Fourth Anglo-mysore War


 
The fourth Anglo-Mysore war was held in the year 1798-1799. This war was between the East India Company and Hyderabad Deccan against the Kingdom of Mysore. This was the last battle or war of the Anglo-Mysore wars in which the Tipu sultan died. The British took control of Mysore's capital. The Wadiyar family was reinstated to the throne after Britain seized indirect control of Mysore. 

BACKGROUND OF THE FOURTH ANGLO-MYSORE WAR (1780–84)

•    To make up for their losses, Tipu Sultan and the English took advantage of the years 1792–1799.
•    Tipu freed his sons after meeting all the requirements of the Treaty of Seringapatam.
•    When the Hindu Wodeyar dynasty's king passed away in 1796, Tipu refused to crown Wodeyar's young son and proclaimed himself Sultan instead.
•    He also vowed to exact revenge for both the terms of the Treaty of Seringapatam and his humiliating defeat.
•    Lord Wellesley succeeded Sir John Shore as governor-general in 1798.
•    Tipu's growing sympathy for the French alarmed Wellesley, an imperialist at heart, who tried to eliminate Tipu's autonomous existence or force him to capitulate using the Subsidiary Alliance system.
•    Tipu was accused of plotting against the English with the Nizam and the Marathas and of sending treasonous agents to Arabia, Afghanistan, Kabul, Zaman Shah, the Isle of France (Mauritius), and Versailles.
•    Tipu's explanation did not satisfy Wellesley. 

WAR’S PROGRESS

•    In 1798, Lord Wellesley, a fervent imperialist, succeeded Sir John Shore as Governor-General.
•    During the combat, rockets were used on several occasions. One of them involved Colonel Arthur Wellesley, later known as the First Duke of Wellington.
•    Purnaiah, a member of Tipu's Diwan, defeated Wellesley at the Battle of Sultanpet Tope.
•    Wellesley was worried about the growing relations Tipu was developing with France.
•    He forced Tipu into submission through the Subsidiary Alliance framework to eradicate Tipu's autonomous existence.
•    On April 17, 1799, hostilities erupted, and on May 4, 1799, Seringapatam fell.
•    Both British General Stuart and General Harris conquered Tipu. Arthur Wellesley, the brother of Lord Wellesley, served in the military as well.
•    The Nizam and the Marathas once again sided with the British because the Nizam had previously joined the Subsidiary Alliance and the Marathas had been given half of Tipu's territories.
•    The British seized all of Tipu Sultan's fortune after his death during the conflict.
•    The British chose a son from the previous Hindu royal line of Mysore to serve as the maharaja and imposed the subsidiary alliance system on him.
•    It had taken the English 32 years to conquer Mysore. The Deccan effectively lost the chance of experiencing a French Renaissance.
•    A British bullet struck a magazine of rockets within Tipu Sultan's fort on May 2, 1799, during the decisive British assault on Seringapatam, causing it to explode and send a towering cloud of black smoke and cascades of brilliant white light leaping up from the battlements.
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RESULTS OF THE FOURTH ANGLO-MYSORE

•    The English Generals Stuart and Harris twice conquered Tipu. Arthur Wellesley, the brother of Lord Wellesley, served in the military as well.
•    The English were once more helped by the Marathas and the Nizam.
•    The Marathas received half of Tipu's land, and the Nizam had already joined the Subsidiary Alliance.
•    Tipu died bravely in battle, his family was imprisoned in Vellore and the English took his belongings.
•    The subsidiary alliance system was enforced on the child of the erstwhile Hindu royal line of Mysore who was made maharaja by the English.
•    The youthful successor of Tipu Sultan, Fateh Ali, was banished. The Kingdom of Mysore became a princely state and ceded Coimbatore, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara Kannada to the British as part of a secondary alliance with British India encompassing regions of modern-day Kerala-Karnataka.
•    According to the Subsidiary Treaty, which was signed on 6 April 1801, the newly established princely state of Mysore was completely ruled by the British and also a member of the subsidiary alliance. The British might interfere with empire governance as well.
•    The fourth Mysore war led to the British gaining complete control and domination over South India.
•    After the war, the British government gave Lord Wellesley the title of Marquess.

MYSORE AFTER TIPU

•    Marathas rejected Tipu Wellesley's promise to give them Soonda and Harponelly in the Mysore Kingdom.
•    The Nizam received the Gooty and Gurramkonda districts.
•    The English seized control of Kanara, Wayanad, Coimbatore, Dwaraporam, and Seringapatam.
•    The former Hindu dynasty (Wodeyars) received the new kingdom of Mysore from Krishnaraja III, a minor ruler who agreed to the subsidiary alliance.
•    In 1831, William Bentinck took control of Mysore due to mismanagement.
•    In 1881, Lord Ripon restored the nation to its legitimate king. 

LORD WELLESLEY

•    From 1798 until 1805, Lord Wellesley served as Governor-General of Fort Williams.
•    During his reign, the fourth and last Anglo-Mysore war was fought, and Tipu was slain. In addition, the Second Anglo-Maratha War occurred, in which Bhonsle, Scindia, and Holkar were vanquished.
•    Wellesley pursued the "subsidiary alliance" doctrine, which was recognized by the kings of Mysore, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bundi, Macheri, Bharatpur, Oudh, Tanjore, Berar, Peshwa, and the Nizam of Hyderabad.
•    The Censorship of the Press Act of 1799 was also passed during his term, and Fort William College was founded in 1800 to teach civil workers.

SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE

•    The Subsidiary Alliance system, which Lord Wellesley established in India in 1798, required the head of an allying Indian state to pay a subsidy for the maintenance of the British troops in exchange for British protection against their adversaries.
•    It provided for the establishment of a British Resident at the ruler's court as well as the restriction on the ruler's ability to hire any European without British approval.
•    The Subsidiary Alliance was initially ratified by the Nizam of Hyderabad, a ruler in India.
•    Native princes and kings who joined the Subsidiary Alliance were prohibited from waging war on other states or engaging in diplomatic relations without the British's approval.
•    The comparatively strong princes were permitted to retain their armies, but they were under the authority of British generals.
•    Although the British promised not to meddle in the domestic affairs of allies under the Subsidiary Alliance, they rarely kept their word.
•    On the other hand, the British were now able to maintain a sizable army at the expense of the Indian kingdoms.
•    They were in charge of the protected ally's defence and foreign policy, and they maintained a sizable army stationed in the country's Centre. 

CONCLUSION

Tipu Sultan, the king of Mysore, is regarded as the greatest hero in Indian history among all the fighters who fought the British in the Indian subcontinent. There weren't many of his classmates. He was a well-known general who had participated in many conflicts, was highly educated, and had much administrative experience. Throughout his rule, Mysore prospered, and he never stopped working to make the state more robust and powerful.

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