Mir Ghulam Ali

Mir Noor Khan[1] was an official and senior military commander (commander and sirdar) of the Tipu Sultan.

Noor khan was the Home Minister of Tippu Sultan. He is said to have led a delegation to Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, and was also supposed to visit France. It is said that he stole some of the gifts given to Tippu Sultan, and was imprisoned, and then released.

After the fall of Tippu Sultan in 1799, Ghulam Ali was pensioned off by the British. According to John Thomas, Noor khan was a senior army commander of Mysore, who lived between 1758-1863. He died in 1863 at the age of 105 at sanatorium. Further according to Prof Karimuddin, even though Noor Khan died in sanatorium, his body was buried in Srirangapatnam.

Noor Khan was a seasoned diplomat who was the leader of the Mysorean embassy to Turkey and from there on to France and England in 1785 – 1786. He was lame on account of sciatica and a letter from Tipu exists where he sends some oil to apply onto Noor Khan’s legs. Even in today’s Mysore, Noor khan is called ‘power of tippu’ or ‘The lame Noor Khan’.