The Jumma Masjid, Seringapatam
About 1860
The Jumma Masjid (or Friday Mosque) is one of the three main landmarks in Seringapatam, the capital of Mysore. It was built in 1787 by Tipu Sultan, the Indian ruler of Mysore from 1782 until his death in 1799. Tipu was known as The Tiger of Mysore. He identified himself with tigers and decorated all his personal possessions with tiger motifs or a stylised tiger stripe (bubri). His soldiers wore the 'tyger jacket' and painted stripes decorated the walls of his throne room and mausoleum. Contemporary interest in views such as this was linked with the memorialisation of sites connected with feats of arms and the extension of British rule in India. The death of Tipu at the conclusion of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 removed the single most powerful barrier to British control of southern India.
