on the fidelity of my interpretation, I have retained in the original, and subjoined, by the way of notes, the best explanation of them in my power to give I may add here, that whenever I have been in any doubt, with respect to the sense of a particular word or phrase, I have usually noticed it, offer­ing, at the same time, the interpretation that seemed to me to be nearest the truth, and not unfrequently putting the original Persian at the bottom of the page. Where the meaning, on the other hand, owing to some error in the manuscript, or to my insufficiency, has appeared utterly inexplicable, I have thought it best to pass over the unintelligible part altogether, but never without announcing the omission.

This seems the proper place for apprizing the reader, that the words enclosed in hooks, or crotchets, are not strictly warranted by the origi­nal, but have been supplied, in order to complete the sense, and prevent the obscurity which their omission would have been liable to produce: for, however diffuse or exuberant the usual style of Persian composition may be, that language abounds in phrases and modes of expression, which, owing to their concise structure, leave much to be understood, and which can be rendered intelligible in English, only by such means as I have occasionally adopted.

I could have wished it had been in my power to have elucidated the geography of the present work, in a more satisfactory manner than has been done. In fact, I have been enabled to afford the reader little or no additional information on this subject, in aid of what is to be obtained from the latest maps of Mysore, of which I consider the one, given in Colonel Wilks’s valuable History of that state, as the best. What has increased my difficulty, on this occasion, is, that the names of many places, occurring in the Persian manuscript, are written so indistinctly, that I could only guess at them; which, however, I have never done, without noticing the circumstance. Besides this, there are several forts and towns mentioned in the following pages, which would be sought for in vain in any map or gazetteer, hitherto published; because, in the rage for innovation, which never ceased to actuate the Sultan, he was led, among other reforms of a similar nature, to change their ancient and still generally prevalent names. Thus, to Chittledoorg he gave the name of Furrûkh-yâb Hisâr; to Gooty, that of Fyze-Hisâr, &c. Some of these innovations are officially announced, in the course of the present work. It appears somewhat singular, that in his childish eagerness to give new denominations to every thing, he should have suffered Seringapatam and Bangalore to retain their old names; especially as the former appellation, having been derived from an idol, might, on that account, be supposed to have been particularly offensive to a bigotted Musulman. It is not, therefore, improbable, that some superstitious notion may have restrained him in these instances, and saved those ancient cities from the transfor­mation experienced by so many others.

On the subject of the oriental orthography of the present work, it is the more necessary to submit a few remarks to the reader’s consideration, as these letters abound so greatly in proper names, and other Persian or Hindivi words. Such a diversity of opinion and practice prevails in this respect, that it would not be possible to adopt any scheme entirely accept­able to all. That which I have, for the most part, endeavoured to follow, is the one introduced at the College of Fort William, on the first establishment of that admirable institution, which appears to me better adapted than any other, to convey to the English reader an accurate notion of the pronunciation of the Persian language, as spoken in India. I have not, however, rigidly adhered to the scheme in question, having, for instance, rarely followed it, in opposition to any very prevalent or general practice, however incorrect the latter might be. Thus I have always, in compliance with the common usage, written Mahommed, in­stead of Muhummed; Mysore, instead of Mysoor; Bangalore, instead of Bungloor; Seringapatam, instead of Sri-rung-putn, &c. On the same principle, I have preferred Tippoo Sultan to the more correct spelling of Tipoo Sûltaun or Sûltân; though I observe that the latter mode of writing the word Sultan has been adopted by Major Stewart and others. Still, however, as the short, or quick sound, of the last of the two syllables composing it, is almost in universal use, I have thought it right to preserve the spelling which best expresses that sound.*

Before I conclude these introductory remarks it may be proper to state, that my chief trouble, in the present work, has arisen from the difficulty I have had in adjusting the Kalendar introduced by the Sultan. On this subject I have found it necessary to enter into a distinct discussion, which, accordingly, immediately follows the Preface. It may here suffice to say, that though I am, by no means, confident of having completely succeeded in my endeavors on this occasion, I nevertheless trust, that none of my dates will be found materially wrong. I also deem it requi­site to observe, that notwithstanding the pains which I have taken to arrange these letters in the regular order of time, I am apprehensive that some of them will be found out of their proper place. The reason of this is, that with a view to dispatch, the original was distributed, for copying, among several transcribers; and that, on the completion of the work, the different portions of the copy, instead of being carefully disposed, according to their respective dates, were bound up promiscu­ously together. Owing to this inadvertency, I constantly found, when I came to examine them in a collected form, that two letters which, agreeably to their dates, should have stood together, were separated, perhaps, by a hundred pages: consequently, before I could proceed satisfactorily with my translation, I was obliged to reduce this chaos to some order; and if I have not been entirely successful in the attempt, the indulgent reader will make due allowance for the difficulty and irksomeness of my task.

Besides the extensive obligations which I have declared myself to be under to the liberal kindness of Colonel Ogg, it is incumbent upon me to acknowledge, on the present occasion, the great assistance I have derived, in several instances, from another source. I here allude to various valuable communications with which I have, at different times, been favoured, by my very able friend, Lieutenant Colonel Colin M‘Kenzie, of the Madras Engineers; to whose indefatigable and laudable researches, respecting the History and Antiquities of the South of India, such just and honorable testimony has been borne by Colonel Wilks, in the valuable work which that accomplished writer has lately presented to the public.

The list of those, however, to whom I owe the humble tribute of my thanks on the present occasion is not yet closed. I am proud to add to it the name of Dr. Wilkins, the learned and ingenious Librarian of the East India Company, to whose friendly assistance and advice, at the outset of my undertaking in particular, I consider myself to be much indebted. I am also eager to acknowledge my obligations to Charles Stewart, Esq. the learned Professor of Arabic, Persian, and Hindostâny, at the East-India Company’s College at Hertford; and to Sir Charles Warre Malet, Bart., who filled with distinguished reputation, during a period of ten years, the important station of Resident at the Court of Poonah. The nature of the communications with which I have been favored by the two latter gentlemen, will appear more fully in the sequel.

But to none of my literary friends do I feel more deeply indebted, for aid afforded me in the conduct of the present work, than to John Shakespear, Esq. of the Honorable East-India Company’s Military Institution at Croydon, in Surry; for if that able Orientalist had not most kindly undertaken to superintend it in its progress through the press, I must, of necessity, on account of my unavoidable absence from town, have postponed its publication to an indefinite period, if I had not even been induced, by the difficulties arising from this circumstance, to relinquish my design altogether. I would fain, therefore, enlarge, in this place, on the advantages which my book has derived, from the indefatigable care bestowed upon its revision; but I am restrained from indulging my inclination, in this respect, by knowing that I shall best consult the satisfaction of the gentleman in question, by abstaining, on the present occasion, from any more particular acknowledgement of my obligations to him.

To the names of the persons already announced, as having contributed, by their communications, to whatever value the present work may be thought to possess, I am bound to add those of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Munro and Lieutenant Colonel Mariott, both of the Madras establishment. I must, at the same time, lament, that circumstances should not have admitted of my profiting by their extensive infor­mation, in the degree which an earlier application to them might have enabled me to do.