The First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) was a conflict in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
between the
Sultanate of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in 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 alliance with Pres ...
and the
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 ...
. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of
Asaf Jah II
Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah II (7 March 1734 – 6 August 1803) was the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803. He was born on 7 March 1734 as fourth son to Asaf Jah I and Umda Begum. His official name is ''A ...
, the
Nizam of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
, who sought to divert the company's resources from attempts to gain control over the
Northern Circars
The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...
.
Background
The eighteenth century was a period of great turmoil in Indian subcontinent. Although the century opened with much of the subcontinent under the control of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, the death in 1707 of Emperor
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
resulted in the fracturing of the empire, and a struggle among viceroys and other local rulers for territory. In the 1740s and 1750s French and British colonial companies became more active in these local conflicts. By the
Third Carnatic War
The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763.
The conflicts involved n ...
(1757–1763) the British had gained somewhat solid footholds at
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, and
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, and had also marginalised, although not eliminated, the influence of other colonial powers. Their eastern holdings at Madras were strongly influenced by treaties with the
Nawab of Carnatic
The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...
,
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, or Muhammed Ali, Wallajah (7 July 1717 – 13 October 1795), was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1749 until his death in 1795.
He declared himself Nawab in 1749. This position was disputed between Wallajah and Ch ...
, whose territory surrounded Madras. The other major powers in the east were the
Nizam of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
, formerly a viceroyalty of the Mughal Empire but declared independent in the 1720s, held in the 1760s by
Asaf Jah II
Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah II (7 March 1734 – 6 August 1803) was the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803. He was born on 7 March 1734 as fourth son to Asaf Jah I and Umda Begum. His official name is ''A ...
, and the
Sultanate of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in 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 alliance with Pres ...
, which occupied the high plains between the
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Western Ghats, the mountain ranges separating the coastal plains of India from the interior. Nominally ruled by the
Wodeyar dynasty
The Wadiyar dynasty (formerly spelt Wodeyer or Odeyer, also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore), is a late-medieval/ early-modern South Indian Hindu royal family of former kings of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city.
...
, Mysore had in 1761 come into the hands of
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
, a Muslim military leader. Each of these powers intrigued with and against the others, and sought to draw the power of the French and British colonial companies to serve their objectives. The colonial powers sought to influence the local powers to gain either direct control of territory, or the revenues from territory nominally controlled by a local ruler beholden to them for financial and military support. Since European military training was significantly better than local practices, the latter was particularly important; small numbers of disciplined European or European-trained forces could defeat larger Indian armies composed mainly of poorly trained infantry and cavalry.
Causes of war
![The North Entrance Into The Fort Of Bangalore -with Tipu's flag flying-](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/The_North_Entrance_Into_The_Fort_Of_Bangalore_-with_Tipu%27s_flag_flying-.jpg)
The British East India Company, seeking an overland connection between its holdings at
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
and
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, sought to gain access to the
Northern Circars
The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...
, a series of coastal territories held by the French until 1758, when they were ousted with British military support. They had applied to the nizam, offering to pay rent well above that he was currently receiving from the nawab of Arcot; the nizam rejected their offers. Lord
Robert Clive
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...
next applied to
Mughal Emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...
, who in August 1765 issued a decree granting the company rights to that territory.
At the same time, the nizam was involved in an alliance with the Marathas. Both he and the Marathas' ruling
peshwa
The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...
,
Madhavrao I
Peshwa Madhavrao Bhat I (February 15, 1745 – November 18, 1772) was the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his tenure, the Maratha empire fully recovered from the losses they suffered during the Third Battle of Panipat, a phenomenon kn ...
were concerned over the expansionist threat posed by Hyder Ali. After assisting the Marathas in dealing with one of their confederates 1765, the allies began developing plans to invade Mysore. When the British began occupying the Northern Circars in March 1766, the nizam objected, issuing threatening letters to company authorities in Madras. He considered going to war against the company, but his poor financial condition made this impossible. Instead he negotiated a treaty with the company in November 1766. Under its terms the company received four of the five circar immediately (
Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
, the fifth, having been granted to the nizam's son as a
jaghir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, starti ...
, was to be delivered upon the son's death) in exchange for 7 lakh rupees or military support to the nizam in his endeavours. One historian describes the nizam's agreement to the treaty as one of financial necessity, and that he was "resentful" of English power. Pursuant to this treaty, the company provided two battalions of troops to the nizam. Under the treaty, there were no limits placed on the number of troops the nizam could request, nor were there checks on the uses (offensive or defensive) to which he could put them.
Conflict involving Madras authorities, Muhammed Jinnah and
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...
, was also simmering.
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, or Muhammed Ali, Wallajah (7 July 1717 – 13 October 1795), was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1749 until his death in 1795.
He declared himself Nawab in 1749. This position was disputed between Wallajah and Ch ...
, allied to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
, whose
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
his surrounded, was upset that Hyder was harboring opponents of his, including his older brother Mahfuhz Khan, and
Raja Saheb, the son of
Chanda Saheb
Chanda Sahib (died 12 June 1752) was a subject of the Mughal Empire and the Nawab of the Carnatic between 1749 and 1752. Initially he was supported by the French during the Carnatic Wars. After his defeat at Arcot in 1751, he was captured by ...
, a previous contender for the throne of the Carnatic. Hyder was annoyed that the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
had established a fortified outpost at
Vellore
Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...
, and that the company had several times rebuffed his offers of
alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. An offer he made in late 1766 was rejected because the local company council viewed it as incompatible with the treaty signed with the nizam. The First Anglo-Mysore War saw
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
gain some measures of success against the British, almost capturing
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
Course of the war
![Kistnagherry Krishnagiri](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Kistnagherry_Krishnagiri.jpg)
The war began in January 1767 when the Marathas, possibly anticipating movements by the nizam, invaded northern Mysore. They reached as far south as the
Tunghabadhra River, before Haider entered into negotiations to end the invasion. In exchange for payments of 30
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
s rupees the Marathas agreed to withdraw north of the
Kistna River; by March, when the nizam began his invasion, they had already withdrawn. According to Mysore historian Mark Wilks, this action by the Marathas was a somewhat typical move to acquire wealth that might otherwise be claimed by other belligerents. The nizam advanced as far as
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, accompanied by two battalions of company troops under Colonel Joseph Smith.
In May, Smith discovered that the Haider and the nizam were negotiating an alliance, and consequently withdrew most of his troops to the Carnatic frontier. The deal struck between the two powers called for them to join against the British. Haider was to pay 18 lakhs rupees for the invasion to end, and the nizam was to recognise Haider's son
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...
as Nawab of the Carnatic once that territory was conquered. Despite the agreement the two sides exhibited little trust for one another; Haider was known to place spies in the nizam's camp.
This diplomatic manoeuvring resulted in an attack against a company outpost at Changama by the combined Mysore-Hyderabad army under Hyder's command. Despite significantly outnumbering the British force (British estimates place the allied army size at 70,000 to the British 7,000), the allies were repulsed with heavy losses. Haider moved on to capture
Kaveripattinam after two days of siege, while Colonel Smith, who commanded at Changama, eventually retreated to
Tiruvannamalai
Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...
for supplies and reinforcements. There Haider again attacked, and was
decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767. With the onset of the monsoon season, Haider opted to continue campaigning rather than adopting the usual practice of suspending operations because of the difficult conditions the weather created for armies. After overrunning a few lesser outposts, he
besieged Ambur in November 1767, forcing the British to resume campaigning. The British garrison commander refused large bribes offered by Haider in exchange for surrender, and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Haider to lift the siege. He retreated northward, covering the movements of the nizam's forces, but was disheartened when an entire corps of European cavalry deserted to the British. The failures of this campaign, combined with successful British advances in the Northern Circars and secret negotiations between the British and the nizam, led to a split between Haider and the nizam. The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768. Haider, apparently seeking an end to the conflict, made peace overtures to the British, but was rebuffed.
![Mir Nizam Ali Khan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Mir_Nizam_Ali_Khan.jpg)
In early 1768,
company authorities in Bombay organised an expedition to Mysore's Malabar coast territories. Hyder had established a small fleet, based primarily in the port of
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
, in the mid-1760s. This fleet, which the British reported as numbering about ten ships, deserted en masse, apparently because the captains were unhappy with Lutf Ali Beg, a Mysorean cavalry officer, as fleet commander. Owing to a British deception, Lutf Ali Beg also withdrew much of the Mangalore garrison to move on what he perceived to be the British target,
Onore
Onore (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 799 and an are ...
. The British consequently occupied Mangalore against minimal opposition in February. This activity, combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally, prompted Hyder to withdraw from the Carnatic, and move with speed to the Malabar. Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force, Haider followed, and eventually retook Mangalore and the other ports held by the over-extended British forces. He also levied additional taxes as punishment against rebellious Nair districts that had supported the British.
During Haider's absence from the Carnatic, the British recovered many places that Hyder had taken and only weakly garrisoned, and advanced as far south as
Dindigul
Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...
. They also convinced the Marathas to enter the conflict, and a large force of theirs, under the command of Morari Rao, joined with Colonel Smith at
Ooscota in early August 1768. This army then began preparations to besiege Bangalore, but Hyder returned to Bangalore from the Malabar on 9 August, in time to harass the allies before the siege could begin. On 22 August Hyder
attacked the Maratha camp at Ooscota, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Hyder was then foiled in an attempt to prevent the arrival of a second British column at the allied camp; the strength of these combined forces convinced him to retreat from Bangalore toward
Gurramkonda
Gurramkonda is a village in Annamayya district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the Mandal headquarters of Gurramkonda Mandal. Gurramkonda Fort is one of the oldest fort in the district. Gurramkonda (village) is a village in the Gur ...
, where he was reinforced by his brother in law. He also attempted diplomatic measures to prevent a siege of Bangalore, offering to pay ten lakhs rupees and grant other land concessions in exchange for peace. The British countered with an aggressive list of demands that included payments of tribute to the nizam and larger land concessions to the British East India Company. Hyder specifically refused to deal with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, whose lands were where much of the fighting had taken place, and a man Hyder intensely disliked. The negotiations failed to reach common ground.
On 3 October, Hyder, while moving his army from Guuramkonda back toward Bangalore, surprised a small garrison of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah's men at a rock fort called Mulabagilu, near Hosakote. British reinforcements were sent, and Colonel Wood was able to recover the lower fort but not the upper. The next day he went out with a few companies of men to investigate movements that might have been cover for enemy reinforcements. This small force, numbering four companies,
was surrounded by Hyder's entire army. A stratagem by another officer, Colonel Brooks, prevented the loss of this detachment; Colonel Brooks and another two companies dragged two cannons to the top of a nearby rise, and Brooks called out "Smith! Smith!" while firing the cannons. Both sides interpreted this to mean that Colonel Smith was arriving in force, and Hyder's troops began to retreat. This enabled Colonel Wood to join with Brooks and other reinforcements from Mulwagal before Hyder realised he had been fooled. Hyder renewed his attack, but was eventually repulsed with heavy losses: he was estimated to lose 1,000 men while the British lost about 200. The severity of the conflict convinced Colonel Smith that he would be unable to effectively besiege Bangalore without first inflicting a major defeat on Hyder in open battle. Company officials blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder, and recalled him to Madras. Hyder took the opportunity to besiege
Hosur
Hosur is an industrial city located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hosur is one of the municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...
, and Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder raised the siege, sneaked around Wood's column, and
attacked his baggage train near
Bagalur. Hyder successfully captured supplies and arms, and drove Wood in disgrace toward
Venkatagiri
Venkatagiri is a town in Tirupati district
Tirupati district () is one of the twenty-six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Andhra Pradesh state. The district h ...
. Wood was consequently recalled and replaced by Colonel Lang.
Hyder then raised additional forces in Mysore and went on the offensive. In November 1768 he split his army into two, and crossed the ghats into the Carnatic, regaining control of many minor posts held by the British. En route to
Erode
Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...
Hyder overwhelmed one contingent of British, who were sent as prisoners to Seringapatam when it was established that one of its officers was fighting in violation of a parole agreement. After rapidly establishing control over much of the southern Carnatic, his march turned toward Madras. This prompted the British to send an envoy to discuss peace; because of Hyder's insistence that the nawab of the Carnatic be excluded from the negotiations, they went nowhere. Hyder then surprised company authorities by taking a picked force of 6,000 cavalry and a small number of infantry, and made a three-day forced march of to the gates of Madras.
This show of force compelled the company to negotiate further, since Madras had been left nearly defenceless by military movements made to counter those of Hyder's main force. Hyder, who was seeking diplomatic leverage against the Marathas, wanted an alliance of mutual defence and offence. The company refused to accede to an offensive military treaty; the
Treaty of Madras signed on 29 March 1769 had terms that each would support the other if attacked.
Battles
*
Battle of Chengam
The First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) was a conflict in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the ...
(or Chengama, 3 September 1767)
*
Battle of Tiruvannamalai
The Battle of Tiruvannamalai is one of the two successful battles fought by the Madras Army in the Carnatic along with the Battle of Chengam. It was fought on 25 September 1767 between the allied forces led by the East India Company against th ...
(25 September 1767)
*
Siege of Ambur
The siege of Ambur (10 November – 7 December 1767) was conducted by a combined force of Mysorean and Hyderabadi troops under the command of Hyder Ali against the town of Ambur in southern India during the First Anglo-Mysore War. The town wa ...
(November–December 1767)
*
Battle of Ooscota
The Battle of Ooscota (or Ooscata) was a battle in the First British-Mysore War, a conflict between the British East India Company and Hyder Ali, the sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore. It took place on the night of the 22–23 August 1768.
Ooscota ...
(night of 22/23 August 1768)
*
Battle of Mulwagul
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
(4 October 1768)
*
Battle of Baugloor
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
(22–23 November 1768)
Consequences
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
, apparently emboldened by the agreement with the British, engaged in war with the Marathas in 1770, and asked the British support them if and when the Marathas penetrated Mysorean territory. The British refused to assist him, even though they were also
drawn into conflict with the Marathas in the 1770s. Hyder's battles did not fully end until 1779, when the Marathas negotiated an alliance with him and the
Nizam
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
for united action against the British. This led to the beginning of the
Second Anglo-Mysore War
The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in ...
in 1780. This conflict devastated much of the Carnatic, and also failed to decisively resolve differences between Mysore and the British. Resolution occurred in 1799 with the defeat and killing of Hyder's son
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...
, and the restoration of the Wodeyars as British clients.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Rao Punganuri was, according to Brown, in the employ of both Hyder and Tipu.
*
*
*
* Biography of Hyder and memoir by one of his French officers; coauthor Gholam Mohammed was Tipu Sultan's son.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Mysore War 01
1766 in India
1768 in India
1769 in India
Conflicts in 1766
Conflicts in 1768
Conflicts in 1769
History of Karnataka
Wars involving British India
Wars involving Great Britain
Wars involving the British East India Company
Wars involving the Kingdom of Mysore