#MarthandaVarma

“The king who died on his own rampart left two archives behind — his enemies published his letters, and his private book of dreams — and more than two centuries later India is still arguing over which one holds the real Tipu.”

“For seventeen years one southern kingdom — running its own arsenals, trading companies, embassies and rocket corps — was the main obstacle between the East India Company and India; when it fell, its ruler died fighting on his own wall, and its captured rockets fathered the modern military rocket.”