By L.N.Swamy

The Mysore War
Tipu Sultan attacked the Raja of Travancore. In the first stage of the war (Third Mysore War : 1790-92 A.D.) General Medows and General Kolly planned the course of action. Medows tried to reach Mysore through Coimbatore. Kolly was supposed to reach Bangalore through Baramahal District. But he died without achieving anything. Medows efforts were checked by Tipu Sultan at Sathyamangalam and then he recaptured the places which were occupied by Medows. In the initial stages, Tipu Sultan gained upper hand over the English. But in the Second half he suffered a humiliating defeat.

Cornwallis's Effort
Lord Cornwallis arrived at Madras to command the army personally against Tipu Sultan. He decided to march on Bangalore. Though Tipu tried his best, he could not stop the English march against Bangalore. Cornwallis reached Bangalore through Kolar and Hosakote and captured the fort and the city on 20th March 1791 A.D. The fort was known as the second best fort at that time in Mysore region.
After the proper arrangements, Cornwallis marched against Srirangapatna. It was because of the sickness which broke out both in men and animals, and outburst of Monsoon and shortage of essential commodities, the English army returned to the barracks.

A Setback
Operations against Srirangapatna started once again early in 1792 A.D. The English army marched against the fort and arrived in the sight of the fortress on the l6th Feb. 1792 A.D. On the same night, the operations started and the English pushed Tipu's force to the fort and captured the island except the fort. Helplessly Tipu proposed the peace treaty and accepted the terms dictated by Lord Cornwallis. They signed the treaty on 23rd Feb. 1792 A.D. As per the treaty, Tipu agreed to surrender half of his territory to the English and pay three crores thirty lakhs of rupees as war indemnity to the English.

Since he could not pay war indemnity in full, he accepted to send his second and third sons namely Abdul Khaliq and Maiz-Uddin aged 10 and 8 respectively as hostages till he would pay the war indemnity. He paid the balance amount after two years and received his sons in 1794 A.D. at Devanahalli.	'Marquess Cornwallis receiving the sons of Tipu Sultan as hostages'
[ Table of Contents]   [ Go top ]