Tipu's
dream of a Republic
Despite the failure in getting military help from France, Tipu was constantly in touch
with the French drilling into their ears that there was yet a golden chance for them to
revive their influence in India provided they took a firm decission and stood solidly
behind him. But all his pleadings were ineffective until Napoleon came to power. He
realized that Tipu could be an effective instrument in forcing the English out of India.
He wrote to Tipu from Egypt in 1798 to wait until his arrival in India for a major
revolution that might liberate the Indians from the English yoke. Napoleon assured Tipu
that he would surely assist him to make his dream come true. But meanwhile other factors
conspired to defeat the whole scheme. Napoleon himself was defeated at Accre in Syria,
which forced him to escape to France steathily. But Tipu did not spare
any stone and turned to serve the cause of his country. He had come so close to French
revolutionary ideas as to declare himself as "Citizen Tipu", start a Jacobin
Club at his court, and plant a "Republican" tree out side his palace. In history
it is not always a success that deserves notice, but the presence of a new idea, which has
the potentiality of far-reaching results. His dream of a "Republic"
came through about 150 years later when India ushered into a new era on 26th January 1950.
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