The Battle of Sultanpet Tope was a small action fought on 5 and 6 April 1799 between forces of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

during the

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99. This was the final conflict of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured ...

. Although initially checked it was a British victory.

Prelude

On 3 April the British force reached the position next to

Seringapatam Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...

in which General Abercromby had encamped in 1792, on the south-west side of the island and prepared to besiege the place. During the time which had intervened since Lord Cornwallis's

siege of Seringapatam (1792) The 1792 Siege of Seringapatam was a battle and siege of the Mysorean capital city of Seringapatam (Srirangapatna) at the end of the Third Anglo-Mysore War. An army led by Charles, Earl Cornwallis, consisting of British East India Company and ...

, the Sultan had given great attention to strengthening the fortifications. But, excepting a battery which he had erected on the north-west angle of the fort, his improvements had been mainly directed to the south and east sides. The works on the west side where the wall overlooks the Káveri were not so strong, although even here they were protected by a double wall and a ditch. In front of the British army was broken rising ground intersected by deep ditches, with some deserted villages, and several topes (groves) of areca-nut palms and cocoa trees, which afforded a safe cover to Tipu's skirmishers and rocket-men. An aqueduct within of the fortress, near a wooded tope called the Sultanpet Tope or "Sultaunpet", afforded Tippoo's skirmishers and rocketmen firing

rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also ...

a safe cover from which they most seriously annoyed the British outposts. General Baird was directed to scour this grove and dislodge the enemy, but on his advancing with this object on the night of 4/5 April, he found the tope unoccupied.

Battle

During the day, the Mysore troops reoccupied the position, and as it was absolutely necessary to expel them, two columns were detached at sunset on 5 April for the purpose. The first of these columns, under Colonel Shawe, took possession of a ruined village, which it successfully held. The second column, under Colonel Wellesley, on advancing into the tope, was at once attacked in the darkness of night by a tremendous fire of musketry and rockets. The men, floundering about amidst the trees and the water-courses, at last broke, and fell back in disorder, some being killed and a few taken prisoners. In the confusion Colonel Wellesley was struck on the knee by a spent ball, and narrowly escaped being captured by the enemy. The second attack with four regiments, also under the command of Wellesley, succeeded in taking possession of the grove on the morning of 6 April. This allowed British forces to advance within of Seringapatam, and General Harris was able to proceed with his siege-operations, the army taking up its final position on 7 April.

Aftermath

The military historian Richard Holmes made the point that:

Notes

References

* * Attribution * * Sultanpet Tope History of Karnataka Sultanpet Tope Sultanpet Tope 1799 in India {{India-hist-stub