Fourth Anglo-Mysore War

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War

It has already been pointed out that Sultan Tipu had not forgotten the humiliating treatment which had been meted out to him by Cornwallis. He was determined to have his revenge. He sent his emissaries to Kabul, Constantinople, Arabia and Mauritius. The Sultan planted the tree of liberty at Seringapatam. He was elected a member of the Jacobin club of France. He tried to correspond with Napoleon who was in Egypt at that time. French generals were drilling his forces. The situation was serious and Lord Wellesley at once made up his mind to deal with it with it with a firm hand.

Before taking action against Tipu, Wellesley tried to win over the Nizam and the Marathas and succeeded so far as the Nizam was concerned. The Nizam entered into a subsidiary alliance with the English company in September 1798. He agreed to make a payment for the maintenance of the contingent force. He agreed to turn out the officers of other European nations. The French army of the Nizam was disbanded.

Having got the support of the Nizam on his side, Lord Wellesley demanded absolute submission from sultan Tipu. As the letter did not carry out the command, was was declared. The main army was under the younger brother of the Governor-General and later known as the Duke of wellington, was in charge of the Nizam’s contingent. A force from Bombay also marched towards Mysore. The armies carried everything before them and reached Seringapatam. Sultan Tipu refused to accept the humiliating terms offered to him and died fighting in the ramparts of Seringapatam. This was in May 1799. After the victory, Wellesley annexed large and important territories which included Kanara, Coimbatore and Seringapatam. Mysore was surrounded on all sides by British territory. The Nizam was given some territory as a reward for the help given by him. Certain territories were offered to the Marathas also on certain conditions which they refused to accept. A child of the Hindu family who had been turned out by Haidar Ali was placed once again on the throne of Mysore.

Many critics have condemned the Fourth Mysore War as unnecessary and unjustified. It is pointed out that the French danger was needlessly magnified by Wellesley. There is a lot of truth in this criticism. Wellesley was a full-blooded imperialist to whom Tipu was a formidable hurdle in the expansion of the British Empire in Southern India and consequently the liquidation of Tipu was a top priority in his political calculation. Wellesley knows that with the disappearance of Tipu from the Political scene, the steamroller of British imperialism would be able to crush very easily any opposition from the Marathas. The Nizam was too weak a power to create any difficulty. Wellesley considered Tipu as the real enemy of the British and hence took action against him. Otherwise, there was no moral justification for the war.

It cannot be denied that the Fourth Mysore War placed on the throne of Mysore a safe and dependable vassal who was shorn of former prestige and glory. The British became the strongest power in southern India. They had no fear of rival combinations. The capture of seringapatam was an event of great importance after Plassey and Buxar.

Milan Tomic

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