Two Important Books in the collection of Tipu Sultan in British Library

Tipu Sultan’s rich library was also taken over after his defeat at Sri Rangapatnam in 1799. His library was catalogued by Charles Stewart. Though efforts were made by the said catalgoure to discredit Tipu Sultan and claimed that majority of the books were acquired from other libraries of South India. But the contents and the decorated Covers (Jild) tell that majority were originally part of Tipu’s own library. In this paper, an incomplete anthology of the poets of Balkh is introduced as well as another work Zwabit e Sultani which are the regulations of the governance of Tipu Sultan. The second work provided the years all in Mowludi Calander, a calander introduced by Tipu Sultan for the benefit of cultivators of his domain to be benefitted in revenue payments.