Maratha–Mysore wars

{{short description|18th century conflict between the Maratha Empire and the Kingdom of Mysore}}

{{multiple issues|

}}

{{infobox military conflict

| name = Maratha–Mysore wars

| date = 1759–April 1787

| place = Deccan

| result =

| combatant1 = File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Maratha Confederacy

| combatant2 = 25px Kingdom of Mysore

| commander2 = 25px Hyder Ali{{WIA}}
25px Tipu Sultan
25px Ismail Khan{{KIA}}
25px Mir Reza{{KIA}}
25px Ali Jami Khan{{KIA}}
25px M.Hughel{{WIA}}
25px Mirza Ali Khan{{Surrendered}}
25px Sipahsalar Sayyid Abdul Ghaffar Sahib

| strength1 = Unknown

| strength2 = Unknown

| conflict = Conflict between Marathas and Mysore

}}

The Maratha–Mysore wars were a conflict in the 18th century India between the Maratha Confederacy and the Kingdom of Mysore. Though initial hostilities between the sides started in the 1760s, the last battle began in February 1785 and ended in 1787.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgnWCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Maratha%E2%80%93Mysore+War%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA37|isbn=9781400874866|title=South Asian History, 1750-1950: A Guide to Periodicals, Dissertations and Newspapers|date=8 December 2015|publisher=Princeton University Press}}

== Situation in the 18th century ==

The 18th century saw a steady decline of the once-dominant power on the whole subcontinent – the Mughal Empire. Apart from the disastrous invasion by the Afsharid ruler of Iran, Nader Shah in 1739, the Mughals were successfully contested by the Marathas. Meanwhile, the British East India Company was asserting its influence in India and was engaged in a series of wars with Mysore which eventually resulted in the region falling under Company rule near the end of the 18th century.Chopra et al. (2003), pp. 79–80; Kamath (2001), pp. 233–234

== Mysore wars with the British ==

Mysore was initially a small kingdom at the beginning of the 1700s. However, able rulers such as Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan transformed the kingdom and westernized the army and it soon turned into a military threat both to the British and the Marathas.{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&pg=PA37 |title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 |date=2011-03-30 |publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis) |isbn=978-1-136-79087-4 |location=London |pages=70 |language=en}} Upon Hyder Ali’s death in 1782, Mysore covered 80,000 sq. miles and had a population of approximately 6 million people.Roy Kaushik, "War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849"; 2011; Routledge; p. 74

Starting from 1767, the Kingdom of Mysore overall had four major military confrontations with the British (1767–69; 1780–84; 1790–92; and 1799).Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mysore-Wars

Around 1761, the commander in chief of the state of Mysore, Hyder Ali proclaimed himself absolute ruler of the Kingdom and started military campaigns to expand the territory of the state. In 1766, the British East India Company joined forces with the local ruler of Hyderabad against Hyder Ali, but by 1769, the British were left alone in a war with the Mysore Kingdom. In 1769 Hyder Ali made his way to Madras (the location of the Company's government) and demanded a peace treaty.Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mysore-Wars

Maratha–Mysore wars

After the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the son and successor of Hyder Ali the new ruler of Mysore Tipu Sultan, sought to keep offensive moves by the Marathas at bay. The Maratha had established a military alliance with the ruler of Hyderabad with a common purpose of recovering territories both sides had lost to Mysore during previous conflicts. Much of the desired territory was subject to marches, counter-marches, and sieges of fortified points. The Marathas also attempted to draw the British East India Company into the pending conflict, but a neutrality policy implemented by the new governor-general, Lord Charles Cornwallis made its participation difficult. While the Maratha would later aid the British in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the final conflict between Mysore and the Maratha by themselves happened in January 1787 in the Siege of Bahadur Benda, where Mysore successfully captured Bahadur Fort from the Marathas.

=Major conflicts=

Battle of Rutehalli Fort (1764){{cite book|title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813|page=457|isbn=9781932705546|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&q=hyder+ali+marathas+tribute&pg=PA457|last1=Mehta|first1=Jaswant Lal|date=January 2005|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. }}
Siege of Dharwar (1764)
Battle of Jadi Hanwati (1764)
Siege of Sira (1767)
Siege of Madgiri (1767){{citation|title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813|page=458|isbn=9781932705546|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&q=hyder+ali+marathas+tribute&pg=PA457|last1=Mehta|first1=Jaswant Lal|date=January 2005|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. }}
Battle of Ooscota (1768)
Battle of Moti Talab(1771){{Cite book |last=Banerjee Anil Chandra |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.505296 |title=Peshwa Madhav Rao I |date=1943}}{{Cite book |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&dq=marathas+in+bengal+chauth+mir+habib&pg=PA201 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813 |date=2005-01-01 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-1-932705-54-6 |language=en}}
Battle of Chinkurli (1771){{Cite book |last1=Jaques |first1=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC&q=maratha-Mysore+war+Chinkurli+&pg=PA137 |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780313335372 |location=Westport, Connecticut}}
Battle of Saunshi (1777){{Cite book |last1=Jaques |first1=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tW_eEVbVxpEC&q=mughal-maratha+wars+battle+of+saunshi&pg=PA1294 |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780313335396 |location=Westport, Connecticut}}
Siege of Nargund, 1778
Siege of Nargund, February 1785
Siege of Kanchangarh,1786
Siege of Adoni, June 1786
Battle of Gajendragad, June 1786
Battle of Savanur, 10 October 1786
Siege of Shirhatti (1786) 14 November 1786
Siege of Bahadur Benda, January 1787

Outcome and aftermath

The Maratha-Mysore War ended after the final conflict during Mysore's successful siege of Bahadur Benda in January 1787, and the Marathas settled for peace with the kingdom of Mysore, to which Tipu Sultan obliged with the signing of the treaty of Gajendragad in April 1787. Tipu who was desperate to focus on defending Mysore from the British agreed to pay an annual tribute of 12 lakhs per year to the Marathas, to end hostilities with them, which would allow him to focus on his rivalry with the British.{{Cite book |last1=Hasan |first1=Mohibbul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkbJ6xA1_jEC&pg=PA105 |title=History of Tipu Sultan |publisher=Aakar Books |year=2005 |isbn=9788187879572 |edition=Reprint |location=Delhi}}{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=9788131300343 |pages=175}} In addition to this Tipu agreed to return all territories captured by Hyder Ali from the Marathas.{{Cite book |last1=Naravane |first1=Wing Commander (Retired) M. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxsa3jtHoCEC&q=tipu+48+lacs+maratha&pg=PA175 |title=Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj |date=1 January 2006 |publisher=APH Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3 |location=New Delhi}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&dq=gajendragad+1787&pg=PA54 Anglo-Maratha relations, 1785-96]{{Cite book |author1=Sailendra Nath Sen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&q=battle+of+gajendragad+mysore+marathas&pg=PA58 |title=Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785-96, Volume 2 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1994 |isbn=9788171547890 |edition=Reprint |location=Bombay}}

Tipu Sultan would release Kalopant and return Adoni, Kittur, and Nargund to their previous rulers. Badami would be ceded to the Marathas. In return, Tipu would get all the places he had captured in the war, including Gajendragarh and Dharwar. Tipu would also be addressed by the Marathas by an honorary title of "Nabob Tipu Sultan, Fateh Ali Khan".{{Cite book|last=Hasan|first=Mohibbul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkbJ6xA1_jEC&pg=PA105|title=History of Tipu Sultan|date=2005|publisher=Aakar Books|isbn=978-81-87879-57-2|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Sen|first=Sailendra Nath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&pg=PA59|title=Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785-96|date=1994|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-789-0|language=en}}

The Marathas however ultimately betrayed Tipu, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War the Marathas presented their support to the British East India Company and the British went on to take over Mysore in 1799.{{cite book |author=Mohammad Moienuddin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBFWAAAAYAAJ&q=exclaim |title=Sunset at Srirangapatam: After the Death of Tipu Sultan |publisher=Sangam Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-86311-850-0 |location=London |oclc=48995204}} However sometimes after Tipu's death the Marathas themselves would get involved in conflicts with the British who defeated the Marathas by 1819 in the Anglo-Maratha War leading to the annexation of their territories by the British and end of the Maratha Confederacy in India.{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Richard |title=Historical Record of the 67th Foot |date=1849 |publisher=Parker, Furnivall & Parker |location=London |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57663/57663-h/57663-h.htm#Page_14}}

Bibliography

Duff, James Grant. [https://books.google.com/books?id=e_Pc4ZQMoy0C&dq=duff%20mahratta%20nargund%201785&pg=PA166 A history of the Mahrattas, Volume 2]
Kumar, Raj. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5L_2-w13fMMC&dq=nargund+1785&pg=PA71 Essays on modern India]
Sen, Sailendra Nath. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&dq=gajendragad+1787&pg=PA54 Anglo-Maratha relations, 1785-96]

References

Category:Conflicts in 1786

Category:Conflicts in 1787

Category:1786 in India

Category:1787 in India

Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Mysore