First Anglo - Mysore War The First Anglo – Mysore War ( 1767 – 1769 ) was a war in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company . The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II , the Nizam of Hyderabad , who sought to divert the company ' s resources from attempts to gain control of the Northern Circars . Background . The eighteenth century was a period of great turmoil in the Indian subcontinent . Although the century opened with much of the subcontinent under the control of the Mughul Empire , the death in 1707 of Emperor Aurangzeb resulted in the fracturing of the empire , and a struggle among viceroys and other local rulers among each other for territory . In the 1740s and 1750s French and British colonial companies became more active in these local conflicts , and by the Third Carnatic War ( 1757 – 1763 ) the British had not only gained somewhat solid footholds at Bombay , Madras , and Calcutta , but they had also marginalised but not eliminated the influence of other colonial powers . Their eastern holdings at Madras were strongly influenced by treaties with the Nawab of Carnatic , Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah , whose territory surrounded Madras . The other major powers in the east were the Nizam of Hyderabad , formerly a viceroyalty of the Mughul Empire but declared independent in the 1720s , held in the 1760s by Asaf Jah II , and the Sultanate of Mysore , which occupied the high plains between the Eastern and Western Ghats , the mountain ranges separating the coastal plains of India from the interior . Nominally ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty , control of Mysore had in 1761 come into the hands of Hyder Ali , a shrewd and ruthless Muslim military leader . Each of these powers intrigued with and against the others , and sought to draw the power of the French and British colonial companies to serve their objectives . The colonial powers sought to influence the local powers to gain either direct control of territory , or the revenues from territory nominally controlled by a local ruler beholden to them for financial and military support . Since European military training was significantly better than local practices , the latter was particularly important ; small numbers of disciplined European or European - trained forces could defeat significantly larger Indian armies composed mainly of poorly trained infantry and cavalry . Causes of war . The British East India Company , seeking an overland connection between its holdings at Madras and Bengal , sought to gain access to the Northern Circars , a series of coastal territories held by the French until 1758 , when they were ousted with British military support . They had applied to the nizam , offering to pay rent well above that he was currently receiving from the nawab of Arcot ; the nizam rejected their offers . Lord Robert Clive next applied to Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II , who in August 1765 issued a decree granting the company rights to that territory . At the same time , the nizam was involved in an alliance with the Marathas . Both he and the Marathas ' ruling peshwa , Madhavrao I were concerned over the expansionist threat posed by Hyder Ali . After assisting the Marathas in dealing with one of their confederates 1765 , the allies began developing plans to invade Mysore . When the British began occupying the Northern Circars in March 1766 , the nizam objected , issuing threatening letters to company authorities in Madras . He considered going to war against the company , but his poor financial condition made this impossible . Instead he negotiated a treaty with the company in November 1766 . Under its terms the company received four of the five circars immediately ( Guntur , the fifth , having been granted to the nizam ' s son as a jaghir , was to be delivered upon the son ' s death ) in exchange for 7 lahks rupees or military support to the nizam in his endeavours . One historian describes the nizam ' s agreement to the treaty as one of financial necessity , and that he was " resentful " of English power . Pursuant to this treaty , the company provided two battalions of troops to the nizam . Under the treaty , there were no limits placed on the number of troops the nizam could request , nor were there checks on the uses ( offensive or defensive ) to which he could put them . Conflict involving Madras authorities , Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah and Hyder Ali , was also simmering . Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah , allied to the British , whose territory his surrounded , was upset that Hyder was harbouring opponents of his , including his older brother Mahfuhz Khan , and Raja Saheb , the son of Chanda Saheb , a previous contender for the throne of the Carnatic . Hyder was annoyed that the British had established a fortified outpost at Vellore , and that the company had several times rebuffed his offers of alliance . An offer he made in late 1766 was rejected because the local company council viewed it as incompatible with the treaty signed with the nizam . Course of the war . The war began in January 1767 when the Marathas , possibly anticipating movements by the nizam , invaded northern Mysore . They reached as far south as the Tunghabadhra River , before Hyder entered into negotiations to end the invasion . In exchange for payments of 30 lahks rupees the Marathas agreed to withdraw north of the Kistna River ; by March , when the nizam began his invasion , they had already withdrawn . According to Mysore historian Mark Wilks , this action by the Marathas was a somewhat typical move to acquire wealth that might otherwise be claimed by other belligerents . The nizam advanced as far as Bangalore , accompanied by two battalions of company troops under Colonel Joseph Smith . In May , Smith discovered that the Hyder and the nizam were negotiating an alliance , and consequently withdrew most of his troops to the Carnatic frontier . The deal struck between the two powers called for them to join against the British . Hyder was to pay 18 lahks rupees for the invasion to end , and the nizam was to recognise Hyder ' s son Tipu Sultan as Nawab of the Carnatic once that territory was conquered . Despite the agreement the two sides exhibited little trust for one another ; Hyder was known to place spies in the nizam ' s camp . This diplomatic maneouvring resulted in an attack against a company outpost at Changama by the combined Mysore - Hyderabad army under Hyder ' s command . Despite significantly outnumbering the British force ( British estimates place the allied army size at 70 , 000 to the British 7 , 000 ) , the allies were repulsed with heavy losses . Hyder moved on to capture Kaveripattinam after two days of siege , while Colonel Smith , who commanded at Changama , eventually retreated to Tiruvannamalai for supplies and reinforcements . There Hyder again attacked , and was decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767 . With the onset of the monsoon season , Hyder opted to continue campaigning rather than adopting the usual practice of suspending operations because of the difficult conditions the weather created for armies . After overrunning a few lesser outposts , he besieged Ambur in November 1767 , forcing the British to resume campaigning . The British garrison commander refused large bribes offered by Hyder in exchange for surrender , and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Hyder to lift the siege . He retreated northward , covering the movements of the nizam ' s forces , but was disheartened when an entire corps of European cavalry deserted to the British . The failures of this campaign , combined with successful British advances in the Northern Circars and secret negotiations between the British and the nizam , led to a split between Hyder and the nizam . The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768 . Hyder , apparently seeking an end to the conflict , made peace overtures to the British , but was rebuffed . In early 1768 , company authorities in Bombay organised an expedition to Mysore ' s Malabar coast territories . Hyder had established a small fleet , based primarily in the port of Mangalore , in the mid - 1760s . This fleet , which the British reported as numbering about ten ships , deserted en masse , apparently because the captains were unhappy with Lutf Ali Beg , a Mysorean cavalry officer , as fleet commander . Owing to a British deception , Lutf Ali Beg also withdrew much of the Mangalore garrison to move on what he perceived to be the British target , Onore . The British consequently occupied Mangalore against minimal opposition in February . This activity , combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally , prompted Hyder to withdraw from the Carnatic , and move with speed to the Malabar . Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force , Hyder followed , and eventually retook Mangalore and the other ports held by the over - extended British forces . He also levied additional taxes as punishment against rebellious Nair districts that had supported the British . During Hyder ' s absence from the Carnatic , the British recovered many places that Hyder had taken and only weakly garrisoned , and advanced as far south as Dindigul . They also convinced the Marathas to enter the conflict , and a large force of theirs , under the command of Morari Rao , joined with Colonel Smith at Ooscota in early August 1768 . This army then began preparations to besiege Bangalore , but Hyder returned to Bangalore from the Malabar on 9 August , in time to harass the allies before the siege could begin . On 22 August Hyder attacked the Maratha camp at Ooscota , but was repulsed with heavy losses . Hyder was then foiled in an attempt to prevent the arrival of a second British column at the allied camp ; the strength of these combined forces convinced him to retreat from Bangalore toward Gurramkonda , where he was reinforced by his brother in law . He also attempted diplomatic measures to prevent a siege of Bangalore , offering to pay ten lahks rupees and grant other land concessions in exchange for peace . The British countered with an aggressive list of demands that included payments of tribute to the nizam and larger land concessions to the British East India Company . Hyder specifically refused to deal with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah , whose lands were where much of the fighting had taken place , and a man Hyder intensely disliked . The negotiations failed to reach common ground . On 3 October , Hyder , while moving his army from Guuramkonda back toward Bangalore , surprised a small garrison of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah ' s men at a rock fort called Mulwagal , near Ooscota . British reinforcements were sent , and Colonel Wood was able to recover the lower fort but not the upper . The next day he went out with a few companies of men to investigate movements that might have been cover for enemy reinforcements . This small force , numbering four companies , was surrounded by Hyder ' s entire army . A stratagem by another officer , Colonel Brooks , prevented the loss of this detachment ; Colonel Brooks and another two companies dragged two cannons to the top of a nearby rise , and Brooks called out " Smith ! Smith ! " while firing the cannons . Both sides interpreted this to mean that Colonel Smith was arriving in force , and Hyder ' s troops began to retreat . This enabled Colonel Wood to join with Brooks and other reinforcements from Mulwagal before Hyder realised he had been fooled . Hyder renewed his attack , but was eventually repulsed with heavy losses : he was estimated to lose 1 , 000 men while the British lost about 200 . The severity of the conflict convinced Colonel Smith that he would be unable to effectively besiege Bangalore without first inflicting a major defeat on Hyder in open battle . Company officials blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder , and recalled him to Madras . Hyder took the opportunity to besiege Hosur , and Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town . As Wood approached , Hyder raised the siege , sneaked around Wood ' s column , and attacked his baggage train near Bagalur . Hyder successfully captured supplies and arms , and drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri . Wood was consequently recalled and replaced by Colonel Lang . Hyder then raised additional forces in Mysore and went on the offensive . In November 1768 he split his army into two , and crossed the ghats into the Carnatic , regaining control of many minor posts held by the British . En route to Erode Hyder overwhelmed one contingent of British , who were sent as prisoners to Seringapatam when it was established that one of its officers was fighting in violation of a parole agreement . After rapidly establishing control over much of the southern Carnatic , his march turned toward Madras . This prompted the British to send an envoy to discuss peace ; because of Hyder ' s insistence that the nawab of the Carnatic be excluded from the negotiations , they went nowhere . Hyder then surprised company authorities by taking a picked force of 6 , 000 cavalry and a small number of infantry , and made a three - day forced march of to the gates of Madras . This show of force compelled the company to negotiate further , since Madras had been left nearly defenceless by military movements made to counter those of Hyder ' s main force . Hyder , who was seeking diplomatic leverage against the Marathas , wanted an alliance of mutual defence and offence . The company refused to accede to an offensive military treaty ; the treaty signed at Madras on 29 March 1769 had terms that each would support the other if attacked . Consequences . Hyder Ali , apparently emboldened by the agreement with the British , engaged in war with the Marathas in 1770 , and requested British support when the Marathas penetrated Mysorean territory . The British refused to assist him , even though they were also drawn into conflict with the Marathas in the 1770s . Hyder ' s battles did not fully end until 1779 , when the Marathas negotiated an alliance with him and the nizam for united action against the British . This led to the beginning of the Second Anglo - Mysore War in 1780 . This conflict devastated much of the Carnatic , and also failed to decisively resolve differences between Mysore and the British . Resolution occurred in 1799 with the defeat and killing of Hyder ' s son Tipu , and the restoration of the Wodeyars as British clients .