Tipu Sultan

Born 1750; died May 4, 1799, in Seringapatam. Ruler of the principality of Mysore from 1782 to 1799 and leader of the struggle against the British conquerors in South India.

As commander of the Mysore forces during the reign of his father, Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan defeated the British detachments at Pollilur in 1780 and at Anegundi in 1782. He became ruler at the height of the second Anglo-Mysore War. In 1783 he surrounded and captured the British forces at Bednur. In an effort to secure material support for a strengthened army, he increased the state’s landholdings by confiscating lands belonging to the temples and the feudal lords. His efforts, however, to conclude an alliance with France and the Muslim rulers of India, Afghanistan, and Turkey against Great Britain proved fruitless. Tipu Sultan was killed during the fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799) when British troops stormed Seringapatam, the capital of Mysore.