The Maratha–Mysore Wars was a conflict in the 18th century

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

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

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 ...

. Though initial hostilities between the sides started in 1770s, the last warfare began on February 1785 and ended in 1787.

Situation in the 18th century

18th century saw a steady decline of once a dominant power on the whole subcontinent –

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 ...

. Apart from the disastrous invasion by the Afsharid ruler of Iran, Nader Shah in 1739, Mughals were successfully contested by Maratha Empire. Meanwhile, 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 ...

was asserting its influence in India and was engaged in a series of wars with Mysore which eventually resulted in the region falling under Company rule.

Mysore wars with the British

Mysore was a relatively small kingdom in the beginning of 1700s. However, able rulers such as

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 ...

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 ...

transformed the kingdom and

westernized Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...

the army that it soon turned into a military threat both to the British and Maratha Empire. Upon Haidar Ali’s death, Mysore covered 80,000 sq. miles and had a population of approximately 6 million. Starting from 1767, Kingdom of Mysore had overall had four major military confrontations (1767–69; 1780–84; 1790–92; and 1799). About 1761, commander in chief of the state of Mysore, Hyder Ali proclaimed himself absolute ruler of the Kingdom and started military campaigns to expand the territory of the state. In 1766, the

joined forces with the local ruler of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

against Hyder Ali, but by 1769, the British were left alone in a war with Mysore Kingdom. In 1769 Hyder Ali made his way to

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 ...

(location of the Company's government) and demanded a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

Maratha-Mysore Wars

Although clashes between the Mysore ruler

and Marathas had taken place occasionally before 1785, the actual warfare started in February 1785. After the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the ruler of Mysore Tipu Sultan sought to keep offensive moves by the Marathas at bay. Marathas had established a military alliance with the ruler of Hyderabad with a common purpose of recovering territories both had lost to Mysore in previous conflicts. Much of the desired territory was subject to marches, countermarches, and sieges of fortified points. The Marathas also attempted to draw the British East India Company into the pending conflict, but a neutrality policy implemented by the new governor-general, Lord Charles Cornwallis made its participation impossible.

Major conflicts

*Battle of Rutehalli Fort (1764) *Battle of Sira and Madgiri (1767) *Battle of Chinkurli (1771) *Battle of Saunshi (1777) *Siege of Nargund, February 1785 *Siege of Badami, May 1786 *Siege of Adoni, June 1786 *Battle of Gajendragad, June 1786 *Battle of Savanur, 10 October 1786 *Siege of Bahadur Benda, January 1787

Outcome

The Maratha-Mysore War ended after the final conflict during the siege of Bahadur Benda in January 1787, and later settled for peace with the kingdom of Mysore, to which Tipu Sultan obliged with the signing of the treaty of Gajendragad in April 1787. Tipu had to pay an annual tribute of 12 lakhs per year to the Marathas, thus ending hostilities with them, which allowed him to focus on his rivalry with the British. The Battle of Gajendragadh was fought between the Marathas and Tipu Sultan from March 1786 to March 1787 in which Tipu Sultan was defeated by the Marathas. By the victory in this battle, the border of the Maratha territory extended till Tungabhadra river. Maratha-Mysore war ended in April 1787, following the finalizing of ''treaty of Gajendragad'', as per which, Tipu Sultan of Mysore was obligated to pay 4.8 million rupees as a war cost to the Marathas, and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees. In addition to returning all the territory captured by

, Tipu also agreed to pay 4 year's arrears of the tribute, which Mysore owed to the Marathas, through Hyder Ali. Tipu would release Kalopant and return Adoni, Kittur, and Nargund to their previous rulers. Badami would be ceded to the Marathas. Tipu would also pay an annual tribute of 12 lakhs per year to the Marathas. In return, Tipu would get all the places that they had captured in the war, including Gajendragarh and Dharwar. Tipu would also be addressed by the Marathas by an honorary title of "Nabob Tipu Sultan, Fateh Ali Khan". In

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 ...

maratha empire presented its support to 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 ...

Bibliography

* Duff, James Grant
''A history of the Mahrattas'', Volume 2
* Kumar, Raj
''Essays on modern India''
* Sen, Sailendra Nath
''Anglo-Maratha relations, 1785-96''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maratha-Mysore War Conflicts in 1786 Conflicts in 1787 1786 in India 1787 in India Wars involving the Kingdom of Mysore *