Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of MysoreBy Shivakumar G Malagi
Bellary, Nov 27 2009
When the controversy hogged the Reddy Brothers mining empire after Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court held the Reddys’ owned Obulapuram Mining Company guilty of illegal mining and called for a halt to mining in six mines of Bellary Reserve Forest of Andhra Pradesh for the same reason, great warrior King Tippu Sultan might be turning in his grave!.
Before the “Tom, Dick and Reddys” tryst with disputed mineral rich zone surrounding Suggalamma hillock in BRF of Rayadurg taluk on Andhra Pradesh side, nearly 220 years ago, Mysore Tiger Tippu Sultan excavated mineral from the same area to manufacture artillery including war rockets.
According to volume XXV of the Geology of the Bellary District, Madras Presidency published in 1895, Tippu Sultan had a mine on the Sugalamma Koda (hillock). Author of this volume, Robert Bruce Foote, F.G.S., F.M.U; Superintendent of Geological Survey of India wrote “metal was mined for by Tippu Sultan when master of the Bellary region”. He wrote that Copper Mountain, a European geologist in Tippu’s army had vouched existence of mineral, particularly discovered copper and other chemical compositions of mineral in Sugalamma Konda that was used in making combustion powder.He documented that during his traverse, he found haematite quartzite rock, but there were no signs of copper in any form of variety. However, in his third attempt, he found an old abandoned mine in Sugalamma Konda as called by Telugu neighbourhood or Copper Mountain possessed of no collective native name, but which may well be called after its principal summit the Copper Mountain of the European and Suggammadevi Betta or Sogadevibetta of the Canarese (Kannada speaking people) natives.
In fact, Robert Bruce Foote took up research on Tippu's mine after the Captain T J Newbold, F.R.S of the Madras Army who made a number of traverses through various parts of the district after the fall of Tippu in IV Anglo-Mysore War. He had made descriptions on Tippu’s mines and mineral melting furnaces’ in Suggalamma hillock in the journal of Asiatic Societies of London and Bengal in 1842.
According to Kannada Kaifiyats (, with the mineral mined out from Suggalamma Konda, Tippu’s European engineers produced manufactured war weapons in melting furnaces located in the area including that Tippu-fame war rockets with an important change: the use of metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder. He used to store artillery in Bellary fort built on the Bellary rock hill.
Before the “Tom, Dick and Reddys” tryst with disputed mineral rich zone surrounding Suggalamma hillock in BRF of Rayadurg taluk on Andhra Pradesh side, nearly 220 years ago, Mysore Tiger Tippu Sultan excavated mineral from the same area to manufacture artillery including war rockets.
According to volume XXV of the Geology of the Bellary District, Madras Presidency published in 1895, Tippu Sultan had a mine on the Sugalamma Koda (hillock). Author of this volume, Robert Bruce Foote, F.G.S., F.M.U; Superintendent of Geological Survey of India wrote “metal was mined for by Tippu Sultan when master of the Bellary region”. He wrote that Copper Mountain, a European geologist in Tippu’s army had vouched existence of mineral, particularly discovered copper and other chemical compositions of mineral in Sugalamma Konda that was used in making combustion powder.He documented that during his traverse, he found haematite quartzite rock, but there were no signs of copper in any form of variety. However, in his third attempt, he found an old abandoned mine in Sugalamma Konda as called by Telugu neighbourhood or Copper Mountain possessed of no collective native name, but which may well be called after its principal summit the Copper Mountain of the European and Suggammadevi Betta or Sogadevibetta of the Canarese (Kannada speaking people) natives.
In fact, Robert Bruce Foote took up research on Tippu's mine after the Captain T J Newbold, F.R.S of the Madras Army who made a number of traverses through various parts of the district after the fall of Tippu in IV Anglo-Mysore War. He had made descriptions on Tippu’s mines and mineral melting furnaces’ in Suggalamma hillock in the journal of Asiatic Societies of London and Bengal in 1842.
According to Kannada Kaifiyats (, with the mineral mined out from Suggalamma Konda, Tippu’s European engineers produced manufactured war weapons in melting furnaces located in the area including that Tippu-fame war rockets with an important change: the use of metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder. He used to store artillery in Bellary fort built on the Bellary rock hill.
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