Anglo-Mysore War I: The Mysore kingdom was carved out from the Vijaynagar empire in the battle of Talikota in the year 1565.

The new kingdom of Mysore then was led by the (Wadiyar dynasty) and the ruler of Mysore from 1734-1761 was Krishnraja Wadiyar II, who was an extravagant ruler and spent his whole life in lavishness doing nothing.

The kingdom was solely dependent on the 2 ministers called Nanjaraj and Devraj, who took care of everything for the king.

The dynasty was weak because of its ruler which created an opening for Haider Ali, a man with no literacy who later took over the kingdom of Mysore in 1761 and established the Mughal empire in Mysore.

Anglo-Mysore War I: Reason of war

In the 18th century, Britishers already captured most of the parts of the north of India including the Madras and the Northern Circars.

Now they wanted to join the 2 captured dynasties together for better trade opportunities and the problem was the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The Nizam of Hyderabad had its northern part between the two dynasties of the Britishers and when the Britishers came to Asaf Jah II for the northern part, the king denied it.

Britishers then went to Shah Alam II who was the earlier Nawab of Northern Circar, from there also they faced negligence as the Nizam of Hyderabad didn't fall under the territory of Shah Alam II.

After this, Robert Clive decided to take the territory by force which scared the Nizam, and in spite of losing the whole territory, he preferred to sold northern part for ₹7 lakhs.

Anglo-Mysore War I: Next Target - Mysore

Now the BEIC wanted to rule over Mysore and for that, they merged with Martha's empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

At that time, the leader of Maratha was Peshwa Madhavrao I, and Nizam of Hyderabad Asaf Jah was already in a pact with the Britishers.

They both were given the hopes to rule in India as Independent by the Britishers.

Anglo-Mysore War I: Tactics of Haider Ali

When Haider Ali knew about the attack, he called up the leader of Maratha and offered him 30 lakh rupees and some northern part of Mysore for not fighting in the war.

Haider Ali offered the Nizam of Hyderabad to be on his side as he was weak and will not be able to beat the Mysore. He also offered the area of Arcot to the Nizam if he works with him.

With this, the pact between the three was broken down by the smart ruler of Mysore Haider Ali and now what remained were Britishers alone on the battlefield. Haider Ali easily defeated Robert Clive and captured various forts of Britishers in Madras.

At the last fort of Madras, Britishers showed a white flag and surrendered in front of Haider Ali.

This is how the first Anglo-Mysore war ended in the history of India with a great victory for the Mughals.

Anglo-Mysore War I: Frequently asked questions