Less-known facts are now emerging about a well-planned fort that was designed to be part of Farokhabad, the capital of Malabar at Feroke near here, as envisioned by the erstwhile Mysore king Tipu Sultan.
These are coming to light in the course of the excavations by the Kerala State Archaeological Department in the area. Historical documents such as William Logan’s Malabar Manual, the Joint Commissioner’s Report on Malabar, and Mohibbul Hassan’s A History of Tipu Sultan say that Tipu planned to build the fort on the south bank of the Chaliyar river between 1786 and 1790.
But its construction could not be completed. A report by the department says that this was the only fort in Kerala built entirely by Tipu.
