Empires
and the mind
SANJEEV JAIN explores the historical and psychiatric
aspects of the dreams of Tipu Sultan and the madness of
George III Psychological symptoms and diseases have had
a major influence on world history. The events around Mysore
offer a good example. The last quarter of the 18th century
was an important period for Europe and Asia. Calcutta, Bombay,
and Madras were already under British influence, as were
major parts of the Gangetic plains. However, in peninsular
India, the Kingdom of Mysore and the fledgling British Empire
were locked in a long and bloody fight.
Between 1790-1810, almost during the middle of the rule
of George III, the British were involved in violent wars
with France, and in India. They had already lost their other
empire, America, a few years earlier. In Mysore, the ruler
who obstructed the British was Tipu Sultan. Born in 1750,
he ascended the throne after the death of his father, Haider
Ali. According to some biographers, some documents recovered
from Seringapatnam in 1799 suggest that Haider thought Tipu
was unstable and fickle minded Tipu had a lively interest
in several matters - from reforming the calendar to using
rockets in warfare and other scientific and technical questions.
A very curious aspect was the dreams that Tipu recorded
and attempted to analyse. Analysis of dreams has a long
tradition in both Hindu and Muslim cultures. The Arabic
schools of medicine paid great attention to the content
of dreams. Avicenna, the famous Arab physician, devotes
a lot of attention to this.
Tipu introduces this book as ''the dreams I have had and
am having". Most of them reveal a preoccupation with driving
out the British (nazarenes) and religious issues. On one
occasion, Tipu dreamt of a strange animal that looks like
a cow, but striped like a tiger and devoid of any hind legs.
He attributes a symbolic significance to each component.
The British are cows, appearing to be tigers. They would
attempt to fight, but the absence of hind legs implied that
they would not get any support on the ground. They would
thus be defeated. On another occasion, he dreamt of idols
that come to life and want to continue praying. He then
decided to repair a derelict temple so that the idols were
better housed. In another dream, the tower of a temple collapses
during a festival, and he is rushing out to enquire about
the safety of the people. On several occasions he dreams
of Divine intervention helping him to drive out the English,
in addition to the help from the Marathas and the French.
Jealousies and rivalries within India contributed to Tipu's
difficulties. Ultimately, a mixed force consisting of soldiers
from other parts of India and a few British soldiers defeated
and killed Tipu Sultan on May 4, 1799. In all this, it is
evident that dream analysis was an accepted part of Indian
intellectual life, well before psychoanalysis was established.
That the dreams could reflect divine intervention, have
a symbolic significance, and wish fulfillment was clearly
recognised. This suggests an advanced awareness of subjective
psychological experience. The structure of the dreams and
the processes identified were not very different from what
Freud was to propose more than a century later. Even more
poignantly, we have a situation where an intellectually
sophisticated King, is battling against the representatives
of an obviously 'mad' one. The latter is protected by the
institutions of Government, the Parliament and the Asylum
Doctors (psychiatrists). Ultimately, the Institutions of
governance prove more powerful, and the native intellectual,
who dreamed of liberty, equality and fraternity, was defeated.
Perhaps we can draw a moral from all this. Nations, provided
they maintain their Institutions, can look after the mentally
ill with dignity, and be protected from their vagaries,
and even profit from them.When nations themselves lose their
direction and become chaotic and insane, not even wise men
can save them.
© Copyright, 1999 The Printers (Mysore)Ltd.
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