Ali Askar’s place in Mysore history is recorded and well known – not able to find anything on the internet, but it is common knowledge and possibly easily found in any book on the recent Mysore Maharajas. I had heard his story from an older relative when he was telling me some tales of our erstwhile maharajas history.

Here’s some trivia from the net, according to the story, Ali Askar came very close to owning what is now Raj Bhavan, the governer’s house in Bangalore and an important landmark in our city:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/3176//Hallowed+portals.html

“It had enough rooms for visiting guests, outhouses and even after parceling off land to government buildings like the Vidhana Soudha and the state civil services commission, it had a stable to house the 50-odd Arabian horses owned by Cubbon. These were sold to him by a rich Indian by the name of Aga Ali Askar, who went on to become a very good friend of Cubbon.”
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Raj Bhavan would have almost certainly passed into private hands but for Cubbon’s successor Lewin Bentham Bowring (1824-1890). When his health started failing, Cubbon resigned and died in 1861 in the Suez, on the way to his home in Isle of Man, England. At that time, Raj Bhavan was in the charge of an agent Major Frederic Gray who had put up this house for sale. He had two bids, one from Aga Ali Askar, who bid Rs 28,000 and the winning bid from Bowring, who bought the house for Rs 32,000 on behalf of the Mysore government.”

It was not in the late 1800’s that Aga Ali Asker arrived in Mysore.He arrived at the port of Mangalore in the year 1824.

You describe Aga Ali Asker’s encounter with the Maharaja in paragraph 2.Is it just a legend or is it attributable? I would love to know!

I totally disagree with your secularist views.