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Articles

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): ILN Journal: Indian Literary Narratives

Dreams And Historical Memory: Exploring Girish Karnad's The Dreams of Tipu Sultan

Submitted
12 May 2026
Published
2026-06-30

Abstract

Girish Karnad’s The Dreams of Tipu Sultan (2004) is a postcolonial intervention in the historical narrative surrounding Tipu Sultan, the eighteenth-century ruler of Mysore. The play employs dreams as a narrative device to reconstruct Tipu’s legacy, challenging colonial historiography that has often demonized him as a fanatic and despotic ruler. By juxtaposing the perspectives of an Indian court historian, Mir Hassan Ali Khan Kirmani, and a British orientalist, Colonel Colin Mackenzie, Karnad exposes the biases in historical documentation. This paper argues that Karnad’s play functions as a counter-historical text, offering an alternative understanding of Tipu Sultan as a visionary leader and an early anti-colonial resistance figure. Drawing upon Ronald Inden’s critique of Orientalist historiography and Hayden White’s theory of historical narrative as poetic discourse, the study examines how Karnad’s fictionalized dreams serve as a means of reclaiming agency for Tipu Sultan. The analysis focuses on four key dreams from Tipu’s Khwabnama (dream diary) to illustrate his secular outlook, diplomatic ambitions, and tragic downfall due to betrayal. The paper concludes that Karnad’s play not only revises colonial narratives but also invites contemporary audiences to reconsider Tipu Sultan’s contributions to Indian history.

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