crimes that cry to Heaven are condoned when the perpetrator of them is supposed to have been animated by a sincere desire to propagate the faith which he professed. On his tomb at Seringapatam, it is recorded, in phrases which, as in the case of Haidar Alí, commemorate by the Abjad system the year of his death, that the 'Haidarí Sultán' died for the faith. The words are 'Núr Islam wa dín z' dunyá raft,' i. e. 'The light of Islám and the faith left the world;' 'Tipú ba wajah dín Muhammad shahíd shud,' i. e. 'Tipú on account of the faith of Muhammad was a martyr;' 'Shamshér gúm shud,' i. e. 'The sword was lost;' 'Nasal Haidar shahíd akbar shud,' i. e. 'The offspring of Haidar was a great martyr,' all these phrases being supposed to represent the year 1213 Hijri, corresponding with A.D. 1799. The inscription was composed by Mír Hussén Alí, and was written by one Abd-ul-Kádir.
During the perilous days of the Mutiny, it is said that bigoted Musalmáns congregated at this spot to say their prayers and breathe secret aspirations for the re-ascendancy of their faith. As one stands in the tomb, words faintly uttered resound in hollow reverberations in the lofty dome, and one cannot help feeling a momentary compassion for a Sovereign who, tyrant and usurper as he was, died a soldier's death.
