Crossing over from one area to another in this small island town, it is
littered with many edifices that have a history ranging from ancient to
old. Ancient temples abound here but for us, it was the armory that
generated a lot of interest. In ancient India, we have not seen the
existence of armories but Tipu’s armories can be seen in some districts of
Karnataka. Some are intact while some are being renovated.
In his 17 years of rule, the warrior of Mysuru -Tipu Sultan had armored
himself well, and therefore, this had led to the construction of 11
armories across his kingdom stretching from Mysore to Bangalore to
Tumakuru to other places in the south interior parts of Karnataka. Most of
these are located near forts or palaces that he had built.
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| The dilapidated armory |
Since Srirangapatna was his capital, he had built six armories here and
the rest in other places – from 2-5 in Bengaluru, Madhugiri, Pavgada,
Manjarabad, and Sultan Bathery. There were reportedly five in Bengaluru
but they were all lost in the footprints of history for some other reason.
The only one that remains in Bengaluru is the Kalasipalya armory and is
being restored by authorities.
However, the condition of other armories in Srirangapatna is not good. As
we ventured to the outskirts of the town to the westernmost parts of the
fort, the Cauvery River that flowed gently across hid a few armories.
There are about six armories located between the 6 gateways of the fort.
Usually, all his armories were built camouflaged by vegetation or hidden
among other structures but connected to his palace or the Srirangapatna
fort.
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| The protected monument board |
Most of them were built underground during those days to protect the arms
and ammunition from the vagaries of weather especially heat and rains. And
the relocated armory too was built in the same way – situated in the
western part of the town with an underground connection to the fort which
is not visible today.
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| The entrance amidst the rubble |
After having our lunch in Shantamma’s mess, we just walked across the
road, and to our surprise, there stood another one at one corner. However,
this one seemed to be forgotten, and even entering the place was
difficult. According to a resident, authorities were not bothered about
its upkeep while all sorts of waste material including glass materials
were strewn all over. The entry was barred and one could not go down the
structure.
Now, what did Tipu Sultan keep in his various armories? According to
historians, he had stored arms and ammunition, rockets, cannonballs, and
missiles in his armories situated between Mysuru and Bengaluru. The “metal
rockets” seized from these places in the last Anglo-Mysore War became the
basis for the development of the Congreve rockets by the British in their
war with Napoleon. Several helmets worn by Tipu and his soldiers were
found here.
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| Another part of the armory |
Unfortunately, many of Tipu’s swords, guns, and other weapons which were
confiscated by the soldiers of the British East India Company from the
battlefield were passed on to their families in many parts of England.
Most objects have been auctioned by these families for fabulous sums of
money.
Most of the the armories’ stored items that were looted can now be found in
England. Some weapons like jeweled swords and daggers were lost
permanently after the war. Some families have
been auctioning these gold-encrusted swords and other artifacts. So the
chances that these artifacts ever come back are slim to nil.
Location map:
Location map:
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