2. 2
•Known For: He is remembered in India
and Pakistan as a warrior-king who
fought brilliantly for his country's
independence from Britain.
•Also Known As: Fath Ali, Tiger of
Mysore
•Born: November 20, 1750 in Mysore,
India
•Parents: Hyder Ali and Fatima Fakhr-
un-Nisa
•Died: May 4, 1799 in Seringapatam,
Mysore, India
•Education: Extensive tutoring
•Spouse(s): Many wives, including Sindh
Sahiba
•Children: Unnamed sons, two of whom
3. ď‚· Tipu Sultan was born on November 20, 1750, to military
officer Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore and his wife, Fatima
Fakhr-un-Nisa. They named him Fath Ali but also called him
Tipu Sultan after a local Muslim saint, Tipu Mastan Aulia.
ď‚· His father Hyder Ali was an able soldier and won such a
complete victory against an invading force of Marathas in 1758
that Mysore was able to absorb the Marathan homelands. As a
result, Hyder Ali became the commander-in-chief of Mysore's
army, later the Sultan, and by 1761 he was the outright ruler of
the kingdom.
Early Life 3
4. First Anglo-Mysore
War (1766–1769)
4
• During the mid-18th century, the British East India
Company sought to expand its control of southern
India by playing local kingdoms and principalities off
one another and off the French. In 1767, the British
formed a coalition with the Nizam and the Marathas,
and together they attacked Mysore. In just one week,
Tipu charmed the ruler of the Nizam into switching
sides and joining the Mysorean fight against the
British.
• Tipu Sultan then led a cavalry raid on Madras (now
Chennai) itself, but his father suffered a defeat by
the British at Tiruvannamalai and had to call his son
back. Hyder Ali decided to take the unusual step of
continuing to fight during the monsoon rains, and
together with Tipu he captured two British forts.
• Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan then went on a tear up the
coast, capturing forts and British-held cities. The
Mysoreans were threatening to dislodge the British
from their key east coast port of Madras when the
British sued for peace in March 1769.
5. Second Anglo-Mysore
War (1780–1784)
5
• The Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784), began
when Hyder Ali led an army of 90,000 in an attack
on the Carnatic, which was allied with Britain. The
British governor at Madras decided to send the bulk
of his army under Sir Hector Munro against the
Mysoreans, and also called for a second British
force under Colonel William Baillie to leave Guntur
and meet up with the main force. Hyder got word
of this and sent Tipu Sultan with 10,000 troops to
intercept Baillie.
• The Second Anglo-Mysore War settled down into a
series of sieges. The next significant event was
Tipu's February 18, 1782 defeat of East India
Company troops under Colonel Braithwaite at
Tanjore.
• Later, British propaganda said Tipu would have had
them all massacred if the French hadn't interceded,
but that is almost certainly false—none of the
6. Tipu Sultan - The Ruler
6
• Despite two victories over the British, Tipu Sultan
realized that the British East India Company
remained a serious threat to his independent
kingdom. He funded continuous military advances,
including further development of the famous
Mysore rockets—iron tubes that could fire missiles
up to two kilometers, terrifying British troops and
their allies.
• Tipu also built roads, created a new form of
coinage, and encouraged silk production for
international trade. He was particularly fascinated
and delighted with new technologies and had
always been an avid student of science and
mathematics.
• A devout Muslim, Tipu was tolerant of his majority-
Hindu subjects' faith. Framed as a warrior-king and
dubbed the "Tiger of Mysore“, Tipu Sultan
proved an able ruler in times of relative peace as
7. Third Anglo-Mysore
War (1789–1792)
7
• Tipu Sultan had to face the British for a third time
between 1789 and 1792. This time, Mysore would
receive no aid from its usual ally France, which was
in the throes of the French Revolution. The British
were led on this occasion by Lord Cornwallis, one
of the major British commanders during the
American Revolution.
• Unfortunately for Tipu Sultan and his people, the
British had more attention and resources to invest
in southern India this time around. Although the
war lasted for several years, unlike past
engagements, the British gained more ground than
they gave. At the end of the war, after the British
besieged Tipu's capital city of Seringapatam, the
Mysorean leader had to capitulate.
• It was a shocking reversal for the Tiger of
8. Fourth Anglo-Mysore
War (1798–1799)
8
• In 1798, a French general named Napoleon
Bonaparte invaded Egypt. Unbeknownst to his
superiors in the Revolutionary government in Paris,
Bonaparte planned to use Egypt as a stepping-
stone from which to invade India by land (through
the Middle East, Persia, and Afghanistan), and wrest
it from the British. With that in mind, the man who
would be emperor sought an alliance with Tipu
Sultan, Britain's staunchest foe in southern India.
• This alliance was not to be, however, for several
reasons. Napoleon's invasion of Egypt was a
military disaster. Sadly, his would-be ally, Tipu
Sultan, also suffered a terrible defeat.
• A British-led coalition of nearly 50,000 troops
marched toward Tipu Sultan's capital city of
Seringapatam in February 1799. This army was
made up of the best and brightest from all of the
British East India Company's client states. Its single
9. At the beginning of May 1799, the
British and their allies surrounded
Seringapatam, the capital of Mysore.
Tipu Sultan had just 30,000
defenders matched against 50,000
attackers. On May 4, the British
broke through the city walls. Tipu
Sultan rushed to the breach and was
killed defending his city. After the
battle, his body was discovered
beneath a pile of defenders.
Seringapatam was overrun.
10. Legacy
10
• WithTipu Sultan's death, Mysore became another princely state under the jurisdiction of the
British Raj. His sons were sent into exile, and a different family became puppet rulers of Mysore
under the British. In fact,Tipu Sultan's family was reduced to poverty as a deliberate policy and
was only restored to princely status in 2009.
• Tipu Sultan fought long and hard, although ultimately unsuccessfully, to preserve his country's
independence.Today,Tipu is remembered by many in India and Pakistan as a brilliant freedom
fighter and as an able peacetime ruler.