Relations
with Iran
Iran was yet another country with which Tipu had contacts. In 1797 the Prince of Iran
having quarreled with his father arrived at Srirangapatna, was received with dignity and
honor. Tipu lodged him in the suburbs of Ganjam, visited him frequently, and said at the
time of his departure, "After you have made arrangements regarding
the capital of the Sultanate of Persia, it is my wish that you & I in concert with
Zaman Shah should endeavour to regulate and put in order the countries of Hindustan and
Dekhan." The prince agreed to the proposal and promised to
co-operate.
Tipu was more anxious to built commercial relations with Iran, knowing well it's military
weakness. He desired to revive the old trade routes via Iran to Europe, and to establish
commercial centers in Iran in return for similar facilities to the Persians in Mysore. He
wrote a letter to this effect to the Shah of Iran and also sent an agent, Nurullah to
impress on the Shah the importance of Political & Commercial contacts. Here also the
British defeated Tipu's designs by exciting Shia-Sunni differences.
Thus Tipu's efforts to build international contacts for his political and military designs
failed because of the superior diplomacy of the British, and also because of the unknown
causes such as the out break of the French Revolution. Neither the French nor the Turks
nor the Afghans were in a position to help him. A series of circumstances caused serious
impediments in his way, while step by step they paved the way for British ascendancy in
India.
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