After the Fourth Mysore War, when the British were dismantling Tipu Sultan's establishment, the East India Company unexpectedly took charge of 601 women who resided permanently inside Srirangapatnam Palace. Along with Tipu's sons, they were moved 200 miles east, to Vellore Fort, in the Company-controlled territory of Madras Presidency. Documentation about these court women held in colonial archives describes moments when they behaved in unexpectedly difficult ways. Because historians have traditionally cast the women of Tipu Sultan's court as voiceless victims, their actions, as described in these colonial sources, have been overlooked. When examined, the descriptions show that they were using the domestic powers granted to them under Tipu Sultan's establishment to influence their treatment by the East India Company. By placing these accounts alongside the broader context of the Company's military history, it becomes apparent that the women of Tipu Sultan's female entourage fomented the events that led to the Vellore Mutiny of 1806.

中文翻译：

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东印度公司统治下的蒂普苏丹女随从

第四次迈索尔战争后，英国人在拆除蒂普苏丹的建制之际，东印度公司出人意料地接管了在斯里兰加帕特南宫内永久居住的 601 名妇女。他们与蒂普的儿子们一起被转移到东部 200 英里处，位于公司控制的马德拉斯总统府地区的韦洛尔堡。殖民地档案中有关这些宫廷女性的文件描述了她们以意想不到的困难方式行事的时刻。由于历史学家传统上将蒂普苏丹宫廷的女性视为无声的受害者，因此这些殖民资料中描述的她们的行为被忽视了。经过审查，这些描述表明他们正在利用蒂普苏丹建立时授予他们的国内权力来影响东印度公司对他们的待遇。