Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan, Goa, and Kanara Christians: Summary

Haidar Ali’s and Tipu Sultan’s policy towards Goa and their Kanara Christian subjects were dramatically different. 

Haidar accepted the different identities of his subjects, and allowed the exercise of their own laws as long as they did not affect the larger interests of his state. His relations with Goa and his Christian subjects were based entirely on how he could benefit from them. They contributed significantly to his military effort, and in Kanara, by way of tax revenues on their agricultural output. Two Goan priests, Bishop Noronha and Padre Miranda developed a close relationship with Haidar. Haidar’s army employed many Christians from Europe, Kanara (Topasses), and the Tamil and Kannada speaking regions of his state.  

Tipu’s policy toward Goa and his Christian subjects was dictated by his efforts to establish his legitimacy to rule his sultanat-i-khudadad, the ‘God-given state’. Tipu’s hostility towards the Europeans led him to attack their Christian identity as well. As a natural development, it extended to his own Christian subjects. It resulted in what is known as the Captivity. In March 1784, Christians throughout the sultanat-i-khudadad were deported to Srirangapatna, and deprived of their right to live as Christians. About 33,000 were taken from Kanara and another 7,000 left behind or escaped captivity. About a third succumbed to disease within the first year, and another third, those below 20 years, were forcibly converted to Islam and incorporated into the lashkar-i-ahmadi, the corps of chelas or military slaves. In effect it was an attempt to erase their Christianity identity and replace it with one aligned to state policy, namely Islam.

Blog: Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan, Goa, and Kanara Christians

Article: Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan, Goa, and Kanara Christians