Hyder Ali
Encyclopedia
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore
in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers. Rising to the post of dalwai, or commander-in-chief
to Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
, he came to dominate the titular monarch and the Mysore government, and eventually seized control of all of the reins of power. He expanded the kingdom's borders at the expense of the Maratha Empire
and Nizams of Hyderabad (among others), and was one of the few local rulers to effectively blunt the military advances of the British East India Company
during two wars
. In the First
and Second Anglo-Mysore War
s he came within striking distance of the British outpost at Madras. He was given a number of honorific titles, and was referred to as Sultan Hyder Ali Khan or Hyder Ali Sahib.
Hyder's rule of Mysore was characterised by frequent warfare with his neighbours and rebellion within his territories. This was not unusual for the time, as much of the Indian subcontinent was then in turmoil, with the Hindu Maratha Empire
struggling with the remnants of the Muslim Mughal Empire. He was a shrewd leader, and left his son Tipu Sultan
a kingdom that was significantly larger than when he first took it over. He organized his military in part along European lines, and was a pioneer in the military use of Rocket artillery
. He had at least two wives, and fathered at least three children.
s tracing their lineage back to Persia, while another traces his lineage instead to the area of present-day Afghanistan
. In a third account, written by one of his French military officers, Hyder himself claimed descent from the Quraysh tribe of Arabs, the tribe of the prophet Muhammad
. His father, Fatah Muhammad
, was born in Kolar
, and served as a commander of 50 men in the bamboo
rocket artillery
(mainly used for signaling) in the army of the Nawab of Carnatic. Fatah Muhammad eventually entered the service of the Wodeyar
Raja
s of the Kingdom of Mysore
, where he rose to become a powerful military commander. The Wodeyars awarded him Budikote
as a jagir
(land grant), where he then served as Naik
(Lord).
Hyder Ali was born in Budikote; he was Fatah Muhammad
's fifth child, and the second by his third wife. His early years are not well documented; he entered military service along with his brother Shahbahz after their father died in combat. After serving for a number of years under the rulers of Arcot, they came to Seringapatam, where Hyder's uncle served. He introduced them to Devaraja, the dalwai (chief minister, military leader, and virtual ruler) of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
, and his brother Nanjaraja, who also held important ministerial posts. Hyder and his brother were both given commands in the Mysorean army; Hyder served under Shahbahz, commanding 100 cavalry and 2,000 infantry.
, the longtime Nizam of Hyderabad died. The struggle to succeed him is known as the Second Carnatic War, and pitted Asaf Jah's son Nasir Jang
against a cousin, Muzaffar Jang
. Both sides were supported by other local leaders, and French and British forces were also involved. Devaraja had started vesting more military authority in his brother, and in 1749 Nanjaraja marched the Mysorean army in support of Nasir Jang. The army went to Devanhalli, where the Mysoreans participated in the Siege of Devanahalli Fort. The fort was held by Muzaffar Jang's forces and the siege was conducted by the Marquis de Bussy
. During the successful eight-month siege, the Naik brothers distinguished themselves, and were rewarded by the dalwai with enlarged commands. By 1755 Hyder Ali commanded 3,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry, and was reported to be enriching himself on campaigns by plunder. In that year he was also appointed faujdar
(military commander) of Dindigul
. In this position he first retained French advisers to organize and train his artillery companies. He is also known to have personally served alongside de Bussy, and is believed to have met both Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Shahib
. In these early wars he also came to dislike and mistrust Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
, the Nawab of the Carnatic
. In fact Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah and the Mysorean leaders were long at odds with each other, seeking territorial gains at the other's expense. Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah had by then formed an alliance with the British, and he was accused by Hyder Ali in later years of effectively preventing him from making any sort of long-lasting alliances or agreements with the British.
Early in his career, Hyder Ali retained as one of his chief financial assistants a Brahmin
named Khande Rao. Hyder Ali, who was illiterate, was reported to be blessed with a prodigious memory and numerical acumen, and Khande Rao established an accounting system to manage his finances. The system included checks and balances so sophisticated that all manner of income, including plunder of physical goods of all types, could be accounted for with little possibility for fraud or embezzlement. This financial management may have played a role in Hyder Ali's rise in power.
In 1757 Hyder Ali was called to Seringapatam to support Devaraja against threats from Hyderabad and the Marathas
. Upon his arrival he found the Mysorean army in disarray and near mutiny over pay. While Devaraja bought his way out of the threats to Seringapatam, Hyder Ali arranged for the army to be paid and arrested the ringleaders of the mutiny. Hyder Ali then led Mysorean campaigns against the Nairs of Malabar (the west coast
of India). For his role in these activities Hyder Ali was rewarded by Devaraja with the jaghir
(regional governorship) of Bangalore
. In 1758 Hyder Ali successfully forced the Marathas to lift a siege of Bangalore. By 1759 Hyder Ali was in command of the entire Mysorean army. The young raja Krishnaraja rewarded Hyder Ali's performance by granting him the title Fatah Hyder Bahadur or Nawab Hyder Ali Khan. Because of the ongoing conflicts with the Marathas the Mysorean treasury was virtually bankrupted, prompting the queen mother to force into exile Nanjaraj, who had assumed the position of dalwai upon his brother's death in 1758. Hyder Ali was a beneficiary of this action, rising in influence in the court.
In 1760 the queen mother conspired with Khande Rao, who had gone into the raja's service, to oust Hyder Ali. He was precipitously forced out of Seringapatam, leaving his family, including his son Tipu Sultan
, under house arrest. The sudden departure left Hyder Ali with few resources. He may have been fortuitously aided at this time by the faraway Third Battle of Panipat
, in which the Marathas suffered a major defeat. Because of this loss, the Marathas withdrew forces from Mysore and Hyder Ali's brother-in-law chased them into Bidnur and Sunda. Soon afterward Hyder Ali marched his brother-in-law's forces, which numbered about 6,000, along with the 3,000 men from his garrison at Bangalore
, toward Seringapatam. They clashed with Khande Rao's forces before reaching the capital. Khande Rao, with 11,000 men, won the battle, and Hyder Ali was forced to apply to the exiled Nanjaraj for support. Nanjaraj gave him command of his army, and the title of Dalwai. With this force Hyder Ali again moved out against Khande Rao. The two armies faced each other again, but a deception by Hyder Ali convinced Khande Rao to flee instead of engaging in battle. Hyder Ali sent letters appearing to be from Nanjaraj to some of Khande Rao's commanders, confirming their agreement to hand Khande Rao over to Hyder Ali. Fearing a conspiracy, Khande Rao fled into Seringapatam. After a minor battle against the now-leaderless army, Hyder Ali took over most of its remnants and surrounded Seringapatam. The ensuing negotiations left Hyder Ali in nearly complete military control of Mysore. Concessions that he extracted included the surrender of Khande Rao, who Hyder Ali imprisoned in Bangalore.
and formally declared himself Sultan Hyder Ali Khan, in his correspondence with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II
. Hyder Ali was very cautious in his diplomacy with the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was, according to an official Mughal
firman
, the sovereign of all Muslim-ruled territories in southern India.
, taken from the Marathas, and the kingdom of Bednore, where as a casus belli
he agreed to support a claimant to its throne against usurpers. In 1763 he took its capital, Ikkeri
, which included a large treasury. He renamed the capital Haidernagar, and began styling himself Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur, a title that had been bestowed on him by Basalat Jang as reward for his taking of Sira. He moved most of his family to Ikkeri, a natural fortress, in the hopes that it would "serve him for a safe refuge". He assumed the trappings of the ruler of Bednore, began issuing coins, and established a system of weights and measures. He made sure his son Tipu received a quality education, "employing learned tutors" and "appointing a suitable hand of attendants" to see to his upbringing. He cultivated a suspicion of foreigners, specifically refusing to allow the British to have a resident
at his court. His security, however, was not assured in Bednore: a bout of illness and a widespread conspiracy against him convinced him that it would not make an ideal capital for his domain, and he returned to Mysore.
The taking of Bednore included several ports on the Malabar coast, including Mangalore
. Hyder used these ports to establish a small navy. The documentary record on the navy is fragmentary; Portuguese records indicate that the fleet was launched sometime between 1763 and 1765. It was apparently officered by Europeans, and its first admiral was an Englishman; by 1768 its admiral was a Mysorean cavalry officer named Ali Bey (or Lutf Ali Beg), apparently chosen by Hyder because he did not trust the European captains.
Hyder had amicable relations with the Christian population in Mangalore, which had long been under Portuguese
influence and had a sizable Roman Catholic population, and with Christians in general. He had a very close friendship with two Goan Catholic
priests, Bishop Noronha and Joachim Miranda, and allowed a Protestant missionary to live at his court. Hyder's army also included Catholic soldiers, and he allowed Christians to build a church at Seringapatam, where French generals used to offer prayers and priests used to visit. Mangalorean historian A. L. P. D'Souza mentions that Hyder also had Christians in his administration. Pursuant to treaties concluded with the Portuguese, he also allowed Portuguese priests to settle disputes among Christians. However, many Mangaloreans (not just Christians) disliked him for the heavy tax burden he imposed on them.
of Savanur
for assistance when Hyder invaded. Hyder consequently threatened the Nawab, attempting to extort tribute from him. Failing in this, he overran that territory, reaching as far as Dharwad
, north of the Tungabhadra River
. Since Savanur was a tributary of the Marathas, the Peshwa
countered with a strong force, and defeated Hyder near Rattihalli
. The Maratha victory forced Hyder to retreat; he had to abandon Bednore, although he was able to remove its treasures to Seringapatam. Hyder paid 35 lahks rupees in tribute to end the war, and returned most of his gains, although he did retain Sira.
In 1766 Hyder Ali returned to the Malabar, this time at the invitation of the raja of Cannanore, who sought independence from the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut
who held sway over Cannanore. Hyder also claimed a debt of tribute from the Zamorin, who had supported Hyder's opponents in earlier campaigns. After a difficult campaign, Hyder reached Calicut, where the Zamorin, after promising to make payment, failed to deliver. Hyder placed the Zamorin under house arrest and had his finance minister tortured. Fearing similar treatment, the Zamorin set fire to his palace and perished in the flames, ending Eradi
dynastic rule of Calicut. After establishing control of Calicut, Hyder departed, but was forced to return several months later when the Nairs rebelled against the rule of his lieutenant, Reza Sahib. Hyder's response was harsh: after putting down the rebellion, many rebels were executed, and thousands of others were forcibly relocated
to the Mysorean highlands.
Mysore's titular ruler Krishnaraja died in April 1766, while Hyder was in the Malabar. Hyder had left orders that Krishnaraja's son Nanjaraja be invested should that happen, and he only later came to formally pay his respects to the new rajah. He took advantage of this opportunity to engage in a sort of house cleaning: the raja's palace was plundered, and its staff reduced to the point where virtually everyone employed there was also a spy for Hyder Ali.
, which had by then become the dominant European colonial power on the Indian east coast. The nizam, seeking to deflect the British from their attempts to gain control of the Northern Circars, made overtures to Hyder Ali to launch an invasion of the Carnatic. Company representatives also appealed to Hyder Ali, but he rebuffed them. The nizam then ostensibly struck a deal with the British Madras Presidency
for their support, but apparently did so with the expectation that when Hyder Ali was prepared for war, the deal with the British would be broken. This diplomatic maneouvring resulted in the start of the First Anglo-Mysore War
in August 1767 when a company outpost at Changama was attacked by a combined Mysore-Hyderabad army under Hyder Ali'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. Hyder Ali moved on to capture Kaveripattinam
after two days of siege, while the British commander at Changama, Colonel Joseph Smith, eventually retreated to Tiruvannamalai
for supplies and reinforcements. There Hyder Ali was decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767. With the onset of the monsoon season, Hyder Ali 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 Hyder Ali in exchange for surrender, and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Hyder Ali 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 Asaf Jah II
, led to a split between Hyder Ali and the nizam. The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768. Hyder Ali, apparently seeking an end to the conflict, made peace overtures to the British, but was rebuffed.
In early 1768, the British Bombay Presidency
in Bombay organized an expedition to Mysore's Malabar coast territories. Hyder Ali's fleet, which the British reported as numbering about ten ships, deserted en masse, apparently because the captains were unhappy with a 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. The British consequently occupied Mangalore with minimal opposition in February. This activity, combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally, prompted Hyder Ali to withdraw from the Carnatic, and move with speed to the Malabar. Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force, Hyder Ali 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.
After his reconquest, Hyder Ali learned that the Mangalorean Catholics had helped the British in their conquest of Mangalore, behavior he considered treasonous. He summoned a Portuguese officer and several Christian priests from Mangalore to suggest an appropriate punishment to impose on the Mangalorean Catholics for their treachery. The Portuguese officer suggested the death penalty for those Catholics who helped the British as a typical punishment for the betrayal of one's sovereign. But Hyder Ali exhibited a diplomatic stance and instead imprisoned those Christians who were condemned for treachery. He afterwards opened negotiations with the Portuguese, and reached an agreement with them that removed suspicion from the clergy and other Christians. The Mangalorean Catholic community flourished during the rest of Hyder Ali's reign.
During Hyder Ali's absence from the Carnatic, the British recovered many places that Hyder Ali had taken and only weakly garrisoned, and advanced as far south as Dindigul
. 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 Ali returned to Bangalore from the Malabar on August 9, in time to harass the allies before the siege could begin. On August 22, Hyder Ali and his Mysore forces attacked the Maratha camp during the Battle of Ooscota, but was repulsed when faced with the large Maratha reinforcements. Hyder Ali 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
, where he was reinforced by his brother in law. He also attempted diplomatic measures to prevent a siege of Bangalore, offering to pay ten lahks 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 Ali specifically refused to deal with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
, his nemesis in the Carnatic. The negotiations failed to reach common ground.
On October 3, Hyder Ali, while moving his army from Guuramkonda back toward Bangalore, surprised a small garrison of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
's men at a rock fort call Mulwagal, near Ooscota. 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 Ali's entire army in the Battle of Mulwagal. A strategem 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 Ali realized his tactical error. Hyder Ali 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 Ali in open battle. Company officials blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder Ali, and recalled him to Madras. Hyder Ali took the opportunity to besiege Hosur
, and Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder Ali raised the siege, snuck around Wood's column, and attacked his baggage train in a battle near Bagalur
. Hyder Ali successfully captured supplies and arms, and drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri
. Wood was consequently recalled and replaced by Colonel Lang.
Hyder Ali 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
Hyder Ali 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 approached Madras. This prompted the British to send an envoy to discuss peace; because of Hyder Ali's insistence that the nawab of the Carnatic be excluded from the negotiations, they went nowhere. Hyder Ali then surprised company authorities by taking a picked force of 6,000 cavalry and a small number of infantry, and made in three days a forced march of 130 miles (209.2 km) to the gates of Madras.
This show of force compelled the company to negotiate further. Hyder Ali, who was seeking diplomatic leverage against the Marathas, wanted an alliance of mutual defense and offense. The company refused to accede to an offensive military treaty; the treaty signed at Madras on March 29, 1769 restored the status quo ante bellum
, except for Mysore's acquisition of Karur
, and also included language that each side would help the other defend its territory. In summarizing Hyder Ali's conduct of the war, biographer Lewin Bowring notes that he "evinced high qualities as a tactician and the sagacity of a born diplomatist."
When Hyder took over the Malabar territories, he took advantage of the coastal access to develop relations with trading partners overseas. To this end he established port tariffs that were biased against European traders and preferential for Mysorean and Arab traders. Beginning in 1770 he sent ambassadors to Abu Hilal Ahmad bin Said in Muscat
and Karim Khan
in Shiraz
, then the capital of Persia, seeking military and economic alliances. In a 1774 embassy to Karim Khan
, the ruler of Persia, he sought to establish a trading post on the Persian Gulf
. Karim responded by offering Bandar Abbas
, but nothing further seems to have passed between them on the subject. Karim Khan later did send 1,000 troops to Mysore in 1776 in response to another embassy in 1775. Nursullah Khan, Hyder's ambassador, had more success in Muscat, where a trading house was established in 1776. During the final years of his reign Hyder Ali also planned to send an embassy to the Ottoman
Sultan Mustafa III
, but it was his son Tipu Sultan who succeeded in making direct contact with Istanbul
.
The peace with the Marathas was short-lived. The peshwa Madhavrao I died late in 1772, beginning a struggle for his succession. In 1773 Hyder used this opportunity to send Tipu with an army to recover territories lost to the Marathas to the north, while he descended into Coorg, which provided a more secure route to the Malabar territories he wanted to recover from the Marathas. A claimant to the Coorg throne had asked for Hyder's assistance in 1770 when he was preoccupied with the Marathas. He quickly captured Coorg's capital, Merkara, imprisoning Raja Vira Rajendra. He installed a Brahmin
(a caste unpopular with the Coorgs) as governor to collect revenues before continuing to the Malabar, where by the end of 1774 he had recovered all his lost territory. The Coorgs rose in rebellion against his governor, upon which Hyder returned to Coorg, crushed the rebellion, and hanged most of the ringleaders. This did not stop the restive Coorgs from becoming a continuing problem for Hyder, and Tipu after his death.
In 1776 the young Raja Chamaraja died. To choose a successor, Hyder had all of the children of the royal family brought together, and watched them play. A child, also named Chamaraja, chose to play with a jewelled dagger, and was supposed selected on that basis as the new raja of Mysore.
By March 1775 the leadership situation at Poona, the Maratha capital, had stabilized, and the Marathas joined an alliance with the nizam of Hyderabad to oppose Hyder. The Maratha army was routed by one of Hyder's generals in 1776, and Hyder either bribed or sufficiently threatened the nizam's military leaders that they withdrew from the campaign. This only temporarily halted the conflict, which was fought with renewed vigor until 1779. Hyder successfully extended his domain to the Krishna River
after a lengthy siege of Dharwad
. In a controversial action, Hyder in 1779 dealt harshly with Madakari Nayaka
, the ruler of Chitradurga
. Madakari had supported Hyder in earlier conflicts, but in 1777 had changed allegiance to the Marathas. After seizing Chitradurga, Hyder sent Madakari to Seringapatam as a prisoner, where he died. Hyder further sent 20,000 of Madakari's followers to Seringapatam, where the boys among them were allegedly forcibly converted to Islam
and formed into so-called chela battalions in the Mysorean army.
for much of the 1770s, and they had also upset the Nizam of Hyderabad Asaf Jah II
over their occupation of Guntur
.
In 1771 Maratha envoys had approached Hyder with a proposal to unite against the British, with the goal of wresting control of eastern India from their influence. Since Hyder was at the time still attempting alliance with the British, he informed them of this offer, noting that he thought the Marathas would gain too much power and even threaten his own position under those circumstances. The Marathas, still at war with the British, renewed an offer of alliance in 1779. In this case, the alliance was to include the nizam. His decision to join this alliance was prompted by two British actions. The first was the British capture by capitulation of the west coast port of Mahé, part of a concerted effort by the British to take all French outposts following the 1778 French entry into the American Revolutionary War
. Hyder received much of his French-supplied equipment through this French-controlled port, and had provided troops for its defense. Furthermore, the British action had provoked the Nairs on the Malabar coast to rise in rebellion again, although Hyder had quickly put this down. The second offense was the movement of British troops through territory under his control (and also other territory controlled by the nizam) from Madras to Guntur. There was a skirmish in the hills, and the British detachment ended up retreating to Madras.
The allies planned to make virtually simultaneous attacks on British holdings all throughout India, while the Marathas agreed to honor Hyder's claims to territories he currently held north of the Tungabhadra River and reduced the amount of tribute he was required to pay under earlier agreements. Hyder expected to receive assistance from the French, especially in the Carnatic, the territory he sought to conquer. However, diplomatic actions by Governor Warren Hastings
and the company successfully convinced both the nizam and the Marathas not to take up arms, and Hyder ended up fighting the war on his own. He successfully gained alliances with Ali Raja Bibi Junumabe II
and the Muslim Mappila
community and later even met with Muslim Malays from Melacca, who were under Dutch
service.
The army Hyder assembled was one of the largest seen in southern India, estimated to number 83,000. Carefully coordinating the actions of his subordinate commanders, he swept down the Eastern Ghats
onto the coastal plain in July 1780, laying waste to the countryside. Due to Hyder's secrecy and poor British intelligence, officials in Madras were unaware of his movements until the fires of burning villages just 9 miles (14.5 km) away were seen in Madras. Hyder himself organized the Siege of Arcot, while detaching his son Karim Khan Sahib to take Porto Novo
. The movement in August of Sir Hector Munro with a force of over 5,000 from Madras to Kanchipuram
(Conjeevaram) prompted Hyder to lift the siege of Arcot and move to confront him. Word then arrived that Munro was awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Guntur under Colonel William Baillie, so he sent a detachment under Tipu to intercept them, and eventually followed in strength himself when Munro sent a force from his army to meet Baillie. Tipu and Hyder surrounded Baillie's force, and compelled the surrender of about 3,000 men in the Battle of Pollilur
on 10 September; it was the worst defeat of British troops in India to date. Hyder then renewed the siege of Arcot, which fell in November.
Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, Governor Hastings had sent General Sir Eyre Coote
south from Bengal to take charge of British forces opposing Hyder. He arrived at Madras in November to take command from Munro. Coote marched into the Carnatic, and eventually occupied Cuddalore
. After being resupplied there he besieged Chidambram, where an assault on the fort was repulsed.
Hyder had in the meantime descended into Tanjore, with severe consequences. After extracting the allegiance of the Maratha king Thuljaji
, Hyder plundered the country, destroying cattle and crops. The economic output of Tanjore is estimated to have fallen by 90% between 1780 and 1782. Hyder's ravages were followed by alleged expeditions of plunder launched by the Kallars
. The economic devastation wrought by these attacks was so severe that Tanjore's economy did not recover until the start of the 19th century; the era is referred to in local folklore as the Hyderakalam.
With Coote at Cuddalore, Hyder then made a forced march to interpose his army between Chidambram and Cuddalore, cutting Coote's supply line. Coote marched to face him, and won a decisive victory in the Battle of Porto Novo
on 1 July 1781; Coote estimated that Hyder lost 10,000 men in the battle. Hyder then dispatched Tipu in an attempt to prevent the junction of Coote's army with reinforcements from Bengal. This failed, and in late August the two armies met again at Pollilur
, chosen by Hyder as a place to make a stand because it was the site of his victory over Baillie the previous year. Hyder was however defeated this time, but the battle was not decisive. While Coote regrouped and searched for provisions, Hyder took the opportunity to besiege Vellore
. Madras authorities convinced the aging Coote to put off his retirement and relieve the fortress there. Hyder and Coote met in battle
at Sholinghur
, near Vellore. Hyder's artillery was ineffective, and the disciplined British cut down repeated cavalry charges, again inflicting severe casualties. Hyder was forced to withdraw, and Coote reprovisioned Vellore, which had been on the brink of surrender.
Lord Macartney
, who had recently arrived to take the governorship of Madras, also brought news that Britain was at war with the Dutch
. Consequent to this, the company was instructed to seize Dutch holdings in India, and Macartney had ordered a detachment from Tanjore, under Colonel Brathwaite, to capture the main Dutch post at Negapatam. Hyder made an agreement with the Dutch to provide troops for its defence, but was himself forced away from Negapatam by Brathwaite. The British took Negapatam after three weeks of siege
in October and November 1781. This setback forced Hyder to withdraw from most of Tanjore.
In January 1782 General Coote, his health failing, again set out to reprovision Vellore. Hyder did not prevent the resupply, but shadowed the British back toward Tripassore, offering battle near Sholinghur. Coote successfully maneouvred away from Hyder without battle. In February Hyder detached Tipu with a sizable force to recover Tanjore. Intelligence failures led the main British garrison to become surrounded by this superior force; Colonel Brathwaite and 2,000 men surrendered. Hyder was also preoccupied by bad news from the west. A Mysorean force that had been besieging Tellicherry was broken, with its commander and his siege guns captured, and Coorg and Malabar were also descending into open rebellion. Hyder consequently sent forces west to deal with these matters, and was preparing to follow himself when word arrived on March 10 that a French force had landed at Porto Novo. Hyder immediately sent Tipu from Tanjore to meet with them, and followed himself from Arcot. At this time he had a celebrated meeting with the French Admiral Suffren
, and the allies agreed on a plan to establish Cuddalore as a French base. Cuddalore was occupied without resistance on April 8, and Hyder's army, joined by the French, marched toward Permacoil, which fell in May. Coote responded by marching toward Arni, where Hyder had a major supply depot. Hyder and the French had been considering an assault on Wandiwash, but abandoned that idea and marched to face Coote. They skirmished there on June 2. In August the British landed a force on the Malabar coast, to which Hyder responded by sending additional troops under Tipu to the west. The onset of the monsoon season then suspended most military activity on the eastern plain, and Hyder established his camp near Chittoor
.
and the differences in moon sightings in the surrounding kingdoms.
Hyder's advisers tried to keep his death a secret until Tipu could be recalled from the Malabar coast. Upon learning of his father's passing Tipu immediately returned to Chittoor to assume the reins of power. His accession was not without problems: he had to put down an attempt by an uncle to place Tipu's brother Abdul Karim on the throne. The British learned of his death within 48 hours of its occurrence, but the dilatory attitude of Coote's replacement, James Stuart
, meant that they were unable to capitalize on it militarily.
Hyder Ali was an innovator in the military use of rocket
s, which were used against positions and territories held by the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars
. Although rocket technology originated in China and had made its way to India and Europe by the 13th century, development of accurate cannon
s had sidelined rockets as a military technology in Europe. Rocket technology was already in use when Hyder's father served (he commanded a company of 50 rocketmen), but it was Hyder who improved them and significantly expanded their use in the military. Technological innovations included the use of high-quality iron casing
(better than was then available in Europe) for the combustion chamber, enabling the use of higher-powered explosive charges. He also organized companies of rocketmen who were experienced in aiming rockets based on the size of the rocket and the distance to the target. Rockets could also be mounted on carts that improved their mobility and made possible the firing of large numbers of them all at once. Rockets developed by Hyder and Tipu led to a renaissance of interest in the technology in Britain, where William Congreve, supplied with rocket cases from Mysore, developed what became known as Congreve rocket
s in the early 19th century.
In Hyder's time the Mysorean army had a rocket corps of as many as 1,200 men, which Tipu increased to 5,000. At the 1780 Battle of Pollilur
, during the second war, Colonel William Baillie's ammunition stores are thought to have been detonated by a hit from one of Hyder's rockets, contributing to the British defeat.
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers. Rising to the post of dalwai, or commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
to Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
Krishna Raja Wodeyar II,, was also known popularly as Immadi Krishna Raja Wadeyar.He was the titular ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1734 to 1766...
, he came to dominate the titular monarch and the Mysore government, and eventually seized control of all of the reins of power. He expanded the kingdom's borders at the expense of the Maratha Empire
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
and Nizams of Hyderabad (among others), and was one of the few local rulers to effectively blunt the military advances of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
during two wars
Anglo-Mysore Wars
The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in India over the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, represented chiefly by the Madras Presidency...
. In the First
First Anglo-Mysore War
The First Anglo-Mysore War was a war in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British 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 company's resources from attempts to gain control of the Northern...
and Second Anglo-Mysore War
Second Anglo-Mysore War
The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in Mughal India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the Franco-British conflict raging on account of the American Revolutionary War helped spark Anglo-Mysorean...
s he came within striking distance of the British outpost at Madras. He was given a number of honorific titles, and was referred to as Sultan Hyder Ali Khan or Hyder Ali Sahib.
Hyder's rule of Mysore was characterised by frequent warfare with his neighbours and rebellion within his territories. This was not unusual for the time, as much of the Indian subcontinent was then in turmoil, with the Hindu Maratha Empire
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
struggling with the remnants of the Muslim Mughal Empire. He was a shrewd leader, and left his son Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
a kingdom that was significantly larger than when he first took it over. He organized his military in part along European lines, and was a pioneer in the military use of Rocket artillery
Rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.-History:...
. He had at least two wives, and fathered at least three children.
Early life
The exact date of Hyder Naik's birth is not known with certainty. Various historical sources provide dates ranging between 1717 and 1722 for his birth. There are also some variations in reports of his ancestry. According to some accounts, his grandfather was descended from a line of MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s tracing their lineage back to Persia, while another traces his lineage instead to the area of present-day Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. In a third account, written by one of his French military officers, Hyder himself claimed descent from the Quraysh tribe of Arabs, the tribe of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. His father, Fatah Muhammad
Fatah Muhammad
Fatah Muhammad Khan Kolari, Fatah Muhammad Khan, was born in the city of Kolar, at an early age he served as a commander of 50 men in the Rocket artillery of the army of the Nawab of Carnatic, he was the father of Hyder Ali his fifth child and the prestigious founder of the Sultanate of Mysore, who...
, was born in Kolar
Kolar
Kolara is a city in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Kolar District. It is known for being one of the gold mining sites in India....
, and served as a commander of 50 men in the bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
rocket artillery
Rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.-History:...
(mainly used for signaling) in the army of the Nawab of Carnatic. Fatah Muhammad eventually entered the service of the Wodeyar
Wodeyar
The Wodeyar dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947, until the independence of India from British rule and the subsequent unification of the Indian dominion and princely states into the Republic of India.The spelling Wodeyar/Wadiyar is found in most...
Raja
Raja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...
s of the Kingdom of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, where he rose to become a powerful military commander. The Wodeyars awarded him Budikote
Budikote
Budikote or the "Fort of Ash" is a small village situated in Bangarpet Taluk of Kolar District in Karnataka state of India. It is about 15 miles from Kolar Gold Fields the nearest city. It has an old fort, hence the name. It is also the birth place of Hyder Ali, father of Tipu Sultan-the Tiger of...
as a jagir
Jagir
In historic India, a jagir was a small territory granted by the ruler to an army chieftain in fairly short terms usually of three years but not extending beyond his lifetime, in recognition of his military service...
(land grant), where he then served as Naik
Nayak (title)
Nayak, Nayaka, Nayakar, Nayakkar, Naik, Naiker, Naicker, Naickan, Naiken, Nayakkan, Naidu, Nayudu or Naidoo is a common title used by various caste and ethnic groups across India. They are all derivatives of the original Sanskrit Nayaka, meaning a leader...
(Lord).
Hyder Ali was born in Budikote; he was Fatah Muhammad
Fatah Muhammad
Fatah Muhammad Khan Kolari, Fatah Muhammad Khan, was born in the city of Kolar, at an early age he served as a commander of 50 men in the Rocket artillery of the army of the Nawab of Carnatic, he was the father of Hyder Ali his fifth child and the prestigious founder of the Sultanate of Mysore, who...
's fifth child, and the second by his third wife. His early years are not well documented; he entered military service along with his brother Shahbahz after their father died in combat. After serving for a number of years under the rulers of Arcot, they came to Seringapatam, where Hyder's uncle served. He introduced them to Devaraja, the dalwai (chief minister, military leader, and virtual ruler) of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
Krishnaraja Wodeyar II
Krishna Raja Wodeyar II,, was also known popularly as Immadi Krishna Raja Wadeyar.He was the titular ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1734 to 1766...
, and his brother Nanjaraja, who also held important ministerial posts. Hyder and his brother were both given commands in the Mysorean army; Hyder served under Shahbahz, commanding 100 cavalry and 2,000 infantry.
Rise to power
In 1748, Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah IQamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah I
Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi was a Mughal nobleman the founder of the Asaf Jahi dynasty. He established the Hyderabad state, and ruled it from 1720 to 1748...
, the longtime Nizam of Hyderabad died. The struggle to succeed him is known as the Second Carnatic War, and pitted Asaf Jah's son Nasir Jang
Nasir Jang Mir Ahmad
Nasir Jang Mir Ahmad Humayum Jung Nizam ud Daula s/o Mir Qamaruddin Khan Siddiqi Nizam I by his wife Saidunisa Begum was the Nizam, or ruler, of the Hyderabad State from 1748 to 1750.-Official name:...
against a cousin, Muzaffar Jang
Muhyi ad-Din Muzaffar Jang Hidayat
Muhyi ad-Din Muzaffar Jang Hidayat was the ruler of Hyderabad briefly, from 1750 to his death in battle in 1751.-Birth:...
. Both sides were supported by other local leaders, and French and British forces were also involved. Devaraja had started vesting more military authority in his brother, and in 1749 Nanjaraja marched the Mysorean army in support of Nasir Jang. The army went to Devanhalli, where the Mysoreans participated in the Siege of Devanahalli Fort. The fort was held by Muzaffar Jang's forces and the siege was conducted by the Marquis de Bussy
Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau
Charles Joseph Patissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau was the Governor General of the French colony of Pondicherry from 1783 to 1785. He servied with distinction under Joseph François Dupleix in the East Indies, receiving the Order of Saint Louis...
. During the successful eight-month siege, the Naik brothers distinguished themselves, and were rewarded by the dalwai with enlarged commands. By 1755 Hyder Ali commanded 3,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry, and was reported to be enriching himself on campaigns by plunder. In that year he was also appointed faujdar
Faujdar
Faujdar/Fouzder/Fouzdar/Foujdar was a title awarded by Muslim rulers to people who had responsibility of protecting some territory.In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but did not refer to a specific rank. With the administrative reforms performed by Mughal emperor Akbar,...
(military commander) of Dindigul
Dindigul
Dindigul is a town and municipality in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. The name Dindigul comes from the Portmanteau of “Thindu” meaning pillow and “kal” meaning Rock and refers to the bare hill dominating the city’s both land and skyscape...
. In this position he first retained French advisers to organize and train his artillery companies. He is also known to have personally served alongside de Bussy, and is believed to have met both Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Shahib
Chanda Shahib
Chanda Shahib was the Nawab of the Carnatic between 1749 and 1752. His birth name is Husayn Dost Khan. He was the son-in-law of the Nawab of Carnatic Dost Ali Khan, under whom he worked as a Dewan. He came from the Nait community which had ruled the Carnatic under Aurangzeb...
. In these early wars he also came to dislike and mistrust Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba...
, the Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawabs of the Carnatic , ruled the Carnatic region of South India between about 1690 and 1801. They initially had their capital at Arcot,vellore city...
. In fact Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah and the Mysorean leaders were long at odds with each other, seeking territorial gains at the other's expense. Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah had by then formed an alliance with the British, and he was accused by Hyder Ali in later years of effectively preventing him from making any sort of long-lasting alliances or agreements with the British.
Early in his career, Hyder Ali retained as one of his chief financial assistants a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
named Khande Rao. Hyder Ali, who was illiterate, was reported to be blessed with a prodigious memory and numerical acumen, and Khande Rao established an accounting system to manage his finances. The system included checks and balances so sophisticated that all manner of income, including plunder of physical goods of all types, could be accounted for with little possibility for fraud or embezzlement. This financial management may have played a role in Hyder Ali's rise in power.
In 1757 Hyder Ali was called to Seringapatam to support Devaraja against threats from Hyderabad and the Marathas
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
. Upon his arrival he found the Mysorean army in disarray and near mutiny over pay. While Devaraja bought his way out of the threats to Seringapatam, Hyder Ali arranged for the army to be paid and arrested the ringleaders of the mutiny. Hyder Ali then led Mysorean campaigns against the Nairs of Malabar (the west coast
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland 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 mountain...
of India). For his role in these activities Hyder Ali was rewarded by Devaraja with the jaghir
Jaghir
A jaghir was a governance bestowed on Indian regional governors by their emperors. The jaghir composed of a smaller district within the empire, and was managed by the regional governor, or Jaghirdar....
(regional governorship) of Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. In 1758 Hyder Ali successfully forced the Marathas to lift a siege of Bangalore. By 1759 Hyder Ali was in command of the entire Mysorean army. The young raja Krishnaraja rewarded Hyder Ali's performance by granting him the title Fatah Hyder Bahadur or Nawab Hyder Ali Khan. Because of the ongoing conflicts with the Marathas the Mysorean treasury was virtually bankrupted, prompting the queen mother to force into exile Nanjaraj, who had assumed the position of dalwai upon his brother's death in 1758. Hyder Ali was a beneficiary of this action, rising in influence in the court.
In 1760 the queen mother conspired with Khande Rao, who had gone into the raja's service, to oust Hyder Ali. He was precipitously forced out of Seringapatam, leaving his family, including his son Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
, under house arrest. The sudden departure left Hyder Ali with few resources. He may have been fortuitously aided at this time by the faraway Third Battle of Panipat
Third battle of Panipat
The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761, at Panipat , about 60 miles north of Delhi between a northern expeditionary force of the Maratha Confederacy and a coalition of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali with 2 Indian Muslim allies—the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab, and the...
, in which the Marathas suffered a major defeat. Because of this loss, the Marathas withdrew forces from Mysore and Hyder Ali's brother-in-law chased them into Bidnur and Sunda. Soon afterward Hyder Ali marched his brother-in-law's forces, which numbered about 6,000, along with the 3,000 men from his garrison at Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, toward Seringapatam. They clashed with Khande Rao's forces before reaching the capital. Khande Rao, with 11,000 men, won the battle, and Hyder Ali was forced to apply to the exiled Nanjaraj for support. Nanjaraj gave him command of his army, and the title of Dalwai. With this force Hyder Ali again moved out against Khande Rao. The two armies faced each other again, but a deception by Hyder Ali convinced Khande Rao to flee instead of engaging in battle. Hyder Ali sent letters appearing to be from Nanjaraj to some of Khande Rao's commanders, confirming their agreement to hand Khande Rao over to Hyder Ali. Fearing a conspiracy, Khande Rao fled into Seringapatam. After a minor battle against the now-leaderless army, Hyder Ali took over most of its remnants and surrounded Seringapatam. The ensuing negotiations left Hyder Ali in nearly complete military control of Mysore. Concessions that he extracted included the surrender of Khande Rao, who Hyder Ali imprisoned in Bangalore.
Ruler of Mysore
in the year 1761 after the overthrowing of Khande Rao, Hyder Ali founded the Sultanate of MysoreKingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
and formally declared himself Sultan Hyder Ali Khan, in his correspondence with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II , also known as Ali Gauhar, was a Mughal emperor of India. A son of Alamgir II, he was exiled to Allahabad in December 1759 by Ghazi-ud-Din, who appointed Shah Jahan III as the emperor. Later, he was nominated as the emperor by Ahmad Shah.Shah Alam II was considered the only and...
. Hyder Ali was very cautious in his diplomacy with the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was, according to an official Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
firman
Firman
A firman is a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in certain historical Islamic states, including the Ottoman Empire, Mughal Empire, State of Hyderabad, and Iran under Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The word firman comes from the meaning "decree" or "order"...
, the sovereign of all Muslim-ruled territories in southern India.
Expansion and relationship with the Mangalorean Catholics
Over the next few years Hyder expanded his territories to the north. Two key acquisitions were SiraSira, India
Sira is a town and taluk headquarters of Sira Taluk of Tumkur district in the state of Karnataka, India. It lies on the National Highway NH-4 and NH-234 .-Geography:...
, taken from the Marathas, and the kingdom of Bednore, where as a casus belli
Casus belli
is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
he agreed to support a claimant to its throne against usurpers. In 1763 he took its capital, Ikkeri
Ikkeri
Ikkeri is situated in Shimoga district of Karnataka state at about 6 km to the south of Sagara. The word Ikkeri in Kannada means "Two Streets". It was, from about 1560 to 1640 AD, the capital of the Keladi chiefs, afterwards removed to Bednur...
, which included a large treasury. He renamed the capital Haidernagar, and began styling himself Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur, a title that had been bestowed on him by Basalat Jang as reward for his taking of Sira. He moved most of his family to Ikkeri, a natural fortress, in the hopes that it would "serve him for a safe refuge". He assumed the trappings of the ruler of Bednore, began issuing coins, and established a system of weights and measures. He made sure his son Tipu received a quality education, "employing learned tutors" and "appointing a suitable hand of attendants" to see to his upbringing. He cultivated a suspicion of foreigners, specifically refusing to allow the British to have a resident
Resident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
at his court. His security, however, was not assured in Bednore: a bout of illness and a widespread conspiracy against him convinced him that it would not make an ideal capital for his domain, and he returned to Mysore.
The taking of Bednore included several ports on the Malabar coast, including Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
. Hyder used these ports to establish a small navy. The documentary record on the navy is fragmentary; Portuguese records indicate that the fleet was launched sometime between 1763 and 1765. It was apparently officered by Europeans, and its first admiral was an Englishman; by 1768 its admiral was a Mysorean cavalry officer named Ali Bey (or Lutf Ali Beg), apparently chosen by Hyder because he did not trust the European captains.
Hyder had amicable relations with the Christian population in Mangalore, which had long been under Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
influence and had a sizable Roman Catholic population, and with Christians in general. He had a very close friendship with two Goan Catholic
Goan Catholics
The Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language...
priests, Bishop Noronha and Joachim Miranda, and allowed a Protestant missionary to live at his court. Hyder's army also included Catholic soldiers, and he allowed Christians to build a church at Seringapatam, where French generals used to offer prayers and priests used to visit. Mangalorean historian A. L. P. D'Souza mentions that Hyder also had Christians in his administration. Pursuant to treaties concluded with the Portuguese, he also allowed Portuguese priests to settle disputes among Christians. However, many Mangaloreans (not just Christians) disliked him for the heavy tax burden he imposed on them.
First war with the Marathas
The Rani of Bednore had appealed to the NawabNawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
of Savanur
Savanur
Savanur is a town and taluk headquarters of Savanur Taluk in Haveri District of Karnataka state, India.- History :Savanur was one of the princely states of British India, under the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agency...
for assistance when Hyder invaded. Hyder consequently threatened the Nawab, attempting to extort tribute from him. Failing in this, he overran that territory, reaching as far as Dharwad
Dharwad
Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...
, north of the Tungabhadra River
Tungabhadra River
The Tungabhadra River is a sacred river in southern India that flows through the state of Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh, where it serves as the chief tributary of the Krishna River...
. Since Savanur was a tributary of the Marathas, the Peshwa
Peshwa
A Peshwa is the titular equivalent of a modern Prime Minister. Emporer Shivaji created the Peshwa designation in order to more effectively delegate administrative duties during the growth of the Maratha Empire. Prior to 1749, Peshwas held office for 8-9 years and controlled the Maratha army...
countered with a strong force, and defeated Hyder near Rattihalli
Rattihalli
Rattihalli is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Hirekerur taluk of Haveri district in Karnataka. It is around 26 km from Ranebennur & around 16 km from Hirekerur-History:...
. The Maratha victory forced Hyder to retreat; he had to abandon Bednore, although he was able to remove its treasures to Seringapatam. Hyder paid 35 lahks rupees in tribute to end the war, and returned most of his gains, although he did retain Sira.
In 1766 Hyder Ali returned to the Malabar, this time at the invitation of the raja of Cannanore, who sought independence from the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut
History of Kozhikode
Kozhikode , also known as Calicut, is a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the third largest city in Kerala and the headquarters of Kozhikode district....
who held sway over Cannanore. Hyder also claimed a debt of tribute from the Zamorin, who had supported Hyder's opponents in earlier campaigns. After a difficult campaign, Hyder reached Calicut, where the Zamorin, after promising to make payment, failed to deliver. Hyder placed the Zamorin under house arrest and had his finance minister tortured. Fearing similar treatment, the Zamorin set fire to his palace and perished in the flames, ending Eradi
Eradi
Eradi is a Samanthan Nair clan of Kshatriya origin, coming from the Indian state of Kerala. The word is derived from the place name Eranad in Kerala. The "Samoothiri" comes from this Eradi subcaste, now assimilated to Nair, the major upper caste of state of Kerala. Historically the Eradis numbered...
dynastic rule of Calicut. After establishing control of Calicut, Hyder departed, but was forced to return several months later when the Nairs rebelled against the rule of his lieutenant, Reza Sahib. Hyder's response was harsh: after putting down the rebellion, many rebels were executed, and thousands of others were forcibly relocated
Captivity of Nairs at Seringapatam
The Captivity of Nairs at Seringapatam was imposed on the Nair Hindus of Malabar by Muslims under Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1786 to 1789. They were subjected to forcible conversions to Islam, death, and torture. The Nairs were treated with extreme brutality by...
to the Mysorean highlands.
Mysore's titular ruler Krishnaraja died in April 1766, while Hyder was in the Malabar. Hyder had left orders that Krishnaraja's son Nanjaraja be invested should that happen, and he only later came to formally pay his respects to the new rajah. He took advantage of this opportunity to engage in a sort of house cleaning: the raja's palace was plundered, and its staff reduced to the point where virtually everyone employed there was also a spy for Hyder Ali.
First Anglo-Mysore War
In 1766 Mysore began to become drawn into territorial and diplomatic disputes between the nizam of Hyderabad and the British East India CompanyBritish East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, which had by then become the dominant European colonial power on the Indian east coast. The nizam, seeking to deflect the British from their attempts to gain control of the Northern Circars, made overtures to Hyder Ali to launch an invasion of the Carnatic. Company representatives also appealed to Hyder Ali, but he rebuffed them. The nizam then ostensibly struck a deal with the British Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
for their support, but apparently did so with the expectation that when Hyder Ali was prepared for war, the deal with the British would be broken. This diplomatic maneouvring resulted in the start of the First Anglo-Mysore War
First Anglo-Mysore War
The First Anglo-Mysore War was a war in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British 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 company's resources from attempts to gain control of the Northern...
in August 1767 when a company outpost at Changama was attacked by a combined Mysore-Hyderabad army under Hyder Ali'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. Hyder Ali moved on to capture Kaveripattinam
Kaveripattinam
Kaveripattinam is a panchayat town in Krishnagiri district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is approximately 100 km from Bangalore. The town is very green because of the KRP Dam nearby. Kaveripattinam is famous for its cultivation of mangoes. There are lot of mango pulp industries, milk...
after two days of siege, while the British commander at Changama, Colonel Joseph Smith, eventually retreated to Tiruvannamalai
Tiruvannamalai
Thiruvannamalai is a pilgrimage Temple city and special grade municipality in Thiruvannamalai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Thiruvannamalai district. Thiruvannamalai is home to the Annamalaiyar Temple located at the foot of the Annamalai hill and...
for supplies and reinforcements. There Hyder Ali was decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767. With the onset of the monsoon season, Hyder Ali 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
Siege of Ambur
The Siege of Ambur 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 was defended by a garrison of local troops and a small force of British East India Company...
in November 1767, forcing the British to resume campaigning. The British garrison commander refused large bribes offered by Hyder Ali in exchange for surrender, and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Hyder Ali 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 Asaf Jah II
Ali Khan Asaf Jah II
Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur Asaf Jah II was the Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803.-Official name:...
, led to a split between Hyder Ali and the nizam. The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768. Hyder Ali, apparently seeking an end to the conflict, made peace overtures to the British, but was rebuffed.
In early 1768, the British Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
in Bombay organized an expedition to Mysore's Malabar coast territories. Hyder Ali's fleet, which the British reported as numbering about ten ships, deserted en masse, apparently because the captains were unhappy with a 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. The British consequently occupied Mangalore with minimal opposition in February. This activity, combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally, prompted Hyder Ali to withdraw from the Carnatic, and move with speed to the Malabar. Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force, Hyder Ali 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.
After his reconquest, Hyder Ali learned that the Mangalorean Catholics had helped the British in their conquest of Mangalore, behavior he considered treasonous. He summoned a Portuguese officer and several Christian priests from Mangalore to suggest an appropriate punishment to impose on the Mangalorean Catholics for their treachery. The Portuguese officer suggested the death penalty for those Catholics who helped the British as a typical punishment for the betrayal of one's sovereign. But Hyder Ali exhibited a diplomatic stance and instead imprisoned those Christians who were condemned for treachery. He afterwards opened negotiations with the Portuguese, and reached an agreement with them that removed suspicion from the clergy and other Christians. The Mangalorean Catholic community flourished during the rest of Hyder Ali's reign.
During Hyder Ali's absence from the Carnatic, the British recovered many places that Hyder Ali had taken and only weakly garrisoned, and advanced as far south as Dindigul
Dindigul
Dindigul is a town and municipality in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. The name Dindigul comes from the Portmanteau of “Thindu” meaning pillow and “kal” meaning Rock and refers to the bare hill dominating the city’s both land and skyscape...
. 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
Hoskote
Hoskote Hoskote is a taluk in Bangalore Rural District. Headquartered at the Hoskote town, it consists of 5 Hoblis - Anugondanahalli, Jadigenahalli, Kasaba, Nandagudi and Sulibele...
in early August 1768. This army then began preparations to besiege Bangalore, but Hyder Ali returned to Bangalore from the Malabar on August 9, in time to harass the allies before the siege could begin. On August 22, Hyder Ali and his Mysore forces attacked the Maratha camp during the Battle of Ooscota, but was repulsed when faced with the large Maratha reinforcements. Hyder Ali 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
Gurramkonda is a historical place located between Cuddapah and Bangalore highway in Chittoor district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Gurramkonda is a mandal headquarter in modern India.-Geography:...
, where he was reinforced by his brother in law. He also attempted diplomatic measures to prevent a siege of Bangalore, offering to pay ten lahks 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
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. Hyder Ali specifically refused to deal with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba...
, his nemesis in the Carnatic. The negotiations failed to reach common ground.
On October 3, Hyder Ali, while moving his army from Guuramkonda back toward Bangalore, surprised a small garrison of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba...
's men at a rock fort call Mulwagal, near Ooscota. 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 Ali's entire army in the Battle of Mulwagal. A strategem 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 Ali realized his tactical error. Hyder Ali 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 Ali in open battle. Company officials blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder Ali, and recalled him to Madras. Hyder Ali took the opportunity to besiege Hosur
Hosur
Hosur is a town and a municipality in Krishnagiri district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.The name of the town is from Kannada language which means 'New settlement/town' . It is a taluk of Krishnagiri district. It is located about 40 kilometres south-east of Bangalore and 38 kilometres from...
, and Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder Ali raised the siege, snuck around Wood's column, and attacked his baggage train in a battle near Bagalur
Bagalur, Krishnagiri district
Bagalur is a village in the Hosur taluk of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, India....
. Hyder Ali successfully captured supplies and arms, and drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri
Venkatagiri
Venkatagiri is the fourth largest town and municipality in Nellore district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.Venkatagiri's old name is "Kali Mili".It is famous for its Handloom Cotton Sarees. Venkatagiri is a place for history and handlooms. It was part of a small kingdom that was integrated...
. Wood was consequently recalled and replaced by Colonel Lang.
Hyder Ali 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
Erode is a city, a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Erode district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about southwest from the state capital Chennai and on the banks of the rivers Cauvery and Bhavani, between 11° 19.5"...
Hyder Ali 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 approached Madras. This prompted the British to send an envoy to discuss peace; because of Hyder Ali's insistence that the nawab of the Carnatic be excluded from the negotiations, they went nowhere. Hyder Ali then surprised company authorities by taking a picked force of 6,000 cavalry and a small number of infantry, and made in three days a forced march of 130 miles (209.2 km) to the gates of Madras.
This show of force compelled the company to negotiate further. Hyder Ali, who was seeking diplomatic leverage against the Marathas, wanted an alliance of mutual defense and offense. The company refused to accede to an offensive military treaty; the treaty signed at Madras on March 29, 1769 restored the status quo ante bellum
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
, except for Mysore's acquisition of Karur
Karur District
Karur District is located center along the Kaveri & Amaravati rivers in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The main town in Karur District is the city of Karur, which is also the district headquarter. It had a population of 935,686 as of 2001. It is 33.27% urbanized as per Census 2001...
, and also included language that each side would help the other defend its territory. In summarizing Hyder Ali's conduct of the war, biographer Lewin Bowring notes that he "evinced high qualities as a tactician and the sagacity of a born diplomatist."
Arab, Persian and Turkish relations
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
and Karim Khan
Karim Khan
Karim Khan Zand, , , was a ruler of Iran, and the founder of the Zand Dynasty.He was born to a family of the Zand tribe of Lur or Lak deportees...
in Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
, then the capital of Persia, seeking military and economic alliances. In a 1774 embassy to Karim Khan
Karim Khan
Karim Khan Zand, , , was a ruler of Iran, and the founder of the Zand Dynasty.He was born to a family of the Zand tribe of Lur or Lak deportees...
, the ruler of Persia, he sought to establish a trading post on the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. Karim responded by offering Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas
Bandar-Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās , also Romanized as Bandar ‘Abbās, Bandar ‘Abbāsī, and Bandar-e ‘Abbās; formerly known as Cambarão and Port Comorão to Portuguese traders, as Gombroon to English traders and as Gamrun or Gumrun to Dutch merchants) is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on...
, but nothing further seems to have passed between them on the subject. Karim Khan later did send 1,000 troops to Mysore in 1776 in response to another embassy in 1775. Nursullah Khan, Hyder's ambassador, had more success in Muscat, where a trading house was established in 1776. During the final years of his reign Hyder Ali also planned to send an embassy to the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan Mustafa III
Mustafa III
Mustafa III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I . He was born in Edirne...
, but it was his son Tipu Sultan who succeeded in making direct contact with Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Second war with the Marathas
Hyder, believing he would be supported by the British in conflict with the Marathas, began demanding tribute payments from smaller states on the frontiers between Maratha and Mysore territories, and refused to pay tributes demanded by the Marathas. The Marathas responded in November 1770 with an invasion by an army of 35,000 men. Pursuant to their treaty, Hyder requested British assistance. The company refused, and Hyder retreated, slashing and burning as he went to deny the bounty of the land to the Marathas. The Marathas captured much of northeastern Mysore, and consolidated their gains during the monsoon season. Hyder offered to pay some of the tribute demanded, but his offer was rejected as insufficient, and the Marathas renewed the offensive after the monsoons. They advanced to the vicinity of Seringapatam, and then feinted a withdrawal to the north. When Hyder followed, they turned in force, and claimed to inflict serious casualties on Hyder's army, and captured most of its baggage. They then fruitlessly besieged Seringapatam for five weeks, before abandoning the effort and instead took Bangalore. Hyder again appealed to the British for help, but their preconditions and proposed terms were unacceptable to him, and an attempt by Hyder to get them to go on the offensive scuttled the negotiations. In 1772 Hyder finally sued for peace. He agreed to pay 36 lakhs rupees in tribute arrears, and 14 lakhs rupees in annual tribute, and ceded territory all the way to Bangalore. Upon his return to Seringapatam after the peace was concluded, Hyder learned that Nanjaraja, the titular ruler of Mysore, had been engaged in secret communications with the Marathas. Hyder ordered Nanjaraja strangled, and placed his brother Chamaraja on the throne.The peace with the Marathas was short-lived. The peshwa Madhavrao I died late in 1772, beginning a struggle for his succession. In 1773 Hyder used this opportunity to send Tipu with an army to recover territories lost to the Marathas to the north, while he descended into Coorg, which provided a more secure route to the Malabar territories he wanted to recover from the Marathas. A claimant to the Coorg throne had asked for Hyder's assistance in 1770 when he was preoccupied with the Marathas. He quickly captured Coorg's capital, Merkara, imprisoning Raja Vira Rajendra. He installed a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
(a caste unpopular with the Coorgs) as governor to collect revenues before continuing to the Malabar, where by the end of 1774 he had recovered all his lost territory. The Coorgs rose in rebellion against his governor, upon which Hyder returned to Coorg, crushed the rebellion, and hanged most of the ringleaders. This did not stop the restive Coorgs from becoming a continuing problem for Hyder, and Tipu after his death.
In 1776 the young Raja Chamaraja died. To choose a successor, Hyder had all of the children of the royal family brought together, and watched them play. A child, also named Chamaraja, chose to play with a jewelled dagger, and was supposed selected on that basis as the new raja of Mysore.
By March 1775 the leadership situation at Poona, the Maratha capital, had stabilized, and the Marathas joined an alliance with the nizam of Hyderabad to oppose Hyder. The Maratha army was routed by one of Hyder's generals in 1776, and Hyder either bribed or sufficiently threatened the nizam's military leaders that they withdrew from the campaign. This only temporarily halted the conflict, which was fought with renewed vigor until 1779. Hyder successfully extended his domain to the Krishna River
Krishna River
The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...
after a lengthy siege of Dharwad
Dharwad
Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...
. In a controversial action, Hyder in 1779 dealt harshly with Madakari Nayaka
Madakari Nayaka
Madakari Nayaka was the last ruler of Chitradurga, India. Nayaka lost Chitradurga in a siege of Mysore by Hyder Ali, and was slain by Ali's son Tipu Sultan....
, the ruler of Chitradurga
Chitradurga
Chitradurga is a town in the southern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also the headquarters of Chitradurga district. Chitradurga was also known by the names Chitradurg, Chitrakaladurga, Chittaldurg. Chittaldrug was the name officially used by the British Govt.-Geography:Chitradurga is...
. Madakari had supported Hyder in earlier conflicts, but in 1777 had changed allegiance to the Marathas. After seizing Chitradurga, Hyder sent Madakari to Seringapatam as a prisoner, where he died. Hyder further sent 20,000 of Madakari's followers to Seringapatam, where the boys among them were allegedly forcibly converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and formed into so-called chela battalions in the Mysorean army.
Alliances
During the lengthy conflict with the Marathas, Hyder had several times requested the assistance of the British East India Company, and it had each time been refused, in part due to the influence at Madras of Hyder's enemy, the nawab of Arcot. The British had also angered the Marathas by repudiating treaties, with whom they were at warFirst Anglo-Maratha War
The First Anglo-Maratha War was the first of three Anglo-Maratha wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai.-Background:...
for much of the 1770s, and they had also upset the Nizam of Hyderabad Asaf Jah II
Ali Khan Asaf Jah II
Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur Asaf Jah II was the Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803.-Official name:...
over their occupation of Guntur
Guntur district
Guntur district is located in Andhra Pradesh along the east coast of Bay of Bengal. The district has a coastline of around 100 kilometers. Guntur City is the largest city in the district and administrative center of Guntur District. The district is a major center for learning.-Etymology:There are...
.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Hyder received much of his French-supplied equipment through this French-controlled port, and had provided troops for its defense. Furthermore, the British action had provoked the Nairs on the Malabar coast to rise in rebellion again, although Hyder had quickly put this down. The second offense was the movement of British troops through territory under his control (and also other territory controlled by the nizam) from Madras to Guntur. There was a skirmish in the hills, and the British detachment ended up retreating to Madras.
The allies planned to make virtually simultaneous attacks on British holdings all throughout India, while the Marathas agreed to honor Hyder's claims to territories he currently held north of the Tungabhadra River and reduced the amount of tribute he was required to pay under earlier agreements. Hyder expected to receive assistance from the French, especially in the Carnatic, the territory he sought to conquer. However, diplomatic actions by Governor Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
and the company successfully convinced both the nizam and the Marathas not to take up arms, and Hyder ended up fighting the war on his own. He successfully gained alliances with Ali Raja Bibi Junumabe II
Ali Raja
The Ali Raja was the title of the Muslim raja of Cannanore from the 16th to early 19th Century. The king's palace, which he purchased from the Dutch in 1663, was named Arakkal Palace after the ruling dynasty.-Origins:...
and the Muslim Mappila
Mappila
Mappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim community of Kerala, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of...
community and later even met with Muslim Malays from Melacca, who were under Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
service.
Descent upon the Carnatic
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...
onto the coastal plain in July 1780, laying waste to the countryside. Due to Hyder's secrecy and poor British intelligence, officials in Madras were unaware of his movements until the fires of burning villages just 9 miles (14.5 km) away were seen in Madras. Hyder himself organized the Siege of Arcot, while detaching his son Karim Khan Sahib to take Porto Novo
Parangipettai
Parangipettai , historically called Porto Novo, is a panchayat town in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Parangipettai is situated on the north bank of the mouth of the Vellar river at a distance of 30 km from Cuddalore. From Chennai, Parangipettai can be reached through...
. The movement in August of Sir Hector Munro with a force of over 5,000 from Madras to Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
(Conjeevaram) prompted Hyder to lift the siege of Arcot and move to confront him. Word then arrived that Munro was awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Guntur under Colonel William Baillie, so he sent a detachment under Tipu to intercept them, and eventually followed in strength himself when Munro sent a force from his army to meet Baillie. Tipu and Hyder surrounded Baillie's force, and compelled the surrender of about 3,000 men in the Battle of Pollilur
Battle of Pollilur
The Battle of Pollilur, also known as the Battle of Polilore or Battle of Perambakam, took place on 10 September 1780 at Pollilur near the city of Kanchipuram in present-day Tamil Nadu state, India as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War...
on 10 September; it was the worst defeat of British troops in India to date. Hyder then renewed the siege of Arcot, which fell in November.
Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, Governor Hastings had sent General Sir Eyre Coote
Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)
Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, KB was an Irish soldier. He is best known for his many years of service with the British Army in India. His victory at the Battle of Wandiwash is considered a decisive turning point in the struggle for control in India between British and France...
south from Bengal to take charge of British forces opposing Hyder. He arrived at Madras in November to take command from Munro. Coote marched into the Carnatic, and eventually occupied Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...
. After being resupplied there he besieged Chidambram, where an assault on the fort was repulsed.
Hyder had in the meantime descended into Tanjore, with severe consequences. After extracting the allegiance of the Maratha king Thuljaji
Thuljaji
Thuljaji was the eldest son of Pratap singh and the ruler of Thanjavur from 1763 to 1773 and 1776 to 1787. He was a weak-hearted ruler despite being extremely generous...
, Hyder plundered the country, destroying cattle and crops. The economic output of Tanjore is estimated to have fallen by 90% between 1780 and 1782. Hyder's ravages were followed by alleged expeditions of plunder launched by the Kallars
Kallar (caste)
Kallar are a community found in the central and south-eastern parts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Kallar means thiefs. The Kallar, along with the Maravar and Akamudayar, constitute the Mukkulathor confederacy, a united social caste on the basis of parallel professions, though their locations...
. The economic devastation wrought by these attacks was so severe that Tanjore's economy did not recover until the start of the 19th century; the era is referred to in local folklore as the Hyderakalam.
With Coote at Cuddalore, Hyder then made a forced march to interpose his army between Chidambram and Cuddalore, cutting Coote's supply line. Coote marched to face him, and won a decisive victory in the Battle of Porto Novo
Battle of Porto Novo
The Battle of Porto Novo was fought on 1 July 1781 between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore and Great Britain near the village of Porto Novo on the Indian subcontinent, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War...
on 1 July 1781; Coote estimated that Hyder lost 10,000 men in the battle. Hyder then dispatched Tipu in an attempt to prevent the junction of Coote's army with reinforcements from Bengal. This failed, and in late August the two armies met again at Pollilur
Battle of Pollilur (1781)
The Battle of Pollilur was fought on 27 August 1781, between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and British East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. The battle was fought on the site of a 1780 encounter in which a Company force was almost completely killed or captured...
, chosen by Hyder as a place to make a stand because it was the site of his victory over Baillie the previous year. Hyder was however defeated this time, but the battle was not decisive. While Coote regrouped and searched for provisions, Hyder took the opportunity to besiege Vellore
Vellore
Vellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
. Madras authorities convinced the aging Coote to put off his retirement and relieve the fortress there. Hyder and Coote met in battle
Battle of Sholinghur
The Battle of Sholinghur was fought on 27 September 1781 between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and British East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. The company forces were victorious.-References:*Vibart, H. M ....
at Sholinghur
Sholinghur
Sholinghur is a town under Walajapet taluk in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, India. Sholinghur is very famous for the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy...
, near Vellore. Hyder's artillery was ineffective, and the disciplined British cut down repeated cavalry charges, again inflicting severe casualties. Hyder was forced to withdraw, and Coote reprovisioned Vellore, which had been on the brink of surrender.
Lord Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
, who had recently arrived to take the governorship of Madras, also brought news that Britain was at war with the Dutch
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...
. Consequent to this, the company was instructed to seize Dutch holdings in India, and Macartney had ordered a detachment from Tanjore, under Colonel Brathwaite, to capture the main Dutch post at Negapatam. Hyder made an agreement with the Dutch to provide troops for its defence, but was himself forced away from Negapatam by Brathwaite. The British took Negapatam after three weeks of siege
Siege of Negapatam
The Siege of Negapatam was the first major offensive military action on the Indian subcontinent following the arrival of news that war had been declared between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, beginning the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, an offshoot of the American War of Independence...
in October and November 1781. This setback forced Hyder to withdraw from most of Tanjore.
In January 1782 General Coote, his health failing, again set out to reprovision Vellore. Hyder did not prevent the resupply, but shadowed the British back toward Tripassore, offering battle near Sholinghur. Coote successfully maneouvred away from Hyder without battle. In February Hyder detached Tipu with a sizable force to recover Tanjore. Intelligence failures led the main British garrison to become surrounded by this superior force; Colonel Brathwaite and 2,000 men surrendered. Hyder was also preoccupied by bad news from the west. A Mysorean force that had been besieging Tellicherry was broken, with its commander and his siege guns captured, and Coorg and Malabar were also descending into open rebellion. Hyder consequently sent forces west to deal with these matters, and was preparing to follow himself when word arrived on March 10 that a French force had landed at Porto Novo. Hyder immediately sent Tipu from Tanjore to meet with them, and followed himself from Arcot. At this time he had a celebrated meeting with the French Admiral Suffren
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
, and the allies agreed on a plan to establish Cuddalore as a French base. Cuddalore was occupied without resistance on April 8, and Hyder's army, joined by the French, marched toward Permacoil, which fell in May. Coote responded by marching toward Arni, where Hyder had a major supply depot. Hyder and the French had been considering an assault on Wandiwash, but abandoned that idea and marched to face Coote. They skirmished there on June 2. In August the British landed a force on the Malabar coast, to which Hyder responded by sending additional troops under Tipu to the west. The onset of the monsoon season then suspended most military activity on the eastern plain, and Hyder established his camp near Chittoor
Chittoor
Chittoor also known as Chittur, is a City and municipal corporation located in the Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is conveniently located on major highways linking the cities of Bangalore and Chennai....
.
Death
Hyder, who had suffered from a cancerous growth on his back, died in his camp on 6 December 1782. Some other accounts record it as 7 December 1782 and some historical accounts in the Persian language record the death in dates ranging from Hijri 1 Moharram 1197 to Hijri 4 Moharram 1197 in the Islamic calendar. The differences in recorded dates may be due to the lunar calendarLunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
and the differences in moon sightings in the surrounding kingdoms.
Hyder's advisers tried to keep his death a secret until Tipu could be recalled from the Malabar coast. Upon learning of his father's passing Tipu immediately returned to Chittoor to assume the reins of power. His accession was not without problems: he had to put down an attempt by an uncle to place Tipu's brother Abdul Karim on the throne. The British learned of his death within 48 hours of its occurrence, but the dilatory attitude of Coote's replacement, James Stuart
James Stuart (d. 1793)
Major-General James Stuart was a British Army officer who served in various colonial wars of the 18th century. His service of the British East India Company was marked by his conflict with Lord Pigot, the governor of Madras; Stuart's arrest of the latter in 1776 resulted in his suspension as...
, meant that they were unable to capitalize on it militarily.
Military rocket innovations
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s, which were used against positions and territories held by the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars
Anglo-Mysore Wars
The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in India over the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, represented chiefly by the Madras Presidency...
. Although rocket technology originated in China and had made its way to India and Europe by the 13th century, development of accurate cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s had sidelined rockets as a military technology in Europe. Rocket technology was already in use when Hyder's father served (he commanded a company of 50 rocketmen), but it was Hyder who improved them and significantly expanded their use in the military. Technological innovations included the use of high-quality iron casing
Mysorean rockets
Mysorean rockets were the first iron-cased rockets that were successfully deployed for military use. Hyder Ali, the 18th century ruler of Mysore, and his son and successor, Tipu Sultan used them effectively against the British East India Company...
(better than was then available in Europe) for the combustion chamber, enabling the use of higher-powered explosive charges. He also organized companies of rocketmen who were experienced in aiming rockets based on the size of the rocket and the distance to the target. Rockets could also be mounted on carts that improved their mobility and made possible the firing of large numbers of them all at once. Rockets developed by Hyder and Tipu led to a renaissance of interest in the technology in Britain, where William Congreve, supplied with rocket cases from Mysore, developed what became known as Congreve rocket
Congreve rocket
The Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...
s in the early 19th century.
In Hyder's time the Mysorean army had a rocket corps of as many as 1,200 men, which Tipu increased to 5,000. At the 1780 Battle of Pollilur
Battle of Pollilur
The Battle of Pollilur, also known as the Battle of Polilore or Battle of Perambakam, took place on 10 September 1780 at Pollilur near the city of Kanchipuram in present-day Tamil Nadu state, India as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War...
, during the second war, Colonel William Baillie's ammunition stores are thought to have been detonated by a hit from one of Hyder's rockets, contributing to the British defeat.