Was Tipu Sultan a fanatic?

Historians are divided about Tipu Sultan. Not about his military prowess nor his ability to plan strategically. Those are beyond question. The doubts begin when one starts thinking about his religious inclinations and the policies that arose from them.

One group holds that Tipu was a fanatic. As support to this argument, they point to the fact that his initial upbringing had been with a clear focus that he would eventually join the religious order of the Sufi saint he had been named after. Only when his younger brother began to show signs of ill-health did Tipu's destiny change and he was spoken of as Hyder Ali's political heir. This group also points out to Tipu's assault on the Malabar coast and north Kerala where, according to them, Tipu forced people into mass conversion. They also hold that many temples were destroyed by Tipu during this phase.

Then there is the contrary view and a strong one at that, bolstered by NCERT text books which speak of Tipu as being a freedom fighter of sorts. According to this group, Tipu was a liberal who gave a considerable amount of religious freedom to his subjects and was certainly not a temple destroyer. They also mention that the influence on Tipu was not purely Islamic but had been tempered by Sufism which is a very liberal stream of thought. So what is the truth? Was he a fanatic or was he a liberal? While I will reserve my own opinion for the moment, I present certain facts I gleaned basis actual observation in and near Srirangapatnam, Tipu's former capital.

Srirangapatnam draws it's name from the famous temple of Sriranganathaswamy. This temple is intact and signs of 'restoration' are few and far between. It seems to have survived in its original state. As further evidence of this, there are several small rock cut idols scattered throughout the temple. These are not defaced or broken. They are intact in their original positions, varying from walls to ceremonial gateways etc. According to temple priests, the traditional practices of the shrine have continued uninterrupted for centuries, through the rule of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. There is no record of any disruption.

In another, less popular part of the fortress is a small shrine dedicated to the worship of snakes. Here, several clearly ancient idols of snakes are kept in an enclosure. Would an Islamic fanatic ever have tolerated this? A few kms away from Srirangapatnam lies the small village of Kere Thonnur (read more about this place here: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-12/news/29536317_1_darkness-water-traces). The place is less than an hour's drive from Tipu's capital. Here, in a state of near-perfect preservation is a group of 12th century temples, mostly dedicated to Vishnu. Oral traditions have survived in the village and they speak of the place as having been visited by Tipu during his reign. He is also believed to have visited a nearby lake, called the Moti Talab.

Would a fanatic have left the temples intact? With these facts, I rest my case and leave it to your judgement. Note: The portrait in the picture at the top is of Tipu Sultan, painted when Hyder Ali was still alive. It now hangs in a museum at Srirangapatnam.