Hyder Ali

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Hyder Ali
Ruler of Mysore
Reign	1761-1782
Born	1722
Died	1782
Place of death	Chittoor
Successor	Tippu Sultan

Hyder Ali (Kannada: ಹೈದರಾಲಿ, Haidarlī; Hindi: हैदर अली, Haidar Alī; c. 1722–1782) was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. He is said to have induced his brother to employ a Parsi to purchase artillery and small arms from the government of Bombay Presidency, and to enrol some thirty sailors of different European nations as gunners, and is thus credited with having been "the first Indian who formed a corps of sepoys armed with firelocks and bayonets, and who had a train of artillery served by Europeans."^{[citation needed]} He induced Shamaiya Iyengar into his ministry as minister of post and police and later Shamaiya served under Tipu Sultan.

Personal life

Hyder Ali was the great-grandson of an Islamic fakir from Gulbarga, Deccan. His father was a naik or chief constable at Budikote, near Kolar in present-day Karnataka. He was born in Budhikote between 1717 and 1722. As a youth, Hyder assisted his brother, a commander of a brigade in the Mysore Army, and acquired a useful familiarity with the tactics of the French when at the height of their reputation under Joseph François Dupleix.

Rise to power

At the siege of Devanhalli (1749) Hyder's services attracted the attention of Nanjaraja, the minister of the Raja of Mysore, and he at once received an independent command; within the next twelve years his energy and ability had made him completely master of minister and raja alike, and in everything but in name he was ruler of the kingdom. In 1763 the conquest of Kanara gave him possession of the treasures of Bednor, with which he resolved to make a splendid capital in India, under his own name, thenceforth changed from Hyder Naik into Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur. Hyder Ali now began to occupy the serious attention of the Madras Presidency, which in 1766 entered into an agreement with the Nizam of Hyderabad to furnish him with troops to be used against the common foe. But hardly had this alliance been formed when a secret arrangement was come to between the two Indian powers, the result of which was that Colonel Smith's small force was met with a united army of 50,000 men and 100 guns. British dash and sepoy fidelity were devastated, first in the Battle of Chengam (September 3, 1767) and again, even more remarkably, in that of Tiruvannamalai (Trinornalai). In February 1768, the British captured Mangalore from Hyder.^[1] The Portuguese had offered to help Hyder against the British. But when they betrayed Hyder, he directed his anger towards the Mangalorean Catholics, since they had been converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. Towards the end of 1768, Hyder defeated the British and re-captured Mangalore fort, where the Mangalorean Catholics were taking refuge. Around 15,675 of them were taken as prisoners to Mysore by Hyder. Only 204 returned; the rest died, were killed, or converted to Islam.^[2]

Peace treaty

On the loss of his recently-made fleet and forts on the western coast, Hyder Ali now offered overtures for peace; on the rejection of these, bringing all his resources and strategy into play, he forced Colonel Smith to raise the siege of Bangalore, and brought his army within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Madras. The result was the treaty of April 1769, providing for the mutual restitution of all conquests, and for mutual aid and alliance in defensive war; it was followed by a commercial treaty in 1770 with the authorities of Bombay. Under these arrangements Hyder Ali, when defeated by the Marathas in 1772 (three wars were fought between 1764 and 1772 by Madhavrao Peshwa against Hyder Ali, in which Hyder Ali lost), claimed British assistance, but in vain; this breach of faith stung him to fury, and thenceforward he and his son did not cease to thirst for vengeance. His time came when in 1778 the British, on the declaration of war with France, resolved to drive the French out of India. The capture of Mahé on the Malabar coast in 1779, followed by the annexation of lands belonging to a dependant of his own, gave him the needed pretext for the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

Losses

With the empire extended to the Krishna River, he descended through the passes of the Western Ghats amid burning villages, reaching Kanchipuram (Conjeevaram), only 45 miles (72 km) from Madras, unopposed. Not till the smoke was seen from St. Thomas Mount, where Sir Hector Munro commanded some 5200 troops, was any movement made. Then, however, the British general sought to effect a junction with a smaller body under Colonel Baillie recalled from Guntur. The incapacity of these officers, notwithstanding the splendid courage of their men, resulted in the total destruction of Baillie's force of 2800 (September 10, 1780). Warren Hastings sent from Bengal Sir Eyre Coote, who, though repulsed at Chidambaram, defeated Hyder thrice successively in the battles of Porto Novo, Pollilur and Sholingarh, while Tipu Sultan was forced to raise the siege of Vandavasi (Wandiwash), and Vellore was provisioned. On the arrival of Lord Macartney as governor of Madras, the British fleet captured Nagapattinam (Negapatam), and forced Hyder Ali to confess that he could never ruin a power which had command of the sea. He had sent his son Tipu to the west coast, to seek the assistance of the French fleet, when his death took place suddenly at Chittoor in December 1782.

Hyder Ali's invasion of Tanjore

Suffren meeting with Hyder Ali in 1783, J.B. Morret engraving, 1789.

Hyder Ali invaded Tanjore in 1781, at the height of the Second Mysore War.^[3] Col. Braithwaite tried to stem his advance but was defeated and had to surrender.^[3] Hyder extracted the allegiance of the Maratha king Thuljaji and plundered the country.^[3] Cattle and crops were destroyed.^[3] The gross produce of the Tanjore kingdom fell from 10,439,057 in 1780 to 1,578,520 in 1781.^[4] It further slid to 1,370,174 in 1782.^[4] The ravages of Hyder Ali and his son Tippu Sultan were followed by alleged expeditions of plunder launched by the Kallars.^[3] There was scarcity of food and work and the economy was shattered.^[3] The kingdom of Tanjore did not recover from the effects of the invasion till the start of the 19th century.^[3] The period of suffering referred to in local folklore as Hyderakalabam is considered to be one of the darkest periods in the region's history since the invasions of the Kalabhras.^[3]

Notes

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Bhagwan S. Gidwani The Sword of Tipu Sultan.
• 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica references:
  • LB Bowring, Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, Rulers of India series (1893)
  • For the personal character and administration of Hyder Ali see the History of Hyder Naik, written by Mir Hussein Ali Khan Kirmani (translated from the Persian by Colonel Miles, and published by the Oriental Translation Fund)
  • The curious work written by M Le Maitre de La Tour, commandant of his artillery, L'histoire d'Hayder-Ali Khan, Paris, 1783
  • For the whole life and times see Wilks, historical Sketches of the South of India (1810-1817).
• Tipu Sultan - A Shia Muslim

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hyder Ali

• Muslim warriors
• Kingdom of Mysore
• Wodeyar
• Tipu Sultan
• Shamaiya Iyengar
• Haidar Ali And Tipu Sultan And The Struggle With The Musalman Powers Of The South By Lewin B. Bowring