MYsORE UNDER HAIDAR ALI

AND TIPu SULTAN

for his
Tipu Sultan's failure.. was a tragedy for him...and a tragedy for the sub-continent
struggle for Freedom.
defeat meant the end of the first round of the -History of'the Freedom Movement of Pakistan
risc of military
Eightccnth ccntury India providcd very favourablc circumstanccs for the Ali (born 1721)
advcnturersboth in thc north and the south. Onc such soldicr of fortunc, TIaidar
of Mysorc. Thc proccss of
startod his carccr as a horscman and rosc to thc position of the rulcr two
usurpation of royal authority of the Wodcyar' ruler Chik Krishnaraj startod during 1731-34 whcn
brothcrs. Devraj (thc Commandcr-in-chic) and Nanjaraj (thc Controllcr ofRevenuc and Tinancc)
in thc Dcccan among the
controllod rcal powcr in thc state. Thc quadrangular conflict for supremacy draggcd Mysorein thc gamc
Marathas, the Nizam, thc English and the Trcnch East Tndia Companics
incursions into Mysorcan tcrritorics of thc Marathas in 1753,
of advcnturous politics. Thc repcatcd demands madc by the invaders
1754, 1757 and 1759 and of thc Nizam in 1755 and thc hcavy inancial ground for military cxploits at
rendercd the Mysore state financially bankrupt and politically a fertile
statcs. Devraj and Nanjaraj unablc to rise to the occasion had to
the hands of powcrful ncighbouring diplomatic skill and umqucstioncd qualitics of
give placc to a man of supcrior military talcnt, sound
lcadcrship. By 1761 1Taider Ali was thc de facto rulcr of Mysorc.
the timc. A wcll-disciplincd army with a
Tlaider Ali preparcd himsclf to mcct the challcnges ofchallcngcs
to mcct thc of thc Marathas, an cffcctivc
strong and swift cavalry wing was ncccssary Nizami armics. Tlc was also awarc of the supcrior
artillcry wing along could countcer the Frcnch-traincd
Frcnch hclp Ilaidar Ali sct up an arscnal at Dindigul
Western know-how in arms manufacturcs. With training an army. Abovc all, hc lcarnt the art of
and also profitcd from thc Wcstcrn mcthods of out-manocuvre his advcrsarics in
pcrmutation-combinaticn at thc diplomatic chessboard and tricd to
thc gamc. Dod Bellapur, Sera, Bednur etc. and subjugated
During 1761-63 Haider Ali conquered Hoskote,
the poligars of south India. Peshwa Madhav
from the Panipat dcbaclc (1761) under
The Marathas who had rccovcrod fast and again in 1771
and dcfcated Ilaidar Ali in 1764, in 1766
Rao frcqucntly raidcd Mysorc teritory also to surrendcr some important tcrritorics
to thcm.
compclling Ilaidar to buy off thc Marathas as at Poona aftcr the dcath of Pcshwa Madhav Rao in
confusion
Quick to takc advantagc of political rccovercd all thc tcrritorics carlicr surrcndcrod to the Marathas
1774-76 not only
1772, ITaidar Ali during
Gooty, Kurnool and inportant territorics in thc Krishna-Tungabhadra
but acquirod Bcllary, Cuddapah,
Doab.
(1767-69). in Bengal the English
Blindcd by thcir casy succcsscssurrender
The FirstAngle-Mysore War of Northcrn
with Nizam Ali ofIlyderabad (1766) and in rctum for the Ali, Ilaidar
concludcd a trcaty against Tlaidar
committcd the Company to help thc Nizam with troops in his war thc Marathas. Suddcnly
Circars with
the rulcr of ATCot and differcnccs ofCarnatic opcrating against
alrcady had tcrritorial disputcs with and thc Nawab
Ilaidar found a common front of thc Nizam, thc Marathas Raja
the king Venkata lI permittedduring
Vjaynagar kingdom. In 1612expanded
were feudatories of their dorminion
1. The chiefs of Mysore title of Raja of Mysore. The Wodeyars considerably Mysore amidst an explosive
Wodeyar to assume the succession of Immadi Krishnareja in 1732 as ruler of
the 17th century. The dynasty.
beginning of the dechine of the Wodeyar
Deccani politics marked the
102

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Mysore Under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan 103

him. Undaunted, Haidar played the diplomatic game, bought the Marathas, allured the Nizam with
territoral gains and together with the latter launched an attack on Arcot. After a see-saw struggle for
a ycar and a half, Ilaidar suddenly turncd the tablcs on the English and appcarcd at the gatcs of
Madras. The panic-strickcn Madras Govcrnmcnt concludod thc humiliating trcaty on 4 April 1769 on
the basis of mutual rcstitution of cach othcr's tcrritorics and a dcfensivc alliancc bctwccn the two
partics conmmitting thc English to hclp lTaidar in case he was attackcd by another powcr.
The Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84). Tbe treaty of 1769 between Haider Ali and the
English Company proved more in the nature of a truce and Haidar Ali accused the Company of not
observing the terms of the defensive treaty by refusing to help him when the Marathas attacked
Mysore in 1771. Further, Haider found the French more helpful in meeting his military demands for
guns, saltpetre and lead than the English. Some French military hardware naturally found its way to
Mysore through Mahe, a French port on the Malabar coast. The outbreak of the American War of
Independence and French alliance with the American colonists made Warren Hastings extremely
suspicious of Haidar Ali'srelations with the French. Under the circumstances the English attempt to
caputure Mahe which Haidar considered to be under his protection, was a direct challenge to Haidar
Ali
Ilaidar Ali arrangcd a joint front with the Nizarn and the Marathas against thc common cncmy
thc English East India Company In July 1780 laidar attackod Carnatic and capturod Arcot, defcating
an English army under Coloncl Baillic. Mcanwhile the English detachod the Marathas and the Nizarm
from thc sidc of llaidar. Undauntod, Ilaidar boldly facod thc English but suffercd a defcat at Porto
Novo (No. 1781), The following ycar Tlaidar inflicted a humiiating defcaton the English army undor
Col. Braithwaite ; Braithwaite was taken aprisoncr. Ilaidar dicd on 7December 1782, lcaving the task
unfinished to his son, Tipu. Tipu continucd the war for anolhcr ycar, but absolutec success cludcd
both sides. Tired of war, the two sides concluded peace by the Ireaty of Mangalore (March 1784) on
the basis of mutual restitution of each other's territories. The second round of the struggle too proved
inconclusive.
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92), British imperialism, truc to its very nature, considcrod
cvcry pcace trcaty as abrcathing time for another oflcnsive against Tipu. Acting against thc letcr and
spirit of the policy of pcaceand non-expansion loudly proclaimcd in Pit's India, Act (1784), Lord
Cornwallis workcd on thc anti-Tipu suspicions of the Nizam and the Marathas and arrangcd aTriplc
Alliance(1 790) with them against Tipu. Convincod ofthe incvitability of awar with the English, Tipu
had sought the help of the Turks by scnding an cmbassy to Constantinoplc in 1784 and again in 1785
and on to thc Prench king in 1787.
Tipu's differences with the Raja of Iravancore arose over the latter's purchase of Jaikottai and
Cranganore from the Dutch in Cochin state ; lipu considered the Cochin state as his tributary state
and thus considered the act of the 'Iravancore Raja as violation of hissovereign rights. He decided to
attackIravancore in April 1790.The Eaglish, itching for awar, sided with the ruler ofliravancore (vide
their earlier treaty of 1784) and declared war against 'ipu. At the head of alarge arny Cornwallis
hinself marched through Vellore and Ambur to Bangalore (captured in March 1791) and approached
Seringapatam. The English captured Coimbatore only to lose it later. Supported by the Maratha and
Nizam's troops the English made a second advance towards Seringapatam. Tipu offred tough
resistance but realised the impossibility of carrying further the struggle. The Treaty of Seringapatam
(March l792) resulted in the surrender of nearly halfof Mysoreanterritory to the victorious allies. The
British acquired Baramahal, Dindigul and Malabar wbile the Marathas gotterritory on the'Tungabhadra
side and the Nizam acquired teritories from the Krishna to beyond the Pennar. T'ipu had also to pay a
war indemnity of over thrcc crorcs of rupccs. Tipu lost hcavily in this round of strength and could
only savc his kingdom from total extinction by preparation and planning which sccmcd beyond his
resources. Comwallis summod up the Company's gain: "We have cffoctively eripplcd our cncmy
without making our fricnds too formidable".

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104 A New Look at Modern ndlan History

The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799). The East India company's policy in India
alternated
with spells of peace for recuperation of their resources. The arrival of imperialist Lord wars
Wellesley as
Govrnor-Gencral in 1798 in the backdrop of Napoloonicdangor to India augurod ill for the maintenancc
ofstatus quo. Wclleslcy was detcmincd to cithcr tameTipu to submission or wipc out his
indcpcndcncc
altogcthcr. The mous operandi was thc Subsidiary Alliancc System. The charge against Tipu Sultan
of planning intrigucs with thc Nizam and the Marathas or scnding cmissarics to Arabia, Zaman Shah
of Afghanistan or Constantinoplc or thc French in the Islc of France (Mauritius) or the Dircctory at
Versaillcs were convenicnt cxcuscs to forcc down the dcsircd cnd, Tipu's cxplanation that only "40
pcrsons, Frcnch and of' a dark colour, of whom 10 or 12 werc artificers and the rest scrvants paid
thc
hirc ofthe ship, came herc in scarch of cmploymcnt" did not satisfy Wclleslcy. Thc opcrations against
Tipu began on 17 April and with the fall of Scringapatam on 4 May 1799 brought to a closc the history
ofMysore's indcpcndence. Tipu dicd fighting bravcly. The members ofTipu's family were intcrncd at
Vellorc. The English anncxcdKanara, Coimbatorc, Wyncad, Dharpuram besidcs the cntirc sca coast of
Mysorc. Some teritorics werc given to he Nizam. Aboy of the carlicr Mysore Tlindu royal family was
installod on the gaddi of Mysore and a Subsidiary Alliancc was imposcd.
Administration ofTipu Sultan
The only system of government known to the Indian sub-continent at that time was despotisn
andmilitary
lipu's system could not be different. The Sultan was the embodiment of all civil, political and
authority in the state. He was bis own foreign minister, his own comnander-in-chief and acted
as the highest court of appeal in his kingdom.
In spitc of the abscnce of any constitutional checks on his authority, Tipu Sultan did nÍt bchavc
likc an irrcsponsible despot. Ile displaycd a high sensc of duty to his officc and belicvcd that his
subjects "constitute aunique trust held for God, the Real Master." He took great care to work for the
welfare and happiness of the people.
The Central Administration. Tipu Sultan's zcal for innovation and improvemcnt prompicd him
to introducc a number of changcs in the system of governmcnt hc inheritcd from his father. II.JI.
Dodwcll gives Tipu the credittof being the first Indian sovcreign who sought to apply the westem
methods to his administration. Each dcpartmcnt was put under the charge of a chicf assistcd by a
number of subordinatc oficcrs who constitutcd a Board. The docisions in thc dcpartment werc takcn
after full discussion wherc mcmbcrs cnjoycd the right to disscnt. Thc dccisions werc takcn by a
majority of' votcs and the minutcs of thc mcctings were rccordcd. Tlowcvcr, the final dccision in all
important mattcrs rcstcd with thc Sultan.
There was no office of the Wazir or Prime Minister in Tipu's administration. The seven principal
departnents each under amir asif was directly responsible to the Sultan. "1he seven departments were
the Revenue and Finance Department (Mir Asaf Cutchehri), the Military Department (Mir Miran
Cutchehri and the Zumra), the Conmerce Depart1nent (Malikut-Tujar Cutchehri), the Marine Department
(Mir Yam Cutchehri) and the Treasury and Mint Department (Mir Khazain Cutchehri), Besides there
were sone minor departments like Post & Intelligence Department, the Public Buildings Department,
the Cattle Department etc.
The Provincial and Local Administration. Afer 1784 Tipu dividod his kingdom into scvcn
provinccs callcd asaft tukris. Later the number of provinccs was incrcascd to 17. The two principal
officcrs in a provincc were thc asaf(Civil Governor) and the fayjdar (Military Govcrnor) and thc two
were cxpoctcd to act as acheck on cach othor. The provinccs werc furthcr dividod into districts and
furthcr down there wcrc a number of villagcs in cach district. The traditional villagc panchayats
provided the infrastructure for local administration.
Land Revenue. By and large Tipu continucd thc rcvcnuc systcm of llaidar Ali but introduccd

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 Mysore Under Haldar Ali and Tipu Sutan 105
greater efficiency into it. He tried to establish direct relationship between the Government and the
cultivator by discouraging the jagirdari system, resumption of unauthorised inam (rent free) lands
and confiscation ofthe hcrcditaryland rights of the poligars (zamindars).
The Government employed the metbod of inducement-cum-compulsion to bring more land under
cultivation. The Amil, incharge of the district, toured his district and sanctioned taqavi (advances of
money) loans to the needy peasants to purchase ploughs and extend cultivation. Further, if the Amil
found that in a housebold there were a number of men and a few ploughs, he would urge the bead of
the family to acquire more ploughs ; in case of defiance and if the Amil was satisfied that in a village
there was more ground fit for cultivation (say, ofsugarcane) than under actual plough then, as a penal
measure, the Amil could charge the land tax cultivated on the basis of all cultivable land and not the
land under actual cultivation.
The land revenue demand of the state ranged from 1/3 to 1/2 ofthetotal produce, depending on
the fertility of the land and availability of irrigation facilities. In 1792 the state's income fron revenue
was over two crores which was reduced to nearly one-balf after the treaty of Seringapatan, 1792
(when be had to surender half his kingdom to the EJ. Company and ber allies). To make up for this
loss in income, in 1765 Tipu increased the assessnent by 374% over pre-1792 rates.
Trade and Commerce. in the fashion ofEuropean powers Iipu also realised that acountrycoukd
be great only by developing is trade and commerce. He promoted both foreign and inland trade and
imposed tight Government control over it.
Rcalising the importance of trade with the Persian gulf and Red Sea regions, be sought to establish
commercial factors and stationing commercial agents at Muscat, Ormuz, Jeddah, Aden etc. He even
planned to establish commercial relations with Pegu and China. A Commercial Board was established
and the Regulations of 1793-94 set forth the general duties of the officers in the department. He
doclarcd govcrnmcnt monopoly of tradc in sandalwood, bctelnut, pepper, cardamos, gold and silver
bulion,foreign cxport ofclcphantsctc. Similarly, for conduct ofinland trade the Govemment acquircd
monopoly rights for purchasc of the ryot's sharc of production of some spccificd articlcs, like sandal
wood and black pepper. Anumbcr of factorics were sct up in the Mysore state which manufacturcd a
widc rangc ofarticics ranging from war ammunition, paper, sugar, silk fabrics, small tools and fancy
goods.
Asok Scn bclicvcs that the principal aim ofTipu's trade policy was ofmaking thc govermcnt 'hc
chicfmerchant of hisdominions and thc tradcr was to cnrich the trcasury. Economic activity camc to
be directly subordinatcd to political and military intcerests and werc not compatible with the long-tcn
intcrcsts of tradc and industry, nor with the preparation of'socicty and coonomy for the making of an
industrial rovolution under thc acgis of capitalism.?
Military Administration. Compulsion ofcircumstanccs requircd the Sultan to givc his maximum
carc to thc raising and maintenancc of an cfficicnt military forcc. Tipu Sultan's infantry was disciplincd
after the Europcan model with Persian words of command. Ile did cmploy Frcnch officers to train his
troops and raiscd a rench corps also but unlike thc Nizam and the Sindhia never allowcd Frcnch
corps to dcvclop a prcssurc group valuc. In fact thc number of Frcnch troops in his army gradually
doclincd till it stood at only 20 Europcans in 1794 and aftcr the fall of Seringapatamin 1799 stood at
mercly4 officcrs and 45 non-commissioncd officcrs and privatcs.
The strength ofTipu's army varied in accordance with the nilitary requirements and resources
available. On the eve ofthe Third Anglo-Mysore War lipu's military forces comprised 45,000 regular
infantry and 20,000 horse besides some iregular force. In 1793 after Tipu had surrendered half bis
territory to thc English and thcir allics, his army was cstimatcd to be 30,000 regular infantry, 7,000

2. Barun De. (Ed.), Perspectives in Social Sciences I. p. 95,

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