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Tipu Sultan

Also Known As Sher-e-Mysore
Space and Rocketry Engineers

Tipu Sultan ruled the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India from 1782 until his death in 1799, succeeding his father Hyder Ali. He is remembered chiefly for expanding the military use of iron-cased rockets, fielding thousands of rocketeers whose weapons could strike targets more than two kilometers away; captured examples later shaped the development of the Congreve rocket in Britain. Tipu resisted British East India Company expansion through repeated Anglo-Mysore Wars and introduced administrative reforms including a new calendar and reorganized government departments before dying defending his capital, Seringapatam, in 1799.

Facts
Birth Year
1751 1
Death Year
1799 1
FAQs

Did Tipu Sultan invent the war rocket?

He greatly expanded Mysorean rocketry, but his father Hyder Ali had already advanced it.

Not on his own, according to the article. It says his father, Hyder Ali, had already expanded Mysore's use of rocketry, making critical innovations in the rockets themselves and in the military logistics of their use. Tipu greatly expanded the use of rockets after Hyder's death, deploying as many as 5,000 rocketeers at a time. The claim that he was the innovator of the world's first war rocket comes from a 1991 lecture by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, so it is best read as one view of his role. Rockets captured by the British at Srirangapatna became influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket.
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Sources
1. Tipu Sultan (Wikipedia)
  • Lead, death year
    was the Sultan of Mysore from 1782 until his death in 1799.
  • Lead, alternate name
    commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore (Tiger of Mysore), was the Sultan of Mysore from 1782 until his death in 1799.
  • In Group: Early Rocket and Flight Experimenters, Lead
    He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.
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