Tipu Sultan and Haidar Ali's connection to America - a world-wide celebration, July 4, 2020.

It is not generally known that the American National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner was inspired by the rockets invented by Tipu Sultan, ruler of India’s Mysore Kingdom. Tipu was a contemporary of Louis XVI, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte. His exploits, along with those of his father Haidar Ali, against the British East India Company encouraged the American Revolutionaries in their War of Independence (1776-83). This video podcast conference on July 4, 2020, arranged by The American Institute of Islamic History and Culture in California, highlights these and other unknown facets of this visionary king.

DISCLAIMER:
This presentation is offered to the public solely for historical educational and information and only for that purpose. The American Institute does not own the content nor shall it use it for commercial purposes. It is not the intent of the presentations to cause injury in any way to any person, group of persons, religion, faith, nationality or country. The presenters are not the sponsors of the event and are not responsible for any item besides their own presentation. The material belongs solely and exclusively to its owners.

SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS
Presentation 1:
Scholar, inventor, legislator, Dr. Nazeer Ahmed is a former NASA scientist, settled in California, USA. He is the founder of the American Institute of Islamic History and Culture and the author of several books on history of Islam as well as the popular website historyofislam.com. He traces how the rockets of a Muslim king, Tipu Sultan inspired the national anthem of the United States of America.

Presentation 2:
Ameen Ahmed is a writer and communication specialist based in Canada with an interest in post-medieval history of Mysore Kingdom. He has conducted extensive research into the correspondence of America’s founding fathers. He reveals how two warrior kings from south Asia- Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, awed America’s founding fathers, as well as ordinary Americans, during the country’s War of Independence.

Presentation 3:
Dr. Tauqueer Sarang, is a dentist and has a special interest in the history of south Asia as well as the regions connections with early America. Here he looks into the origin of Tipu’s rockets and how they provided him an edge over the British military.

Presentation 4:
Ameen Ahmed explores an interesting phase of global diplomacy when a founding father of America recorded Tipu’s foreign missions in his official correspondence.

Presentation 5:
Nidhin Olikara, from Shivamogga, India is a primary researcher on the history of Mysore Kingdom. He looks into allegations of religious bigotry against Tipu Sultan using his rich reading experience of published literature as well as research into new, never published contemporary sources.

Presentation 6:
Maratha raiders in 1791 pillaged Sringeri Mutt, one of Hinduism’s holiest sites. Attempts have been made to brush aside this raid as a one off incident. Ameen Ahmed traces some of the destruction inflicted by the Maratha Armies upon South India in the 18th century, even as Haidar Ali first and Tipu Sultan later tried to prevent and overcome the same during their rule.

Presentation 7:
Prof. Sheikh Ali is a renowned historian, scholar and a Vice-Chancellor of many universities, in India. He has done pioneering research for over seven decades on the history of Mysore Kingdom, particularly during the rule of Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan as well as later Wodeyars. Let us listen to him speak on the run-up to the Battle of Pollilur and how Tipu inflicted on the British one of the worst defeats in their history.

Presentation 8:
Aware of the global reach of the British, its arch enemy, Tipu Sultan relentlessly sought to establish global alliances with political and military powers outside India. Arwin Rahi is a writer and scholar from Afghanistan currently residing in Canada. He throws light on Tipu Sultan's invitation to Afghan King Zaman Shah to invade India and overthrow British by joining hands with him. Watch this presentation to understand what happened to this initiative.

Presentation 9:
Muneer Ahmed from Tumakuru, India is a senior journalist with many decades of experience writing using field based research. Here, he highlights some aspects of Tipu Sultan’s wise thinking relating to agriculture, livestock and horse breeding. He consulted historical documentation, spoke to experts on these topics and drew from his field visits spanning over a decade, in presenting his paper.