First Anglo-mysore War (1766–169)

The First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) was fought in India between the East India Company and the Sultanate of Mysore. After their easy win in Bengal, the English felt confident in their military might. In 1766, they made a deal with the Nizam of Hyderabad, pledging to give them the Northern Circars in return for defending him from Haidar Ali. 

 

•    The British had not only created somewhat solid bases in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta by the time of the Third Carnatic War (1757–1763), but they had also diminished, but not quite eliminated, the supremacy of other colonial powers.

 

•    Treaties with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, the Nawab of Carnatic, whose territory surrounded Madras, had a big influence on their eastern holdings at Madras.

 

•    The Sultanate of Mysore and Asaf JahII both controlled the Nizam of Hyderabad, a former viceroyalty of the Mughal Empire that was independently declared in the 1720s and held until the 1760s.

 

•    The other main kingdoms in the east controlled the high plains between the Eastern and Western Ghats, the mountain ranges dividing India's coastal lowlands from the interior.

 

•    After their straightforward victory in Bengal, the English were confident in their military might.

 

•    They made a pact with the Nizam of Hyderabad (1766), promising to defend him from Haidar Ali in exchange for him giving them the Northern Circars (region).

 

•    With the Nawab of Arcot, as well as the Marathas, Haidar already had territorial differences.

 

•    To combat Haidar Ali, the English, Marathas, and the Nizam banded together. Haidar acted delicately and diplomatically.

 

•    In order to neutralize the Marathas, Haidar Ali offered to divide the territory he had taken with the Nizam in exchange for the Nizam's help.

 

•    The Nizam then included him in his attack on the Nawab of Arcot.

 

•    The Marathas attacked northern Mysore in January 1767, most likely anticipating nizam operations, and this started the battle.

 

•    When Haider decided to stop the attack, they moved as far south as the Tungabhadra River.

 

•    The Marathas then reversed direction. The Nizam then used an English force to help launch an attack on Mysore. The assault, meanwhile, was not fully effective.

 

•    The Nizam betrayed the English and allied himself with Haider Ali in September 1767.

 

•    The combined forces of their armies proved too strong for Smith, the English commander, and he was forced to retreat to Trichinopoly, where Colonel Wood joined him.

 

•    The conflict at Trichinopoly between the Nizam and Haider Ali was unsuccessful, and Haider Ali was defeated elsewhere in December 1767.

 

•    In March 1768, the English planned to invade Hyderabad, which killed the Nizam's spirit.

 

•    Nizam thus gave the English Diwani of Mysore permission.

 

•    The English and Haider Ali became sworn enemies as a result of this arrangement.

 

•    The pact also resulted in Haider Ali being without an ally.

 

•    In contrast, he maintained his fearlessness.

 

•    After defeating an English force sent from Bombay, he took control of Mangalore.

 

•    On April 4, 1769, he forced the English to sign a treaty after storming Madras in March.

 

•    For an additional year and a half, there was no sign of an end to the conflict.

 

•    Haidar changed his course and made it to the gates of Madras.

 

•    The pact of Madras, a humiliating pact with Haidar, was signed by the English on April 4, 1769, as a result of the complete chaos and dread that day in Madras.

 

•    In accordance with the contract, captives were exchanged, and conquests were reciprocally returned.

 

•    The English agreed to help Haidar Ali in case he was attacked by another force.

 

•    The First Anglo-Mysore War was put an end by the Treaty of Madras, which was signed on April 4, 1769, between Mysore and the British East India Company (Lord Harry Verelst).

 

•    Fighting broke out in 1767, and Hyder Ali's army came perilously near to capturing Madras.

 

•    The British were bound by the Treaty to assist Hyder Ali if he was attacked by his neighbors.

 

•    Hyder believed the agreement had been broken when Mysore and the Marathas went to war in 1771 because he received no support.

 

•    Ten years later, the Second Anglo-Mysore War may have started as a result of the rupture of confidence brought on by the violated clause.

 

•    Haider Ali was born in a low-income family in 1721.

 

•    Haider Ali started his career as a horseman in the Mysore army under the ministers of the reigning king Chikka Krishnaraja Wodeyar.

 

•    Despite being illiterate, he was clever, politically skilled, and military savvy.

 

•    He established himself as the de facto king of Mysore in 1761 with the help of the French troops and trained his army using western methods.

 

•    He captured Dod Ballapur, Sera, Bednur, and Hoskote in 1761-63, took control of the Marathas and the Nizami army, and forced the troublesome Poligars of South India to submit.

 

•    Taxes were another kind of revenue they obtained from the growers.

 

•    At order to construct a weapons factory at Dindigul (now Tamil Nadu) and introduce Western training techniques to his army, Haidar Ali engaged the help of the French.

 

•    He also started using his extensive diplomatic abilities to outsmart his opponents.

 

•    After Madhavrao's passing in 1772, Haidar Ali was forced to pay them large sums of money to secure their peace.

 

•    Between 1774 and 1776, Haidar Ali repeatedly assaulted the Marathas, regaining all the regions he had previously lost as well as capturing fresh territory.

 

•    Hyder, who had a cancerous growth on his back, passed away in his tent on December 6, 1782.

 

With this, the first Anglo-Mysore War was over. There was, however, no peace between them in terms of maintaining strong relationships. It was only a temporary cessation of hostilities between the two parties. On the other hand, Haider Ali was able to show off his leadership skills both in the military and as a diplomat. Three southern political parties united against Mysore to start the conflict. Nevertheless, Haider Ali was able to finish it in a respectable manner. After the Marathas withdrew from the war and the Nizam received no rewards, the English were forced to reach an agreement on equal footing.