In this article, we discuss the First Anglo Mysore war and its causes for various competitive exams such as UPSC, SSC, etc...
The Anglo Mysore War was between Mysore and the British East India Company. In the beginning, Mysore used to be a part of the Vijayanagara Empire.
Vijayanagar Empire used to be in the southern region of India. The Vijaynagar Empire was established in 1336 and ruled the whole of Southern India.
But the other Empires such as Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Berer, Bidar and Golconda together defeated the Vijayanagar Empire in the Battle of Talikota in 1565.
After the Battle of Talikota, the Vijayanagara Empire began to weaken. Parts of the Vijayanagara Empire were acquired by the Deccan Empire. The remaining Vijayanagara began to break up into smaller kingdoms.
In 1612, the Hindu Kingdom was started, whose name was Mysore. The Wodeyar dynasty ruled here. There was a considerable territorial expansion of Mysore in the 17th century.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar II became the king here in 1734. Their title was Chikka Krishnaraja Wodeyar. He had no interest in running the state.
There were two ministers in his court and all Powers were in his hands and his name was Nanjaraj and Devaraj.
This was the time when Hyder Ali joined the Mysore Army as a horseman. Haider Ali was an illiterate as well as a very talented person.
Haider Ali introduced foreign techniques to the Mysore Army. The Marathas and the Nizams of Hyderabad were constantly attacking because of the Weak King of Mysore.
Due to these attacks, the territorial areas and treasures of Mysore were decreasing.
Hyder Ali became the Sultan of Mysore in 1761. After becoming the Sultan, Hyder Ali captured some of the territories of Ballapur, Bidnur, Sera and Malabar between 1761 and 1763.
Hyder Ali also took the Policers under his control. We can compare them from the landlords.
These policers covered a large area and in return, they had to pay taxes. But they did not pay tax at the right time.
Hyder Ali put his control over all this. Mysore was a rich state because it had fertile plains like the Raichur Doab, which was a triangular area.
This Triangular area was between Tungabhadra river, Krishna river and its tributaries. There were opportunities for great cultivation here.
They had ports in the Malabar region. Meaning there was an opportunity for good exports. Apart from this, there were also handicrafts, gold mines of Kolar, sandalwood from the forests of Sunderbans.
In 1761, the Maratha's under the leadership of Peshwa Madhavrao attacked Hyder Ali and in this battle Hyder Ali was defeated.
This was followed by the First Anglo Mysore War between Hyder Ali and the British East India Company. This war lasted from 1766 to 1769 and in this war Hyder Ali defeated the British East India Company.
As a result of this war a treaty was signed which was named Treaty of Madras. It was also written in this treaty that if someone attacks on Mysore, then the British East India Company will help him.
But the East India Company did not cooperate even when Peshwa Madhavrao attacked again on Mysore in 1766 and 1771.
Haider Ali was defeated in both these attacks and Maratha's captured a lot of the territories of Mysore.
Peshwa Madhavrao died in 1772, and seeing the opportunity, Hyder Ali did lots of attacks on Maratha's in between 1774 and 1776.
Hyder Ali captured his all territories and also captured some of the Maratha's territories.
Reasons and Causes of Anglo Mysore War 1:
After the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the British East India Company had control over Bengal.
Apart from this, there were also settlements of the British East India Company in Madras.
Madras was part of the Carnatic region. The Nawab of Carnatic, Wallahjah was loyal to the British East India Company. He was made the Nawab of Carnatic by the British East India Company.
Therefore the settlement and forts in Madras of the British East India Company were safe.
The major kingdoms of that time were the Maratha Empire, Hyderabad and Mysore.
The British East India Company wanted it to connect its territories from bengal to madras. But the Northern Circars used to fall between Bengal and carnatic.
The territory of the Northern Circars was made up of 5 territories i.e. Chicacole, Rajmundry, Ellore, Kodapalli and Guntur.
The Nizam of Hyderabad was in control of the Northern Circars.
But in 1753, the Nizam of Hyderabad, Salabat Jung, gave the territory of the Northern Circars to the French East India Company. Because Salabat Jung was made Nizam of Hyderabad by the French East India Company.
But in 1758, the British East India Company expelled the French East India Company from the Northern Circars.
So the Northern Circars again came under the Nizam of Hyderabad. After Salabat Jung, Asaf Jah II became the new Nizam of Hyderabad. Asaf Jah II was also known as Nizam Ali Khan.
Robbert Clive approached Asaf Jah II to pay rent to the Northern Circars but Asaf Jah II was not accepted it. He refused because Hyderabad and the British East India Company were fighting against each other in the Carnatic War.
When Asah Jah II is refused his approach, then he contacted to Shah Alam II. Shah Alam II was a Mughal emperor and had defeated the British East India Company in the Battle of Buxar.
Earlier Hyderabad used to be a part of the Mughal Empire. After the death of Aurangzeb, Mughal Empire was weakened and Hyderabad became a successor state.
But on paper was still under Hyderabad Shah Alam II. At the behest of Robbert Clive, Shah Alam II passed an order that the rights of Northern Circars be given to the British East India Company.
As soon as Shah Alam II issued orders, Robert Clive started occupying the Northern Circars.
Asaf Jah II had to accept everything at that time because the situation in Hyderabad was very bad at that time. The British East India Company gave 7 lakh rupees in exchange for the rights to Asaf Jah II.
The British East India Company also said that whenever Asaf Jah II needed it, he would bring his army. In this way, a military alliance was formed between Hyderabad and the British East India Company.
The Nizam of Hyderabad also joined hands with the Maratha"s against Mysore. In this way, all three came together.
Mysore was a rich state, so the Marathas, Hyderabad, and the British East India Company together thought of attacking Mysore.
In 1766, the Marathas attacked Mysore. The Nizam of Hyderabad and the British East India Company were preparing to attack on Mysore.
The Maratha's had come to attack Haider Ali but Haider Ali spoke with the Maratha's. Haider Ali told the Marathas that better than fighting, give us 30 lakhs and also keep some territories of Mysore.
Maratha's accepted this offer of Hyder Ali and returned.
Haider Ali also started making negotiations with Asaf Jah II. Haider Ali said that together we attack Arcot i.e. Carnatic. The territories that will be found after attacking, they will distribute among themselves.
The Nizam of Hyderabad agreed on this offer of Hyder Ali.
After the attack, the British East India Company ordered its troops to flee. Madras Fort St. George was about to be captured that the British East India Company signed a treaty with Hyder Ali called the Treaty of Madras.
It was said in this treaty that the territories that both the parties had taken from each other would be given back. If one of the two needs military support, then the other will support him. Along with this, the Prisioners of War will also be given back.
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