The siege of Bednore was a battle 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 ...
. The British had captured Bednore (modern day
Nagara) and other strongholds in the
Malabar coast
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...
from
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
in early 1783, while the Mysore leader,
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 leading his army on campaign in the
Carnatic. The British commander, Brigadier-General
Richard Matthews, formed a small garrison of 1,600 men at Bednore and split the remainder of the force into detachments to plunder the surrounding region. Tipu Sultan brought his army of more than 100,000 men west and managed to approach within of Bednore undetected by 9 April. Matthews deployed his troops in the field outside of Bednore and was swiftly defeated. Matthews abandoned the town and retreated to the fort which was quickly besieged by the Mysore army.
Matthews lost much of his ammunition in the retreat and was short of provisions. Suffering losses from disease, he arranged a ceasefire with the Mysore on 24 April and surrendered on 28 April. The terms of the surrender were generous allowing the garrison to march out with all the
honours of war, providing free passage to Bombay and allowing the officers to retain their personal property. However Matthews divided the garrison's treasury, which should have been surrendered, among his officers which outraged the Mysore. Matthews' senior officers were seized and later poisoned and searches recovered the bulk of the missing treasure. The junior officers were marched to
Chittledroog and mistreatment resulted in some deaths.
Sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
non-commissioned officers who refused to join the Mysore army were thought, by the British officers, to have been murdered. Surviving prisoners were released in March 1784 under the
Treaty of Mangalore
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
Background
Hyder Ali became dalwai Dalavayi of Mysore by f ...
.
Background
Bednore (today known as
Nagara) lies in the
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...
region of South-Western India. It was a traditional stronghold of the
Nayakas of Keladi until they were defeated by
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 ...
in 1763 and the territory incorporated into 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 ...
. Ali looted the town of £12 million and renamed it as Hydernuggur. The area was afterwards peaceful until 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 ...
(1780-84) between Ali (and his 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 British (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 ...
). In early 1783 while Tipu Sultan's army was fighting in the
Carnatic region
The Carnatic region is the peninsular South Indian region between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and in the modern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. During the British er ...
near India's east coast the East India Company sent Brigadier-General
Richard Matthews with part of the
Bombay Army
The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India.
It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India A ...
to the Malabar Coast. Matthews captured all the Mysore forces in the region and set about looting the area, splitting his force into small detachments to cover a wide area.
Siege
Tipu Sultan decided to cut short his campaign in the Carnatic and return to the Malabar Coast with his army.
[ Matthews' troops were thinly spread and more intent on plunder than reconnaissance. Tipu Sultan's army, consisting of 2,000 French regulars and 100,000 Indian troops, was not spotted until 9 April when it was at Fattiput, just from Bednore.][ Matthews was unable to bring his detachments together in time but chose to face Tipu Sultan in the field at an open plain in front of Bednore.][ Matthews' army, some 600 European troops and 1,000 Indian ]sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
s, suffered 500 casualties within minutes and, abandoning the town, he retreated to the fort.[
Much of the garrison's ammunition was stored in the town and this was lost in the retreat.][ The defenders were also low on provisions and little work had been done to improve the fort's ruined defences.][ The Mysore army brought up their artillery and began a siege of the fort.]
With disease reducing his number Matthews arranged a ceasefire with Tipu Sultan on 24 April.[ Two days later he held a council of war with his officers, at which they agreed to surrender terms.] The terms agreed with the Mysore included free passage for the British force to 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- ...
, with safe transport for their sick and wounded, and retention of arms for 100 sepoys to act as an escort as far as Sadashagur, where they would embark for Bombay.[ On 28 April the British garrison marched out with all the honours of war, and piled their arms on the fort's ]glacis
A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More genera ...
.[
]
Aftermath
The British garrison was marched, under guard, about to a water tank (reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
) where they were held for some days.[ On 1 May the enlisted men, their wives and camp followers were searched and any valuables taken by the Mysore army.][ The officers had been permitted to retain their personal property but all public property was to have been turned over. The garrison's treasury, including plunder, had been divided by Matthews among the officers.] Matthews and some of his senior officers were summoned to meet Tipu Sultan on a pretext and were seized. A search recovered the bulk of the missing treasury and Matthews and the 19 most senior officers were killed by poisoning.[
The sick and wounded at Bednore were mistreated by the Mysore army, being tipped from their ]litters
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, ...
.[ The King's and regimental colours of the ]98th Regiment of Foot
The 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1824 as the 98th Regiment of Foot, before assuming the title of the 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot in 1876. Later, in 1 ...
, 100th Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincolnshire Regiment)
The 100th Regiment of Foot, or the Loyal Lincolnshire Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1780 and disbanded in 1785. The Loyal Lincolnshire Regiment was reformed in 1794 as the 123rd Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincolns ...
and the 102nd Regiment of Foot
The 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) was a regiment of the British Army raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1742. It transferred to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with t ...
were seized on 3 May.
The 34 junior British officers (subaltern
Subaltern may refer to:
*Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power
* Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer
* Subalternation, going from a univer ...
s) were chained and fettered and marched to confinement at Chittledroog (modern day Chitradurga). They were mistreated and some died en-route.[ ]John Le Couteur
Colonel Sir John Le Couteur (21 October 1794 – 24 December 1875) was a British Army officer and Aide-de-camp for Jersey to William IV and Victoria. Son of Lieutenant General John Le Couteur (1761–1835), he is best known for his War of 18 ...
, who later became a general, was among the junior officers and, in 1790, published an account of the Malabar campaign. The officers were offered their freedom if they agreed to serve in the Mysore Army but none chose to do so. A number of sepoy non-commissioned officers who refused to defect were presumed to have been murdered. The officers considered that they were also to have been murdered but that the order to do so was countermanded when peace negotiations opened between the British and the Tipu Sultan. The surviving prisoners were released in March 1784 under the terms of the Treaty of Mangalore
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
Background
Hyder Ali became dalwai Dalavayi of Mysore by f ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bednore, Siege of
Sieges involving Great Britain
Sieges involving the Kingdom of Mysore
Sieges involving France
Sieges involving the British East India Company
Conflicts in 1783
1783 in India
Sieges of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783)
Battles of the Second Anglo-Mysore War
History of Karnataka