Anglo-Mysore Wars and British Expansion

The Kingdom of Mysore posed a strong challenge to the expansion of the British East India Company (EIC) in eighteenth-century South India. Following the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, Mysore came under the rule of the Wodeyar dynasty in 1399. Power shifted to ministers Devaraja and Nanjaraja during the reign of Chikka Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. Hyder Ali, an officer in the Mysore military, overthrew Nanjaraja in 1761 to become the de facto ruler (Sarvadhikari). Hyder Ali modernized his army with French assistance, establishing a modern artillery arsenal at Dindigul in 1755. Under Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, Mysore expanded across the Malabar Coast, controlling pepper, spice, and timber trade routes. This rapid growth brought Mysore into direct conflict with the British East India Company, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Maratha Empire.

The Four Anglo-Mysore Wars

The British fought four major military campaigns between 1767 and 1799 to eliminate the Kingdom of Mysore as a South Indian regional power.

First Anglo-Mysore War (1767–1769)

• Tripartite Alliance: The British formed an alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas against Hyder Ali.
• Diplomatic Maneuvers: Hyder Ali bribed the Marathas and won over the Nizam, breaking the alliance.
• Course of Action: Hyder Ali launched an offensive, reaching the outskirts of Madras.
• Treaty of Madras (1769): The war ended with a mutual defense pact requiring both parties to restore conquered lands and assist each other in the event of an attack by a third power.

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784)

• Outbreak: The British failed to aid Hyder Ali during a Maratha attack in 1771, violating the Treaty of Madras. The British capture of the French-controlled port of Mahe within Mysore territory in 1779 sparked open conflict.
• Key Engagements: Hyder Ali allied with the Nizam and Marathas, defeating Colonel William Baillie at the Battle of Pollilur in 1780. Sir Eyre Coote checked Mysorean forces at the Battle of Porto Novo in 1781.
• Change in Leadership: Hyder Ali died of cancer in December 1782. His son Tipu Sultan continued the campaign.
• Treaty of Mangalore (1784): Signed on the basis of status quo ante bellum, both sides restored captured territories and released prisoners of war.

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792)

• Casus Belli: Tipu Sultan attacked Travancore, a British ally, in 1789 over control of the Cranganore and Ayacotta forts.
• Grand Coalition: Governor-General Lord Cornwallis formed a triple alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas.
• Siege of Seringapatam: British forces captured Bangalore in 1791 and besieged Mysore’s capital, Seringapatam.
• Treaty of Seringapatam (1792): Tipu surrendered half of his territory, paid a war indemnity exceeding three crore rupees, and surrendered two of his sons as hostages to the EIC.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)

• Ultimatum: Governor-General Lord Wellesley demanded Tipu accept the Subsidiary Alliance system. Tipu rejected the terms, citing his sovereign status and contacts with revolutionary France, Arabia, and the Ottoman Empire.
• Military Campaign: EIC forces under General George Harris and Arthur Wellesley invaded Mysore with support from the Nizam.
• Fall of Mysore: Tipu Sultan died defending the fort of Seringapatam on May 4, 1799.

Institutional Framework of the Conflicts

Military and Administrative Innovations of Mysore

Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan introduced systemic reforms to build a modernized military state capable of resisting British territorial dominance.

Rocket Technology and Military Upgrades

• Iron-Cased Artillery Rockets: Mysore developed iron-cased rockets using soft iron tubes filled with black powder, extending projectile ranges up to two kilometers.
• Rocket Brigades: Specialist units called Jouq operated rocket weapons in engagements like the Battles of Pollilur and Seringapatam.
• Army Reorganization: Tipu organized regular infantry and artillery units into regular brigades named Cushoons, replacing feudal levies with paid state soldiers.

Economic and Fiscal Reforms

• State Monopolies: Tipu established a state trading company (Muthasaddi) to manage trade in sandalwood, pepper, timber, spices, and cardamoms.
• Agricultural Policies: Mysore abolished intermediary tax collectors (Poligars), collecting land revenues directly in cash through state officers. Tipu introduced sericulture by importing silkworm eggs from Bengal and China.
• New Calendar and Coinage: Tipu introduced the Maudi solar-lunar calendar and minted gold Pagodas, silver Rupiyas, and copper Paisa.

Post-1799 Political Realignment

Following the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, Lord Wellesley partitioned the Mysorean territories. The British acquired coastal Kanara, Wayanad, Coimbatore, and Darapuram. The Nizam received the districts of Gooty and Gurramkonda. The Marathas refused their offered portion, which was then split between the British and the Nizam. The British restored a reduced core territory to the five-year-old Wodeyar dynasty ruler, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Lord Wellesley forced a Subsidiary Alliance treaty on the state, allowing EIC military garrisons inside Mysore at local expense. In 1831, Governor-General Lord William Bentinck assumed direct administrative control over Mysore due to alleged misgovernance and peasant unrest like the Nagar Rebellion of 1830. Direct British administration continued until 1881, when Governor-General Lord Ripon returned power to Chamarajendra Wodeyar X under the Rendition of Mysore.

Key Facts for Quick Reference

Hyder Ali established a naval dockyard at Mangalore under Ali Raja of Cannanore to secure trade routes across the Malabar Coast. The Treaty of Mangalore in 1784 was the last instance where an Indian ruler dictated peace terms directly to the British East India Company. Tipu Sultan joined the French Jacobin Club in 1797 and planted a Tree of Liberty at Seringapatam to celebrate his alliance with the French Republic. British engineer Sir William Congreve studied captured Mysorean iron rockets after 1799 to develop the Congreve rocket system used during the Napoleonic Wars. Purnaiah, a senior minister under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, served as the first Dewan of Mysore after the British restored the Wodeyar dynasty in 1799.