The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four conflicts fought in the latter part of the 18th century between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company. Haider Ali, son of Fatah Mohammad, a descendant of the Quraysh of Mecca, served the state of Mysore. He rose to prominence during the siege of Devanahalli (a town 23 miles north of Bangalore) in 1749 and his return from Hyderabad with substantial wealth. With that wealth, he augmented his troops and began training them with the help of the French.
In 1755, he was appointed Faujdar of Dindigul, where he suppressed the Poligars and established an arsenal with the assistance of French engineers. Later, he took advantage of the rivalry between the Raja of Mysore and Nanjaraj, the commander-in-chief, to become the de facto ruler in 1761, reducing the Raja to a mere pensioner. Despite his power, he never adopted the title of an independent king. Though his son Tipu is often called Tipu Sultan, 'Sultan' was his name rather than a title.
The First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69)
The First Anglo-Mysore War broke out at a time when the English were allied with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas. Haider Ali was not only a skilled general but also a shrewd diplomat; he successfully broke the alliance. He sent his son Tipu to the court of the Nizam, who not only weakened the alliance but also addressed Haider as Nasib-ud-Daulah (the fortune of the state) and Fateh Ali Khan Bahadur.
When Haider was in trouble at Tiruvannamalai, Tipu came to his rescue. Haider and Tipu captured the Tiruppattur and Vaniyambadi forts. Tipu also captured Mangalore, and Haider expelled the English from the Malabar Coast. The British were eventually forced to conclude the Treaty of Madras near Madras in 1769 on terms dictated by Haider.
The Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)
The Second Anglo-Mysore War started when the English attacked Mahe, which was one of Haider's territories. He and Tipu marched towards Arcot, the capital of Carnatic, and sent his second son, Karim, to attack Porto Novo. The English suffered their first reverses at Perambakkam when Tipu attacked and harassed their army led by Baillie. Baillie wanted to reach Conjeeveram, but Tipu's continuous attacks with rockets and infantry made this difficult. Tipu's jaish (infantry) was so disciplined that Baillie thought it was the British army led by Hector Munro coming to help him. Finally, Baillie surrendered. The defeat of Baillie was termed by Thomas Munro as "the severest blow that the English ever sustained in India."
However, Haider committed a strategic mistake. Had he attacked Munro with full force, he could have destroyed his army completely and reached Madras. Instead, he sent a small army under Tipu to pursue Munro. All this happened in the first two weeks of September 1780. Tipu then captured Arcot and also captured Satghur, Ambar, and Tiagar forts without much difficulty. He planned to capture Wandiwash, but Haider's defeat at Porto Novo forced him to change his plan, though he inflicted a crushing defeat on Colonel Braithwaite at Tanjore in February 1782. Tipu was then sent towards the Malabar Coast with French help. However, news of his father's death compelled him to leave.
Haider was suffering from carbuncle and died on December 7, 1782, at Narasingarayanpet near Chittoor. The news of his death was kept secret for a few days, as Tipu was away, to prevent a possible rebellion in the army.
Haider left a large kingdom for his son and successor, Tipu, who assumed the title of Nawab Tipu Sultan Bahadur. Tipu's empire extended from the Krishna River in the north to Travancore and Tinnevelly in the south, the Eastern Ghats in the east, and the Arabian Sea in the west. After consolidating his position, Tipu continued the war, which lasted until 1784. Both parties realized that peace was in their interest. On March 11, 1784, a treaty was signed at Mangalore. Tipu recovered the territories the English had conquered during the war. Both parties agreed that neither would assist the enemies of the other, directly or indirectly, nor would they make war upon each other's allies. This arrangement rendered the Treaty of Salbai (1782) with the Marathas meaningless. Indeed, the Treaty of Mangalore was a diplomatic victory for Tipu. It was also a necessity for the British, as McCartney wrote: "Peace was necessary for us, for had war continued for a few months more, we must have inevitably sunk under the accumulated burden of our expenses."
The treaty gave Tipu a breathing space to consolidate his position, focus on administration, and reorganize his troops. He called his government Sarkar-i-Khudadad (Government given by God). He gave complete freedom of worship to all religious communities. His government was influenced by both Mughal and Western political institutions. According to Dodwell, "Tipu was the first Indian sovereign to seek to apply Western methods to his administration."
He also took a keen interest in developing his economy. The cultivated area was expanded. He provided tax relief for waste, barren, and fallow land. He encouraged the cultivation of cash crops like sugarcane, wheat, barley, betel leaves, and pine, teak, and sandalwood trees. However, bhang was prohibited. He abolished the custom of giving jagirs to his officers in lieu of salaries.
He preferred to pay salaries in cash, though he granted inam land to temples, mosques, and Brahmins. He promoted trade and commerce and established factories at Ormuz and Jeddah. He also established various types of factories at Bangalore, Chitaldurg, Srirangapatnam, and Bednur, where not only Indians but also Europeans were employed. These factories manufactured scissors, knives, guns, muskets, powder, paper, watches, cutlery, etc. He was the only Indian ruler who was self-sufficient in arms. He also sent embassies to many countries, such as Burma, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and France. He celebrated the French Revolution, planted a liberty tree at his capital, and became a member of the Jacobin Club, a famous radical group.
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–92)
Tipu continued his father's mission of establishing supremacy in Southern India, so he attacked Travancore (1789), which led to the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Cornwallis saw great danger to all British interests in India. The Marathas and the Nizam were in greater fear of Mysore than of the English. Thus, the enemies of Tipu—the English, Marathas, and Nizam—joined hands.
In 1790, three British armies marched towards Mysore. The first, under the command of General Medows, was tasked with seizing Coimbatore. The second army, led by General Abercromby, was assigned to attack the Malabar Coast. However, Tipu's swift defence of his territories forced Lord Cornwallis to take personal command. Cornwallis captured Bangalore in March 1791 and advanced to Srirangapatnam.
Tipu succeeded in cutting off the food supply, which led to a famine-like situation in the British camp. Timely help from the Marathas, who arrived with large supplies of grain, saved them. Srirangapatnam was besieged again in January 1792, and Tipu was compelled to sign a treaty on February 23, 1792, known as the Treaty of Srirangapatnam.
Treaty of Srirangapatnam
1. One-half of Tipu's kingdom was to be ceded to the allies.
2. Three crores and thirty lakh rupees were to be paid by Tipu, either in gold mohurs or bullion. One crore and sixty-five lakh rupees were to be given immediately, and the rest in three instalments within a year.
3. All prisoners belonging to the four powers (English, Marathas, Nizam, and Carnatic) were to be released.
4. Two sons of Tipu were to be given into English custody until the treaty was fully honoured.
The two sons who were made hostages were Abdul Khaliq (8 years old) and Muiz-ud-din (5 years old). However, they were well treated, and Cornwallis even presented them with gold watches.
Tipu failed mainly because he had to fight three enemies simultaneously. There is no doubt that had he been confronted only by the English, he would have emerged victorious. Cornwallis admitted that "Tipu's troops were the best troops in the world, for they were always doing something to harass their enemies," and Munro accepted that "Cornwallis could not have reduced Tipu without the assistance of the Marathas."
Tipu's failure also lay in the fact that his defence was relatively weaker than his offence. Perhaps he took the phrase "offence is the best form of defence" too literally. He failed to defend Bangalore and Srirangapatnam. He also made the mistake of not advancing against the English after his success at Arikere on May 15, 1791, when the English army was weak and demoralized. His father, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, made a similar mistake.
Tipu's defeat is also related to the overall superiority of Europeans in the fields of science and military organization. Though Tipu and his father had modernized their forces, they were still inferior to the English army in infantry and artillery. The English received large supplies of men, money, and materials from England, the Nizam, and the Marathas. On the contrary, a large part of Tipu's territory was occupied by the Marathas, who cut off his supplies of recruits and money.
Despite these odds, Tipu carried on a gallant struggle against a powerful coalition for nearly two years and continued to rule with the same enthusiasm even after the treaty. He was down but not out, and the English knew it. To them, he was the most formidable opponent in India. Without winning Mysore, the English had no chance of becoming the "Power Paramount" in India.
This is why, when Lord Wellesley came as Governor-General, he was determined to force Tipu to sign the Subsidiary Alliance. Tipu refused, which led to the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (March–May 1799).
The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (March–May 1799)
Once again, the English made an alliance with the Nizam and the Marathas. Though the Marathas remained neutral in this war, Hyderabad continued to prove its 'loyalty' and 'friendship.' Three units of the English army, led by General Harris, General Stewart, and Arthur Wellesley (the Governor-General's brother), marched from three different directions towards Tipu's kingdom.
On 8th March, Stewart defeated Tipu at Sedasere, and on the 27th, Tipu was defeated at Mallavelly by Harris. The English besieged Srirangapatnam on 17th April, and with the help of Mir Sadiq, an insider, they succeeded in storming the fort. On May 4, 1799, Tipu was killed while defending his fort.
Krishnaraja, a descendant of the Wodeyar dynasty, was restored to the throne but was compelled to sign the Subsidiary Alliance in 1799. Kanara, Coimbatore, and Srirangapatnam were annexed to the Company's dominions. With the fall of Srirangapatnam, the 'Empire of the East' was now firmly under British control.
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