Administration of Mysore under Tipu Sultan Shaheed

Tipu Sultan rose to the highest level of personal abilities. He appeared in true colours of his merits, and he fitted perfectly well in the position of an efficient army general and of humanitarian administrator, when he took over the reign of Mysore kingdom on 26 December, 1782, after the demise of his father, Haider Ali.
He reorganised state structure with the objective of making Mysore as a welfare state. He invested his faculties of heart and mind to improving the living conditions of the people. With that object in view he wielded sole authority over administrative power and personally was able to supervise the functions of the state, that made him one of the most industrious rulers in the Indian history.
His voluminous correspondence with his officials would indicate the ruler's great interest in the administration. He sent detailed instructions to them on every conceivable subject-civil, military and commercial.
Tipu had insatiable urge for making innovations and improvements. He did not even hesitate to emulate the good features of Western methods, Mughal pattern of revenue collection and system of administration that was prevalent in Turkey and he was influenced by the guiding principles of ancient Hindu kings for conducting the affairs of the state.
Tipu thoroughly reorganised the armed forces, and established a Board of Admiralty to streamline the fleet of fighting and mercantile vessels. He ordered the issue of new coinage. His decree for prohibition of the sale of liquor and reform of the calendar was largely welcomed as also the introduction of new scales of weights and measures. He made experiments in commerce, and adopted novel revenue and judicial regulations. Tipu had a passion for changing the names of towns and cities under his domain. He was endowed with unusually great creative ability and flair for modernisation. Even James Mill, who was not specially fond of Tipu, was compelled to declare that "....as a domestic ruler, he sustains an advantageous comparison with the greatest princes of the East."
No doubt, Tipu, like other Indian rulers of the princely states, was an autocrat.
But on having received the best of education from scholars in different fields of art, culture and science engaged by his illustrious father Haider Ali from North India, Central Asia and Europe, he showed remarkable ability in understanding matters related to governance of a modern state. He had gained practical experience of statecraft and military manoeuvres and strategies under the generalship of his father Hyder Ali.
Nevertheless Tipu had constituted a council of experts and consulted them on all important matters of state and war tactics. He heeded the advice of the council of experts and evaluated it before making a final decision which was his own. Despite his authoritative proclamations in matters of legislation, judiciary and revenue of the state he had a deep sense of duty in implementing orders with impartiality and with lenient treatment to the poor artisan class of his subjects.
Tipu Sultan was very keen to promote the agricultural output. He introduced agrarian reforms to encourage agricultural production. In order to favour the tillers of the soil the ruler applied land ceilings upon big land holdings and distributed the agricultural land among the landless farmers.
Tipu gave new classification to his armed forces and fighting units like infantry, cavalry and artillery divisions, and assigned them with Persian nomenclature and terminology.
He also improved port operations and merchandise yards. He reorganised mercantile marine and enforced preferential treatment with very friendly countries to promote import and export of goods.
Tipu issued new coins with the inscription of his name for circulation. The coins under Haider Ali were also considered as legal tender. The mint operations included coinage of different denominations with fractional value of Pagodas, that was an improvement over coinage under Haider Ali.
While during his tenure Haider Ali, retained the figure Siva and Parvati on the coins, Tipu Sultan changed the design of his coinage and introduced new coins of Mohars and Rupee. Silver coins were first issued by Tipu and he issued Sultani Asharafi also made of gold.
Under both Haidar and Tipu, the administration was firm and efficient. Both followed the established practices and also the local customs and laws of each region under their control. Whereas Haidar was not an innovator, Tipu certainly was one, and this had a favourable impact on his central government. Haidar maintained the figure head of Hindu rulers of the Wodeyars dynasty. While he was virtually ruling the state but Tipu did away with that stance unceremoniously.
In Tipus's new scheme of state management, the central administration was divided into 18 departments with the functions of the state.
In civil affairs, two of the most important departments were finance and police. The finance department was so streamlined to ensure revenue to meet the expenditure for social development of the state. The police department was entrusted with the task of maintaining law and order and providing safety to the people by including an intelligence set-up. The postal services were reorganised for speedy communications.
His "Farmans" or announcements were issued strictly under his pen and seal and no other officer of the state was supposed to transgress or infringe on the text of his decree. If any one found contravening the provisions "Farmans" he would receive severe punishment for default. Tipu allowed no quarter for corruption in the functionaries of the state.
Although there was no constitutional checks on Tipu's authority, he acted with a great sense of responsibility in spite of being the ruler beyond accountability. He believed that his subjects " a unique trust held for God the Real Sovereign" and he was answerable to Him for his deeds after his death.
Under Haider Ali, there were only a few provincial governorships. The two most important were governors of Bidnur and Malabar. Tipu first divided his kingdom into seven provinces and then increased them to nine and still later to 17. In 1794 the number of provinces had increased to 37 with 1,024 Amildars.
Each province was in charge of a civil governor (Asif) and a military governor (faujdar). The Asif was in charge of revenue and the faujdar looked after the law and order. The separation of power was envisaged to act as a check and balance. The Asif had shirastedars, clerks and peons. The villages were managed by patels and shanbhogs.
The patels were required to look after the roads, plants and trees and settle disputes in the village and maintain law and order. Orders were sent from Seringapatam in three languages: Persian, Kanarese and Marathi. The most important work of the civil government was the adjustment and collection of land revenue which was done by the Amildars.
Haider rented large districts to them and they had to pay the rent regularly. Every village was like a little republic with the Patel at the head. Tipu had gained great knowledge of the revenue system as he had been in-charge of managing large tracts before he ascended to the throne. The principle of land tenure was that a tenant and his heirs occupied the land so long as they cultivated it and paid rent.
The rent was fixed at one third of the crop for dry land and one-half for wet land irrigated by tanks or rivers, Tipu enlarged the cultivated area by allowing wasteland rent-free during the first year, charging a quarter during the second year and the normal rate from the third year onwards. He encouraged the cultivation of sugarcane, wheat and barley.
Tipu was the main source and authority for all supreme legislative, judicial and executive matters in his kingdom. In his enthusiasm for promoting the welfare of the people, Tipu adopted the role of a social reformer. He banned the consumption of liquor. He forbade prostitution, stopped polyandry in Malabar. And it was obligatory for all women of that area to cover their bodies properly, for in some parts of Malabar, women did not cover their bodies above the waist. He in fact assumed the role of a trader, manufacturer, banker and social reformer.
He attended matters of the state even remaining engaged in the battles with adversaries. He sent detailed instructions to his provincial and district officers. Under Haidar and Tipu, the Hindus were governed by their own laws without the kingdom's interference. There was complete freedom of worship for the people belonging to different faiths. The legislation allowed the age-old system of panchayat to function without any hindrance. Lieutenant Edward Moor, observes that "in Tipu's territory agriculture, trade, industry and commerce were all flourishing so well that it obviously indicated a general state of happiness among its inhabitants".
Tipu made numerous innovations in the structure of the central government by borrowing the idea from the Mughal kings, the English and the French. He strongly believed in effecting changes according to the times and demands of the situation. He kept on changing the number of departments from time to time. Every department had a chief, who had to record his views, under his own signature, in a book of minutes, which was kept in a box under the seal of the department. He introduced Persian names and terminology for all state functions and functionaries.
The important departments of his Sultanat-e-Khudadad (God-given kingdom), comprised revenue, finance, judiciary, agriculture, military, ordnance, commerce and architecture which received Tipu's direct review.
Tipu Sultan had a great sense of history and was endowed with foresight in the function of the state. Some of his projects in agriculture reform, water reservoirs, dams, horticultural gardens stand testimony as landmark of foresight even to this date in the province of Karnataka ( The new name of Mysore state after the integration of princely states of India).
The revenue system and record are maintained by the state of Karnataka on the pattern and system of Tipu Sultan even in the present times with modifications in the state of Karnataka ( presently the name of former Mysore state).