Do you know that Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore and his son Shaheed Tipu Sultan had their own navy and this was the first Sultanate which had its own navy force.
In 1763, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan established their first war fleet on the Malabar coast, the command of which was handed over to Ali Raja Kunhi, this war fleet deployed in the Indian Ocean was equipped with the deadly and modern weapons of that time. Ali conquered many islands which were impossible for the Mughals to reach because the Mughals had no navy.
In 1763 itself, Sultan Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan had captured Lakshadweep and Maldives under the command of Ali Raja. To give the happy news of this victory, Navy Commander Aliraja reached Mysore and presented before the Sultan the Sultan of Maldives, Hassan Aziz Uddin.
Hyder Ali became enraged at this brutal action of Commander Ali Raja and immediately suspended Commander Ali Raja from his post and took back the command of the Navy from him and the Sultan of Maldives. Hasan Aziz Uddin was given back his throne and sent back with honour.
In 1786, Tipu Sultan, following in his father's footsteps, decided to create another navy consisting of 20 battleships of 72 guns and 20 frigates of 62 guns. In the year 1790, he appointed Kamaluddin as his Mir Bahar and established large-scale dockyards at Jamalabad and Majidabad. Tipu Sultan's Board of Admiralty included 11 commanders in Mir Yam's service. One Mir Yam commanded 30 admirals and each of them had two ships. While the ship was being built, Tipu Sultan ordered that the floors of the ships should be made of copper, which would increase the lifespan of the ship. This idea was given to Tipu Sultan by French Admiral Saffron.
Comments
Post a Comment