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{{short description|1747-1799 armed conflicts in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Wars of Great Britain}}
The '''Anglo-Mysore wars''' were a series of four wars fought during the last three decades of the 18th century between the [[Kingdom of Mysore#Under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan|Kingdom of Mysore]] on the one hand, and the British [[East India Company]] ('''represented chiefly by the neighbouring [[Madras Presidency]]'''), [[Maratha Empire]], [[Kingdom of Travancore]], and the [[Hyderabad State|Kingdom of Hyderabad]] on the other. [[Hyder Ali]] and his succeeding son [[Tipu Sultan]] fought the wars on four fronts: with the British attacking from the west, south and east and the [[Nizam of Hyderabad|Nizam]]'s forces attacking from the north.<ref name=Naravane>{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M. S. |title=Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj |place=New Delhi |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3 |pages=172–181}}</ref> The [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War|fourth war]] resulted in the overthrow of the house of Hyder Ali and Tipu (the latter was killed in the fourth war, in 1799), and the dismantlement of Mysore to the benefit of the East India Company, which [[Company rule in India|took control]] of much of the Indian subcontinent.

== The four wars ==

=== First Anglo-Mysore War ===
{{Main|First Anglo-Mysore War}}
[[File:Haidar Ali commandant en chef des Mahrattes gravure 1762.jpg|thumb|right|348x348px|Hyder Ali in 1762, incorrectly described as "Commander in Chief of the Marathas. At the head of his army in the war against the British in India" (French painting).]]
In the [[First Anglo-Mysore War]] (1767–1769), Haider Ali enjoyed some measure of success against the British, almost capturing Madras. The British convinced [[Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II|Nizam Mir Nizam Ali Khan]] to attack Ali. That was temporary, however, and the Nizam signed a new treaty with the British in February 1768. Ali had to contend with a [[Bombay Army]] attacking from the west and a [[Madras Army]] attacking from the northeast. However, Ali's attack towards Madras resulted in the Madras government suing for peace, and the resultant [[Treaty of Madras]].<ref name="Naravane" />

=== Second Anglo-Mysore War ===
{{main|Second Anglo-Mysore War}}
The [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]] (1780–1784) witnessed bloodier battles with fortunes fluctuating between the contesting powers. Tipu defeated [[William Baillie (East India Company officer)|William Baillie]] at the [[Battle of Pollilur]] in September 1780, and [[Sir John Braithwaite, 1st Baronet|John Braithwaite]] at [[Kumbakonam]] in February 1782, both of whom were taken prisoner to [[Srirangapattana|Srirangapatana]]. This war saw the comeback of [[Sir Eyre Coote]], the British commander who defeated Ali at the [[Battle of Porto Novo]] and Arni. Tipu continued the war following his father's death. Finally, the war ended with the signing of the [[Treaty of Mangalore]] on 11 March 1784, which restored the ''[[status quo ante bellum]]''. The Treaty of [[Gajendragarh|Gajendraghad]] in April 1787 ended the conflict with the Marathas. Warren Hastings (1772–1785) was Governor-General of India during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.<ref name="Naravane" />

=== Third Anglo-Mysore War ===
{{Main|Third Anglo-Mysore War}}
In the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]] (1790–1792), Tipu Sultan, now an ally of [[Compagnie de Calonne|France]], invaded the nearby [[Travancore|Kingdom of Travancore]], a British ally, in 1789. The British forces were commanded by [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]]. The resulting war lasted three years and was a nearly defeat for Mysore. The war ended after the 1792 siege of Srirangapatana and the signing of the Treaty of Srirangapatana, according to which Tipu Sultan had to surrender some part of his kingdom to the [[British East India Company]] and its allies.

=== Fourth Anglo-Mysore war ===
{{Main|Fourth Anglo-Mysore War}}
The [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]] (1798–1799) saw the death of Tipu Sultan and further reductions in Mysorean territory.<ref name="Naravane" /> Mysore's alliance with the French was seen as a threat to the East India Company, and Mysore was attacked from all four sides. Mysore had 35,000 soldiers, whereas the British commanded 60,000 troops. [[Sikander Jah, Traitor Asaf Jah III|Nizam Akbar Ali Khan]] and the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] launched an invasion from the north. The British won a decisive victory at the [[siege of Seringapatam (1799)]]. Tipu Sultan was killed during the defence of the city. Much of the remaining Mysorean territory was annexed by the British, the Nizam, and the Marathas. The remaining core, around [[Mysore]] and [[Seringapatam]], was restored to the Indian prince [[Krishnaraja Wodeyar III|Yuvaraja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III]] (later Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III) under [[Lakshmi Ammani Devi|his grandmother]]'s regency. Members of the [[Wadiyar dynasty|Wodeyar dynasty]] had been in power before Ali became the de facto ruler. The Wodeyars ruled the remnant [[Kingdom of Mysore]] until 1947, when it joined the [[Dominion of India]].

=== Aftermath ===
After the Battles of [[Battle of Plassey|Plassey (1757)]], the [[Bengal War]] (1763-1765), the passing of The Regulating Act of 1773, which established British dominion over parts of East India, the Anglo-Mysore Wars (1767–1799), the [[Anglo-Maratha Wars (disambiguation)|Anglo–Maratha Wars]] (1775–1819), the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] (1814–1816) and finally the [[Anglo-Sikh War (disambiguation)|Anglo-Sikh War]]s (1845–1849), consolidated the British claim over large part of [[South Asia]], resulting in the [[British Raj|British Empire in India]], though resistance among various groups such as the [[Demographics of Afghanistan|Afghans]] and the [[Burma|Burmese]] would last well into the early twentieth century.

<gallery mode=packed heights=160>
File:Anglo-Mysore War 1 and 2.png|The [[First Anglo-Mysore War|First]] and the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]].
File:Anglo-Mysore War 3.png|The [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]]
File:Anglo-Mysore War 4.png|The [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
File:1793 Faden Wall Map of India - Geographicus - India-faden-1793.jpg|1793 map
File:1800 Map of Peninsular India-1795.jpg |1800 map
</gallery>

== Rockets ==
{{main|Mysorean rockets}}
The Mysorean rockets used by [[Tipu Sultan|Tipu]] during the [[Battle of Pollilur]] were much more advanced than any that the British [[East India Company]] had previously seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant. This enabled higher thrust and a longer range for the missile (up to {{convert|2|km}}). After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of a number of Mysorean iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development, inspiring the [[Congreve rocket]], which was soon put into use in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Narasimha|first=Roddam |author-link=Roddam Narasimha |date=May 1985 |url=http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf |title=Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750–1850 A.D. |place=Bangalore, India |publisher=National Aeronautical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Science|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303205010/http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2012 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Mysorean invasion of Malabar]]
* [[Battle of Nedumkotta]]
* [[Regiment de Meuron]]
* [[Garrison Cemetery, Seringapatam]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Brittlebank |first=Kate |year=1997 |title=Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain |place=Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Randolf G. S. |date=September 2005 |title=Culture, Combat, and Colonialism in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century India |journal=[[The International History Review]] |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=534–549 |doi=10.1080/07075332.2005.9641071 |s2cid=154707328}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jaim |first=H. M. Iftekhar |last2=Jaim |first2=Jasmine |date=Autumn 2011 |title=The Decisive Nature of the Indian War Rocket in the Anglo-Mysore Wars of the Eighteenth Century |journal=Arms & Armour |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=131–138 |doi=10.1179/174962611X13097916223244 |s2cid=161374846}}
* {{cite book |last=Kaliamurthy |first=G. |year=1987 |title=Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1884) |publisher=Mittal Publications}}
* {{cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |year=2011 |title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
* {{cite book |last=Gidwani |first=Regan S. |year=2014 |title=The Sword of Tipu Sultan}} – a novel linked to TV series

{{Mysore}}
{{Indian Independence Movement}}
{{Princely states of India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Mysore War 00}}
[[Category:18th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:18th century in India]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Travancore]]
[[Category:Military history of British India]]
[[Category:Mysorean invasion of Malabar]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Mysore]]

Anglo-Mysore wars-265718 - Revision history

AdvAcademy01 at 23:01, 29 April 2026