Third Anglo Mysore War

Important wars and battles in Indian History

Third Anglo Mysore War 1789-92 A.D.

29 Dec 1789    Tipu sultan attacks on Travancore 29 Jan 1791     Cornwallis took over the command of the British troops 3 Nov 1791     Tipu sultan captured Coimbatore March 1792      Treaty of Seringapatnam Causes led to Anglo-Mysore Conflict The treaty of Mangalore of 1784 between Tipu Sultan and the English was nothing but a hollow truce. When Lord Cornwallis came to India he was bound by Pitt's India Act to refrain from following a policy of war except for purely defensive purpose. Tipu Sultan was also not satisfied by the treaty of 1784 and so in 1787 sent an emissary to France and Constantinople for support. Cornwallis believed that Tipu allying himself with the French would strike against the English. So he worked on the anti-Tipu suspicions of the Nizams and Marathas. Cornwallis provoked Tipu by signing an agreement with the Nizams for help to recover the district of Balaghat which was in the possession of Mysore. The immediate cause of the war was Tipu's attack on Travancore on December 29, 1789. Tipu's differences with the Raja of Travancore arose over the latter's purchase of Jaikottai and Travancore from the Dutch in the Cochin state and Tipu considered Cochin as his tributary state and thus considered the act of the Raja as violation of his sovereign rights. On the other hand, the Raja of Travancore was entitled to the protection of the English. Thus taking advantage of the situation, the English, making a triple alliance with the Nizams and the Marathas, attacked Tipu Sultan. March to Seringapatnam The war between Tipu and "Triple alliance" lasted for almost two years. The first, under Major-General Medows, did not produce any decisive result and Tipu displayed greater skills and strategy than Medows. So on January 29, 1791, Cornwallis himself took over the command of the British troops. With a large army, Cornwallis marched through Vellore and Ambure to Bangalore. He captured Bangalore in 1791 and approached Seringapatnam, Tipu's capital, by May 13. Tipu displayed great skill in defending and his tactics forced Cornwallis to retreat by cutting off supplies. Treaty of Seringapatnam The fighting was resumed in the summer of 1791. Tipu captured Coimbatore on November 3. But, Cornwallis, with the help of the army sent from Bombay, occupied all the forts in his path to Seringapatnam, where he arrived on February 5, 1792. Tipu displayed all his skills and offered tough resistance but soon realised the impossibility of carrying further the struggle. Tipu had to sue for peace and the Treaty of Seringapatnam concluded in March 1792. The treaty resulted in the surrender of nearly half of the Mysorean territory to the victorious allies. The British acquired Baramahal, Dindigul and Malabar while the Marathas got territory on the Tungabhadra side and the Nizams acquired the territories from the Krishna to beyond the Pennar. Tipu also had to pay a war indemnity of over three millions pounds and hand over his two sons as hostages. Out of this war the Company gained some possessions in the South which added to the strength and compactness of the Company's territories. Cornwallis summed up the Company's gains; "We have effectively crippled our enemy without making our friends too formidable."