Tipu Sultan and how a Wayanad town became Sulthan Bathery

Mangalore Today News Network

Wayanad, April 11, 2024: Tipu Sultan has now made an appearance in the battle of Wayanad.

After playing a role in Karnataka politics for years, it seems Tipu Sultan has expanded his territory to the neighbouring state of Kerala this Lok Sabha poll season.

 

K Surendran, the Kerala BJP chief, sparked a row by saying that it would be his priority to change the name of the Kerala town in Wayanad district, Sulthan Bathery, to Ganapathi Vattam, if he wins the Wayanad seat.

Surendran is the BJP’s candidate from Wayanad and has been fielded against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate, Annie Raja, in a three-cornered fight.

It was Surendran who brought up the Tipu Sultan reference during a poll rally on Thusrday.

"Who is Tipu Sultan? When it comes to Wayanad and its people, what is its importance? That place was known as Ganapathi Vattam. People are aware and are used to this name Ganapathi Vattam. That has been renamed," Surendran said.

The name of the municipal town of Sulthan Bathery is associated with Tipu Sultan, the 18th century Mysore ruler, and his conquest of Malabar (northern Kerala) in 1789.

HISTORY OF WAYANAD’S SULTHAN BATHERY

The story of Sulthan Bathery is rich and complex. The town, with its Neolithic roots, has been shaped by the diverse cultures of the tribals, attackers, and colonial rulers.

Sulthan Bathery, Kerala’s cleanest town, was actually once a dumping ground for arms and ammunition during the Mysore rule of Malabar (north Kerala), says the official website of Kerala Tourism.

The artillery battering in the town took place at a place which was once a Jain Temple, claimed BJP’s Sundaran.

The town was originally known as Ganapathyvattam, named after the Ganapati temple that once stood there, according to Sulthan Bathery’s municipal website.

However, during Tipu Sultan’s invasion of the Malabar region in the second half of the 1700s, the town was on Tipu Sultan’s route to the region, where the Mysore king was headed to suppress a rebellion.

Tipu’s military used the town of Ganapathyvattam as a place to store its battery (cluster of canons), and the town came to be known as ‘Sulthan’s Battery’, according to British colonial records.

Tipu Sultan also built a fort there, which is now in ruins.

He set up his battery at this site, and today the entirety of Sulthan Bathery is named after the same and is now the official name of the town, which the BJP leader seeks to change.

This name stuck, and Sultan Battery became Sulthan Bathery over time.

TIPU’S SULTHAN BATHERY AND A 13TH CENTURY JAIN TEMPLE

The town is also of importance to the Jain community. A Jain Temple, dating back to the 13th century, is said to have been built during the reign of the Vijayanagar Dynasty.

The temple is now a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

The town of Ganapathyvattam, on the route between Mysore and the ports of the Arabian Sea, also gained prominence as a trading centre and a stopover.

Ganapativattam’s significance and relevance are frequently cited in reports, with British records mentioning a police picket situated in an area named, ’Ganapatipalayam’, according to the website of the Sulthan Bathery municipality.

As a result, the British adopted the name Sulthan Bathery as the name of the town, given it housed Tipu Sultan’s armoury at Ganapativattam.

Later, British gazettes and historians referred the town to as Sulthan’s Battery.

However, Surendran’s statement regarding the name change drew criticism from the Left and the Congress.

"It’s Kerala right. This is Kerala. You know, right? It will not happen. He won’t win anyway, and he won’t change the name either," Indian Union Muslim League general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said.

Congress leader and MLA T Siddique termed Sundaran’s remark as nothing but an "attempt to grab public attention".

Whatever it is, Tipu Sultan, because of his Sulthan’s Battery, has become a discussion point in Kerala ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Courtesy: India Today