The Anglo-Mysore Wars
Free study material · concepts, shortcuts & solved questions
Four wars, 1767–1799, between the British East India Company (usually allied with the Marathas and/or the Nizam of Hyderabad) and the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and then his son Tipu Sultan.
| War | Years | Key Point |
|---|---|---|
| First Anglo-Mysore War | 1767–69 | Hyder Ali's rapid cavalry campaign brings his army to the outskirts of Madras itself, forcing the British to sue for peace; ends inconclusively with the Treaty of Madras — mutual restitution of territory, and a rare instance of the British negotiating from a position of weakness. |
| Second Anglo-Mysore War | 1780–84 | Hyder Ali, allied briefly with the Marathas and the Nizam, inflicts early defeats on Company forces before dying mid-war (1782); his son Tipu Sultan continues the fight competently; the Treaty of Mangalore ends it with no clear winner and a full restoration of conquered territory on both sides. |
| Third Anglo-Mysore War | 1790–92 | A combined British, Maratha, and Hyderabad alliance besieges and defeats Tipu; the Treaty of Seringapatam forces him to cede roughly half his territory (including Malabar and parts of the Coimbatore region) to the victors and pay a large war indemnity, while surrendering two of his own sons as hostages to guarantee payment. |
| Fourth Anglo-Mysore War | 1799 | A decisive siege and storming of Tipu's capital, the Battle/Fall of Seringapatam, ends with Tipu Sultan killed while personally defending a breach in the fort walls; Mysore is annexed in large part and reorganised under British paramountcy, with the old Wodeyar dynasty — which Hyder Ali had earlier displaced — restored as a subordinate, British-controlled ruler. |
Memory hook — "1-2-3-4 wars, Tipu dies in the last." Each war number roughly matches British advantage: they lose or draw the first two, win the third decisively, and finish Mysore as an independent power in the fourth.
Chain the storyline: Hyder scares Madras (War 1, draw) → Hyder fights on, dies mid-war, Tipu inherits it (War 2, draw) → Tipu loses half his kingdom and both his sons as hostages (War 3) → Tipu loses his life at the breach (War 4). One father-to-son story across four numbered acts, ending in the fort wall.
Practice Recall: Which of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars ended with Tipu Sultan's death, and at which fort? ... Answer: the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), at the Siege/Fall of Seringapatam.