Oxford dictionary gives the following meaning for the word pledge: “thing handed over to a person as security for fulfillment of a contract or payment of debt and liable for forfeiture in case of failure or thing put in pawn or a deposit as security”. It has to be noted that a human being is not included in this definition.

In the good old days man's words were taken as a pledge or guarantee and as man degraded morally, external pledge had to be introduced. Legal complications and procedures came into vogue. In spite of all these legal procedures, we disregard the pledges and are dragged to courts and spend our time and money in litigation.

Pledging Draupadi:
We are all familiar with pledging a property or any other thing for taking a loan or getting some advantage. Pledging takes place in ample measure in clubs, race courses or wherever gambling takes place. Mahabharata has a solitary example of a woman (Draupadi) being pledged by Dharmaraya to Duryodhana in the game of dice. He loses her also. Thus there are not many examples of this nature in our tradition. Pledging sons is unheard of in our tradition and not even in our mythology. Sons and daughters are everything to a father or mother and hence pledging them was considered a heinous crime.

Under this background the most pathetic situation in which he had to pledge his two sons as a guarantee to the British may be examined. Tipu was a bitter enemy of British. The power of Tipu was so strong the British had to accept many defeats at many minor battles. They tried all sorts of means, mostly foul, to defeat Tipu. They tried various officers and Generals against Tipu. In spite of his superior army, planning and strategy, Tipu failed against the British because he had distanced himself from the local chiefs and population.

Tipu had already fought two wars and the third Mysore war was on the threshold (1790 - 92). Tipu created many problems to the British army. One British officer could not tolerate the defeat and he was about to commit suicide. Many British officers like Medous, Floyd, Stuart, Abercromby, Derby, Flint, Evans, Litchfield, Kennaway, Little, Moore, Fredrick, Maxwell, Read, Archdeacon, Hunters, Chelmers, Nash, Dundas under the guidance of Cornwallis hunted for Tipu, the tiger of Mysore. From the detailed account of the various battles that took place in different parts of South India, it appeared as if Tipu was going to win the war. The help he requested from the French did not arrive on time. The Nizam and the Marathas joined the British.

Defeat of Tipu:
The British army under Cornwallis came to Srirangapatna and attacked Tipu during the night. Tipu became helpless and at this juncture thought of making a treaty with the British to avert the impending calamity. Cornwallis dictated terms consisting of five clauses: Tipu should surrender half of his kingdom, to pay six crores of rupees as compensation, to release all prisoners of war, to pledge two sons of Tipu and allow minimum time for Tipu to adjust things.

Tipu began bargaining with the British who were adamant and threatened to continue the war. Tipu wanted to pledge only one son and this was rejected. British gave the option of sending any two sons. The worst day in the life of Tipu arrived. In the morning of 24. 02.1792 Tipu signed the treaty.

Sons handed over:
The two sons of Tipu dressed in immaculate expensive attire of the Princes were brought to the British camp with Cornwallis waiting there. The two sons were received with great honour as important guests and 21 gun shots were fired. Cornwallis hugged both the boys and presented them with gold watches. In the midst of anger and insult, Tipu was happy that his sons were treated well by the British. Tipu as a mark of his gratefulness to the British for treating his sons honorably fired gun shots in the air.

In the meantime, Tipu was negotiating for the payment of money and handing over the parts of his kingdom. At one time Tipu thought of cancelling the treaty and resume the fighting again because he had gained enough time and hoped that French help would be definitely available by then. Tipu enquired if the war broke out “will the British send back his two sons?” Cornwallis replied in the negative and said they will be with the British and arrangements have been made to shift them to an undisclosed place or to Bangalore. All the Mysore soldiers who were guarding the two sons were removed from that duty and more faithful soldiers were posted under Captain Welsh. This move prevented Tipu from continuing the war. The filial love triumphed over desire and hunger for kingdom.

British condemned:
In and around Srirangapatna are sung folk songs in which women weep not for Tipu Sultan but for the two innocent children. They also show their anger over the British who committed a heinous crime of separating the children from their father. The British had no guts to punish Tipu directly. They took to this emotional blackmail and a crime not heard of in history. Tipu is gone, the two children are gone, Cornwallis is gone but the heinous act remains in our memory. Recently, I saw a medal issued by the British to highlight this incident. On one side is Tipu handing over his two children to the British officers; the other side represents the bust of Cornwallis. To the British this may be a medal to keep as a proud memento but to every father it is an abhorring piece of metal and nothing beyond that.