166, Lot: 221. Estimate $50. Sold for $65. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Independent States. Mysore. Tipu Sultan. 1782-1799. Æ Paisa (24mm, 11.42 g). Farrukhi mint. Dated AM 1216 (AD 1787). Elephant advancing right; date above, border of dots / Mint formula; border of dots. Henderson 432 (details uncertain); cf. KM 53.1 (same blundered legend, border of dashes). VF, patchy lacquered surfaces. Scarce.

Tipu succeeded his father Haidar Ali in 1782, and in 1784 concluded a peace treaty with the British, on unusually favorable terms. Tipu had been one of the very few Indian commanders to defeat a British army in the field, but he realized he needed more time to build up his army. In the same year he declared himself Sultan, ending the pretense of supporting the figurehead Wodeyar monarch. Tipu was only buying time until he felt himself strong enough to confront the British, and in 1789 he broke the peace by invading Travancore. The Mysore armies once again proved no match for European troops, and Lord Cornwallis defeated Tipu at Seringapatam in 1792, forcing Tipu to cede half his kingdom. Hostilities commenced again in 1799, with the bringing more troops fresh from the Egyptian campaign, and Tipu was killed at the second battle of Seringapatam May 4 1799. Despite his eventual defeat, Tipu offered the strongest native opposition to British expansion in India.