ANGLO-MYSORE WARS

From the 1760s to the 1790s, the East India Company fought a series of conflicts against the Kingdom of Mysore. The kingdom’s final defeat in 1799 greatly _ assisted the British in their eventual domination of India

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H yder Ali was a Mysorean soldier, who rose to prominence as a military leader. As commander-in-chief he created a modern army and equipped and trained it along European lines, with assistance from the French, which would later pose a significant threat to the British. As William Dalrymple writes in The Anarchy: "Having learned modern infantry warfare by observing French tactics, he offered strong resistance to the East India Company, gaining his most notable victory... at Pollilur in 1780." It would be around 1761 that Ali became de facto leader of Mysore. He would conquer Bednore and Kanara, as well as the petty feudal chiefs in southern India. His expansionism worried Asaf Jah II, the nizam of Hyderabad, and Madhavrao I, the peshwa of the Maratha Empire. Ali's involvement with the French equally alarmed the British.

In 1766, the nizam joined the British in a war against Ali, the British seeking territorial concessions in exchange for their help. However, following their invasion of Mysorean territory, Ali was able to persuade the nizam to defect to his side while the Marathas adopted a neutral stance.

Now facing Ali alone, the war went badly for the British and Madras itself became threatened. This forced the British to seek a negotiated peace, resulting in the Treaty of Madras on 4 April 1769.

Second Anglo-Mysore War

Renewed conflict between the East India Company (EIC) and Mysore flared up in 1780. Mysore had continued to be involved with the French, and the American Revolutionary War brought matters to a head for the British in India.