An image purportedly of Tipu Sultan has gone viral on social media. Tipu Sultan was the ruler of Mysore Kingdom, South India in the 18th century. He is called as the Tiger of Mysore. In recent times, Tipu Sultan has become a controversial figure as in the last few years as right-wingers have peddled narratives declaring him as a cruel, anti-Hindu leader who slaughtered many Hindus, while many believe him to be a patriot.
The people are sharing the image with the caption, "But the real #TipuSultan doesn't look like a tiger though. He looks like.." The message went viral with the context of birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan on November 20.
The same image was also shared on Facebook with the claim that it belongs to Tipu Sultan.
Claim:
The viral image is of Tipu Sultan.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian did a reverse image search and found that the same image was also circulated in 2018. We were able to find that BJP leader Ramesh Mendola from Indore had tweeted about it in 2018.
I humbly request you to pl use correct image of cruel king. So for as my knowledge is concerned this is real image of tipu sultan.
— Ramesh Mendola (@Ramesh_Mendola) November 10, 2018
One more thing, he was defeated 4 times
1767-Defeat by Peshwa
1786-Defeat by Marathas n 1792
1799- Defeat by East India Company pic.twitter.com/hpGTxyg2LJ
We also found the original image of Tipu Sultan published in Getty Image. We compared both the images and you can see the comparison below:
The reverse image search also led to the old Fact Checks done by many media organisations on the claim that the man in the image is Tipu Tip, a slave trader from Afghanistan.
We also searched for Tipu Tip on Getty Image and found that the image of Tipu Tip. The original Tipu Tips had bulgy nose unlike the man in the image who had a thin nose.
Based on the hints given by Alt News, we searched for 'Rumaliza' and found that the person in the viral photo is him, who was a slave trader and ivory trader in Arab in the 19th century.
We also searched for Rumaliza on Getty Image and found a photo where Rumaliza was wearing a dress similar to the one in the viral photo.
Thus, the image viral on social media is neither of Tipu Sultan nor Tipu Tip but of Rumaliza, a slave trader from the Middle East.
This was earlier fact-checked by Alt News.
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