Fourth Mysore War
| date | 1798 to 1799 |
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| place | Indian subcontinent |
| output | Defeat of Mysore |
| consequences | Loss of large areas of Mysore and death of Tipu Sultan |
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The Fourth Mysore War from 1798 to 1799 is part of the Mysore Wars and was fought between Mysore and the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent.
Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 had the long-term goal of threatening British trade routes to India. The kingdom of Mysore was the key to this, as its ruler, Tipu Sultan , was a close ally of France and an avowed enemy of the British. Napoleon's intentions were crushed by Horatio Nelson at the sea battle at Abukir .
The British took the opportunity to finally defeat their old enemy in Mysore. Two British armies under Arthur Wellesley , later the Duke of Wellington, and a Marathy army from Bombay set out to besiege Seringapatam , the capital of Mysore. On the march, there were minor skirmishes that the British won. After the Third Mysore War , Tipu Sultan had strongly fortified his capital and prepared it for a siege. On May 4, 1799, the besiegers succeeded in breaching the walls of Seringapatam and invading the city. Tipu died defending the city wall. His looted body was found under the west gate. Mir Sadiq, one of Tipu's commanders, had been bought by the British and, at the height of the battle, sent his units away from the wall.
The troops off Mysore used huge numbers of rockets during the siege. This weapon was then adopted by Great Britain.
Mysore had to cede more areas. The British put the former ruling family of the Wodeyar under their control on the throne, so that Mysore actually became part of British India .
Tipu Sultan was buried with military honors in his family's mausoleum.
One of the bizarre British spoils of war is Tipus Tiger , a mechanical automaton manufactured in Mysore at the end of the 18th century , which depicts a tiger attacking a British soldier, making the appropriate noises and movements. Tipus Tiger is on display today at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The events of the Fourth Mysore War and the siege of Seringapatam were dealt with by Bernard Cornwell in the novel Sharpe's Trial by Fire .
Tippus Tiger in the Victoria and Albert Museum London
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Individual evidence
- ^ Edward Thornton (Ed.): The History of the British Empire in India . Adamant Media Corporation, 2001, ISBN 0-543803295 (EA London 1843)
- ^ George Alfred Henty : The Tiger of Mysore. A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib . BiblioBazaar, 2007, ISBN 978-0554151915 (novel, EA London 1896)
- ↑ Richard Holmes: Wellington. The Iron Duke . Paperback edition HarperCollins, London 2003, ISBN 0-00-713750-8 .