Tipu Sultan and Anti-British Resistance

Tipu Sultan succeeded his father, Hyder Ali, as the ruler of Mysore in December 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Known as the “Tiger of Mysore,” Tipu Sultan continued his father’s anti-British stance, combining military force with modern administrative and economic reforms. He aimed to make Mysore militarily self-reliant and financially strong to check the expansion of the British East India Company in South India.

Army Reforms and Mysore Rocket Technology

Tipu Sultan upgraded his infantry and artillery using European models. He reorganized the army into regular brigades called Cushoons, managed by officers appointed directly by the state. He replaced the traditional military feudal system with salaried soldiers.

• Mysorean Rockets: Tipu Sultan pioneered iron-cased artillery rockets. These weapons used soft iron tubes filled with black powder, providing higher thrust and longer ranges up to two kilometers.
• Rocket Brigades: Special military units named Jouq operated these weapons during engagements like the Battle of Pollilur (1780) and the Siege of Seringapatam (1799).
• State Arsenals: He set up weapon workshops in Seringapatam, Bangalore, Chitradurga, and Bidanur to produce flintlock muskets, cannons, and gunpowder locally.

Anglo-Mysore Wars under Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan fought three major wars against the British East India Company to protect Mysore’s independence and economic interest in the Malabar coast.

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784)

• Command: Tipu Sultan took full command of Mysorean forces after Hyder Ali died in December 1782.
• Treaty of Mangalore (1784): Signed on March 11, 1784, between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company. Both sides agreed to a status quo ante bellum, restoring all captured territories and releasing prisoners of war.

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792)

• Cause of War: Tipu attacked Travancore, a British ally, in 1789 over rights to the Cranganore and Ayacotta forts.
• Triple Alliance: Governor-General Lord Cornwallis formed an alliance bringing together the British East India Company, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Marathas.
• Treaty of Seringapatam (1792): Tipu was forced to cede half of his territory to the alliance. He paid an indemnity of over three crore rupees and surrendered his two young sons, Abdul Khaliq and Muiz-ud-Din, as hostages until full payment was completed.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)

• Subsidiary Alliance Ultimatum: Governor-General Lord Wellesley demanded Tipu Sultan accept the Subsidiary Alliance system, which required disbanding state troops and paying for British military garrisons. Tipu rejected the proposal.
• British Invasion: British forces under General George Harris and Arthur Wellesley invaded Mysore, supported by troops from the Nizam of Hyderabad.
• Fall of Seringapatam: Tipu Sultan died defending his capital fort at Seringapatam on May 4, 1799.

Diplomatic Alliances and Foreign Contacts

Tipu Sultan sought international alliances to isolate the British East India Company in India.

• Embassies to Ottoman Empire and France: He dispatched diplomatic missions to Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1787 and to Paris in 1788 to negotiate trade pacts and secure military support.
• Jacobin Club Connection: Tipu supported the principles of the French Revolution. He became a member of the French Jacobin Club established at Seringapatam in 1797.
• Tree of Liberty: He planted a “Tree of Liberty” at his capital Seringapatam to symbolize his alliance with the French Republic against British rule.
• Contact with Napoleon: Tipu exchanged letters with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was campaign-stationed in Egypt, proposing a joint military effort against British possessions in Asia.

Administrative, Fiscal, and Economic Policies

Tipu Sultan introduced systemic state reforms to reduce dependence on foreign imports and build a state-directed economy.

Revenue Reforms and Land Tenure

• Abolition of Inamdars and Poligars: He abolished hereditary land revenue collectors and landed barons (Poligars), bringing peasants into direct tax relation with the state.
• Direct Cash Taxation: Revenue officials collected land taxes directly in cash, calculated according to soil fertility and crop yields.
• Commercial Agriculture: He promoted cash crops, introducing sericulture (silk production) by importing silkworm eggs from Bengal and China.

State Monopoly and International Commerce

• Board of Trade: Tipu formed a state trading company (Muthasaddi) to manage domestic and foreign trade.
• Monopolized Goods: He placed key commodities—including sandalwood, pepper, timber, spices, and cardamoms—under strict state monopoly.
• Overseas Depots: He established foreign trade factories in Muscat, Jeddah, Basra, and Pegu to export Mysore goods directly to West Asia and Southeast Asia.

Key Framework of Tipu’s Administrative System

Post-1799 Political Division of Mysore

Following Tipu Sultan’s death in 1799, the British partitioned the Mysorean territory:

• British Acquisition: The East India Company took the coastal regions of Kanara, Coimbatore, Wayanad, and Darapuram.
• Nizam’s Share: The Nizam of Hyderabad received the districts of Gooty and Gurramkonda.
• Maratha Share: Land was offered to the Marathas under specific conditions, which they refused; these territories were later divided between the British and the Nizam.
• Wodeyar Restoration: A reduced core territory was restored to the five-year-old Wodeyar ruler, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, under a forced Subsidiary Alliance agreement.

Essential Facts for Quick Reference

Tipu Sultan built a naval board called the Mir Yam in 1796, planning a navy of 40 warships with dockyards located at Mangalore, Basavarajadurga, and Bhatkal. The British military engineer Sir William Congreve studied captured Mysorean iron rockets after 1799, using their design to create the Congreve rocket system used during the Napoleonic Wars. Tipu Sultan established state silk farms and processing centers in Mysore, founding the silk industry that remains active in Karnataka today. The Treaty of Mangalore in 1784 was the last instance where an Indian state dictated peace terms to the British East India Company. Purnaiah, a Hindu administrator who served as finance minister under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, was appointed the first Dewan of Mysore after the British restored the Wodeyar dynasty in 1799.