Editing Tipu Sultan (section)

===Foreign relations===

[[File:Louis XVI Receives the Ambassadors of Tipu Sultan 1788 Voyer after Emile Wattier 19th century.jpg|thumb|[[Louis XVI]] receives the ambassadors of Tipu Sultan in 1788. Tipu Sultan is known to have sent many diplomatic missions to France, the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Sultanate of Oman]], [[Zand dynasty]] and [[Durrani Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|author=B. Sheik Ali |date=August 1999 |title=The Vision and Mission of Tipu Sultan |work=Islamic Voice |url=http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.99/tippu.htm |access-date=16 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005002119/http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.99/tippu.htm}}</ref>]]

;Mughal Empire

Both Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan owed nominal allegiance to the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]]; both were described as [[Nabob]]s by the [[British East India Company]] in all existing treaties. But unlike the [[Nawab of Carnatic]], they did not acknowledge the overlordship of the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]].{{sfn|Brittlebank|1999|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}}

Immediately after his coronation as ''Badshah'', Tipu Sultan sought the investiture of the Mughal emperor. He earned the title ''"Nasib-ud-Daula"'' with the heavy heart of those loyal to Shah Alam II. Tipu was a selfdeclared "[[Sultan]]" this fact drew towards him the hostility of [[Nizam Ali Khan]], the Nizam of Hyderabad, who clearly expressed his hostility by dissuading the Mughal emperor and laying claims on Mysore. Disheartened, Tipu Sultan began to establish contacts with other Muslim rulers of that period.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s04pus5jBNwC&q=tipu+sultan+and+ottoman&pg=PA11 |title=Pan-Islamism: Indian Muslims, the Ottomans and Britain, 1877–1924 |isbn=978-90-04-10632-1 |last1=Özcan |first1=Azmi |year=1997| publisher=BRILL}}</ref>

Tipu Sultan was the master of his own diplomacy with foreign nations, in his quest to rid India of the [[East India Company]] and to ensure the international strength of [[France]]. Like his father before him he fought battles on behalf of foreign nations which were not in the best interests of Shah Alam II.

After [[Ghulam Kadir|Ghulam Qadir]] had Shah Alam II blinded on 10 August 1788, Tipu Sultan is believed to have broken into tears.<ref>{{Cite book |quote=plight. |title=Secret correspondence of Tipu Sultan |publisher=Light and Life Publishers |last1=Kausar |first1=Kabir |year=1980 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12717}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}

[[File:The storming of Seringapatam - John Vendramini, 1802 - BL P779.jpg|thumb|Tipu Sultan's forces during the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Siege of Srirangapatna]].]]

After the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Fall of Seringapatam]] in 1799, the blind emperor did remorse for Tipu, but maintained his confidence in the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]], who had now made peace with the British.

; Afghanistan

After facing substantial threats from the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], Tipu Sultan began to correspond with [[Zaman Shah Durrani]], the ruler of the Afghan [[Durrani Empire]], so they could defeat the British and Marathas. Initially, Zaman Shah agreed to help Tipu, but the Persian attack on Afghanistan's Western border diverted its forces, and hence no help could be provided to Tipu.

; Ottoman Empire

In 1787, Tipu Sultan sent an embassy to the [[Turkish Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] capital Constantinople, to the Ottoman [[Sultan]] [[Abdul Hamid I]] requesting urgent assistance against the [[British East India Company]]. Tipu Sultan requested the Ottoman Sultan to send him troops and military experts. Furthermore, Tipu Sultan also requested permission from the Ottomans to contribute to the maintenance of the [[Islam]]ic shrines in [[Mecca]], [[Medina]], [[Najaf]] and [[Karbala]].

However, the Ottomans were themselves in crisis and still recuperating from the devastating [[Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18|Austro-Ottoman War]] and a new conflict with the [[Russian Empire]] had begun, for which Ottoman Turkey needed British alliance to keep off the Russians, hence it could not risk being hostile to the British in the Indian theatre.

Due to the Ottoman inability to organise a fleet in the Indian Ocean, Tipu Sultan's ambassadors returned home only with gifts from their Ottoman brothers.

Nevertheless, Tipu Sultan's correspondence with the Ottoman Empire and particularly its new Sultan [[Selim III]] continued till his final battle in the year 1799.<ref name="auto2"/>

; Persia and Oman

Like his father before him, Tipu Sultan maintained friendly relations with [[Mohammad Ali Khan Zand|Mohammad Ali Khan]], ruler of the [[Zand dynasty]] in [[Persia]]. Tipu Sultan also maintained correspondence with [[Hamad bin Said]], the ruler of the [[Sultanate of Oman]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bhacker |first1=Mohmed Reda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QxtpQSa1DXgC&q=tipu+sultan+oman&pg=PA214 |title=Trade and Empire in Muscat and Zanzibar: The Roots of British Domination |isbn=978-0-415-07997-6 |year=1992| publisher=Routledge}}</ref>

;Qing China

Tipu's and Mysore's tryst with silk began in the early 1780s when he received an ambassador from the [[Qing dynasty|Qing dynasty-ruled China]] at his court. The ambassador presented him with a silk cloth. Tipu was said to be enchanted by the item to such an extent that he resolved to introduce its production in his kingdom. He sent a return journey to China, which returned after twelve years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A sultan's silken dreams |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/economy/a-sultan-s-silken-dreams-51808 |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=downtoearth.org.in}}</ref>

; France

[[File:Louis-François Baron Lejeune 001.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|In his attempts to junction with Tipu Sultan, [[Napoleon]] annexed [[Ottoman Egypt]] in the year 1798.]]

Both Hyder Ali and Tipu sought an alliance with the French, the only European power still strong enough to challenge the British East India Company in the subcontinent. In 1782, Louis XVI concluded an alliance with the [[Peshwa]] [[Madhavrao II|Madhu Rao Narayan]]. This treaty enabled [[Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau|Bussy]] to move his troops to the [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] (now [[Mauritius]]). In the same year, French Admiral [[Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez|De Suffren]] ceremonially presented a portrait of Louis XVI to Haidar Ali and sought his alliance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tigerandthistle.net/tipu315.htm |title=Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121224521/http://www.tigerandthistle.net//tipu315.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008|url-status=dead |access-date=11 March 2017|website=The Tiger and The Thistle}}</ref>

[[Napoleon]] conquered [[Egypt]] in an attempt to link with Tipu Sultan.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In February 1798, Napoleon wrote a letter to Tipu Sultan appreciating his efforts of resisting the British annexation and plans, but this letter never reached Tipu and was seized by a British spy in Muscat. The idea of a possible Tipu-Napoleon alliance alarmed the British Governor, General Sir [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Richard Wellesley]] (also known as Lord Wellesley), so much that he immediately started large scale preparations for a final battle against Tipu Sultan.