Abbas

Abbas is one of the main characters of the novel. At the novel’s start, Abbas is a young boy living in Srirangapatna, Mysore with his mother, father, and two older brothers, Junaid and Farooq. Abbas spends the majority of his time working with his father in his shop. He has developed a particular affinity for inventing and constructing toys. This skill has even earned him a customer in the palace, Zubaida Begum, “one of the high-ranking consorts of Tipu’s zenana” (5). However, when Tipu Sultan discovers that Zubaida is a traitor, he summons Abbas to the Summer Palace. Instead of punishing or executing him as Abbas and his family fear, Tipu Sultan hires him.

Per the sultan’s orders, Abbas begins to work on the design and construction of an automaton. The automaton is meant to appear in the form of a tiger, representative of India, attacking...