The Surrender of Two Sons of Tippo Sultaun

The saga of East India Company’s engagement with the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, remains one of the most fascinating stories of colonial rule in India, catching the imagination of English society in London of the time. This engraving by Henry Singleton—who never visited India—puts spotlight on an important episode of the Tipu saga, when he was made to surrender two of his thirteen sons to Lord Cornwallis in 1792 at the end of the Third Anglo-Mysore War. The two most important emotions that Singleton imbued this picturisation with are pathos crushing the Mysore royals and the arrogance of the victorious British.