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HYDER ALI, or HAIDAR

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 33 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HYDER See also:

ALI, or HAIDAR 'ALI (c. 1722-1782), See also:Indian ruler and See also:commander. This See also:Mahommedan soldier-adventurer, who, followed by his son Tippoo, became the most formidable See also:Asiatic See also:rival the See also:British ever encountered in See also:India, was the See also:great-See also:grandson of a See also:fakir or wandering ascetic of See also:Islam, who had found his way from the See also:Punjab to Gulburga in the See also:Deccan, and the second sen of a See also:naik or See also:chief See also:constable at Budikota, near See also:Kolar in See also:Mysore. He was See also:born in 1722, or according to other authorities 1717. An See also:elder See also:brother, who like himself was See also:early turned out into the See also:world to seek his own See also:fortune, See also:rose to command a See also:brigade in the Mysore See also:army, while Hyder, who never learned to read or write, passed the first years of his See also:life aimlessly in See also:sport and sensuality, sometimes, however, acting as the See also:agent of his brother, and meanwhile acquiring a useful familiarity with the See also:tactics of the See also:French when at the height of . their reputation under See also:Dupleix. He is said to have induced his brother to employ a Parsee to See also:purchase See also:artillery and small arms from the Bombay See also:government, and to enrol some See also:thirty sailors of different See also:European nations as gunners, and is thus credited with having been " the first Indian who formed a See also:corps of sepoys armed with See also:fire-locks and bayonets, and who had a See also:train of artillery served by Europeans." At the See also:siege of Devanhalli (1749) Hyder's services attracted the See also:attention of Nanjiraj, the See also:minister of the See also:raja of Mysore, and he at once received an See also:independent command; within the next twelve years his See also:energy and ability had made him completely See also:master of minister and raja alike, and in every-thing but in name he was ruler of the See also:kingdom. In 1763 the See also:conquest of See also:Kanara gave him See also:possession of the treasures of Bednor, which he resolved to make the most splendid See also:capital in India, under his own name, thenceforth changed from Hyder Naik into Hyder Ali See also:Khan Bahadur; and in 1765 he retrieved previous defeat at the hands of the See also:Mahrattas by the destruction of the Nairs or military See also:caste of the See also:Malabar See also:coast, and the conquest of See also:Calicut. See also:Ryder Ali now began to occupy the serious attention of the See also:Madras government, which in 1766 entered into an agreement with the See also:nizam to furnish him with troops to be used against the See also:common foe. But hardly had this See also:alliance been formed when a See also:secret arrangement was come to between the two Indian See also:powers, the result of which was that See also:Colonel See also:Smith's small force was met with a See also:united army of 80,000 men and Too guns. British dash and See also:sepoy fidelity, however, prevailed, first in the See also:battle of Chengam (See also:September 3rd, 1767), and again still more remarkably in that of Tiruvannamalai ('1'rinomalai). On the loss of his recently made See also:fleet and forts on the western coast, Hyder Ali now offered overtures for See also:peace; on the rejection of these, bringing all his resources and See also:strategy into See also:play, he forced Colonel Smith to raise the siege of See also:Bangalore, and brought his army within 5 M. of Madras. The result was the treaty of See also:April 1769, providing for the mutual restitution of all conquests, and for mutual aid and alliance in defensive See also:war; it was followed by a commercial treaty in 1770 with the authorities of Bombay.

Under these arrangements Hyder Ali, when defeated by the Mahrattas in 1772, claimed British assistance, but In vain; this See also:

breach of faith stung him to fury, and thenceforward he and his son did not cease to thirst for vengeance. His See also:time came when in 1778 the British, on the See also:declaration of war with See also:France, resolved to drive the French out of India. The See also:capture of See also:Mahe on the coast of Malabar in 1779, followed by the See also:annexation of lands belonging to a dependent of his own, gave him the needed pretext. Again master of all that the Mahrattas had taken from him, and with See also:empire extended to the See also:Kistna, he descended through the passes of the See also:Ghats amid burning villages, reaching See also:Conjeeveram, only 45 M. from Madras, unopposed. Not till the See also:smoke was seen from St See also:Thomas's See also:Mount, where See also:Sir See also:Hector See also:Munro commanded some 5200 troops, was any See also:movement made; then, however, the British See also:general sought to effect a junction with a smaller See also:body under Colonel See also:Baillie recalled from Guntur. The incapacity of these See also:officers, notwithstanding the splendid courage of their men, resulted in the See also:total destruction of Baillie's force of 2800 (September the loth, 1780). See also:Warren See also:Hastings sent from See also:Bengal Sir See also:Eyre See also:Coote, who, though repulsed at See also:Chidambaram, defeated Hyder thrice successively in the battles of See also:Porto Novo, Pollilur and Sholingarh, while Tippoo was forced to raise the siege of See also:Wandiwash, and See also:Vellore was provisioned. On the arrival of See also:Lord See also:Macartney as See also:governor of Madras, the British fleet captured See also:Negapatam, and forced Hyder Ali to confess that he could never ruin a See also:power which had command of the See also:sea. He had sent his son Tippoo to the See also:west coast, to seek the assistance of the French fleet, when his See also:death took See also:place suddenly at See also:Chittur in See also:December 1782. See L. B. See also:Bowring, Haidar Ali and Tipu See also:Sultan, " Rulers of India " See also:series (1893).

For the See also:

personal See also:character and See also:administration of Hyder Ali see the See also:History of Hyder Naik, written by Mir Hussein Ali Khan Kirmani (translated from the See also:Persian by Colonel See also:Miles, and published by the See also:Oriental See also:Translation Fund), and the curious See also:work written by M. Le Maitre de La Tour, commandant of his artillery (Histoire d'Hayder-Ali Khan, See also:Paris, 1783). For the whole life and times see Wilks, See also:Historical Sketches of the See also:South of India (1810—1817) ; itchison's See also:Treaties, vol. v. (2nd e d., 1876; ; and See also:Pearson, See also:Memoirs of Schwartz (1834).

End of Article: HYDER ALI, or HAIDAR

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