In the previous post, we have read about the Cornwallis and his reforms. After Cornwallis, the next man who came to India was Lord Wellesley. Actually, in the 1790s, Europe saw the emergence of Napoleon. Napoleon was the arch-rival of the British. He used to say that my only objective is to eliminate the British Empire.
So, for this Napoleon tried to turn Egypt as his base to snatch away India from Britain. India was the second powerhouse of Britain after America. So, Britain got alarmed and Lord Wellesley was sent to India to handle the situation.
Lord Wellesley
The challenge for the Wellesley was there were many states in India including powerful Marathas and Mysore. So, it was not possible for Wellesley to directly conquer these states. So, he came out with a solution of Subsidiary Alliance. The important provisions of this policy were,
- The signatory state has to maintain the contingent of British Army on self-expense.
- The signatory states were not allowed to maintain independent foreign relations.
- One British resident was necessarily appointed to advise the king of signatory states on crucial matters.
The states who signed this subsidiary alliance were,
- Hyderabad founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk signed a subsidiary alliance in 1798.
- Oudh state, founded by Saadat Khan “Burhan-ul-Mulk” signed a subsidiary alliance in 1801.
- Marathas signed the treaty of Bassein in 1802.
- Sindh signed later on in the 1830s.
Mysore, the state denied accepting the subsidiary alliance of Wellesley. So, from here started the struggle between the Mysore and EIC.
Subsidiary Alliance
Subsidiary Alliance was a unique move by Wellesley. Because without spending a single penny EIC turned into an all India power. The only state to refuse subsidiary alliance was Mysore. So, Mysore paid the price in 1799. In 1799, the EIC army executed Tipu Sultan and established Wadyar Dynasty as their puppetry government in Mysore.
The Wadyar King Gopal Raj signed the subsidiary alliance with East India Company (EIC). But, in the 18th century, Mysore experienced the dynamic rule of father and son ie Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan respectively.
Mysore State
Mysuru or Mysore is a land of prosperity. In the 18th century, it was under Wadyar Dynasty. The ruler was Chikka Krishna Raja. He was an incompetent ruler. So, Mysore was in trouble during his reign. So, this created the background for the emergence of Hyder Ali in Mysore. He was the commander-in-chief of the Mysore state during the reign of Wadyar ruler.
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali overthrew the Wadyar Dynasty from the Mysore throne. Though he was illiterate. But he provided the sound administration with the special emphasis on law and order. He was a good military leader. He gave emphasis on secularism.
During his reign, coins had images of Hindu Deity. He gave support for the construction of Chamundeshwari temple. He established the military on European Model and in 1755 founded the Canon factory in Dindigul.
First-Anglo Mysore War
The steps of Hyder Ali became a headache for the EIC. So, they allied with Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad. Three of these declared war against Hyder Ali. But Hyder Ali proved to as a diplomatic genius. He brought Nizam and Marathas on his side and made the triple alliance.
This triple alliance fought with EIC forces in the First Anglo-Mysore war 1767-1769. In this war, the triple alliance defeated EIC and forced EIC to sign the Treaty of Madras in 1769. This was the evidence of the company that Hyder Ali was not only dangerous but deadly.
Second Anglo-Mysore War
So, the treaty of Madras gave the peace of 11years which was used by EIC to strengthen itself. But Mysore misused this treaty and fought with his neighbors like Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1780, during the American war of independence, the French were supporting Americans. So, this became a fear for EIC that French could provoke Hyder Ali also.
So, a precautionary step British occupied the port of Mahe. This became the cause of conflict between Mysore and EIC. So, this conflict turned into the Second Anglo-Mysore war, 1780-1784. During this war, Hyder Ali died because of cancer. Tipu Sultan succeeded Hyder Ali.
Tipu Sultan
His reign started during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. After the war, he came out with certain economic, political reforms to strengthen his state. Tipu was the man of Master Morality. He used to say that it is better to live a day like a lion than a lifetime as a sheep.
Economic Reform
In agriculture, Tipu Sultan took the famous step of inducement cum compulsion under it state gave all types of help to the farmers in agriculture. But if the farmer failed to carry on agriculture as a punishment, the revenue was taken as his entire possession.
So, this policy gave promotion to agriculture. It increased the prosperity of the farmers and revenue of the state. The state established trading companies like EIC and send them to different parts world to promote trade and commerce of Mysore.
These companies specially visited France, Turkey, Burma, and Afghanistan, etc. He also established modern factories as production units. He turned the state into a head merchant. So, in a whole, a state-maintained monopoly in foreign trade and inland trade in the following goods,
- In inland trade: Monopoly in weapons, pepper, and sandalwood.
- Foreign trade: pepper, Handicraft, saltpeter, sandalwood, etc.
The reforms of the Tipu Sultan became the cause of tension for EIC. Because Mysore started turning into the sink of Gold and Silver. The next move was political reforms.
Political Reforms
Under it, every subject was turned into a department. The body of the department consists of two secretaries and a number of subordinates. This secretary and subordinate formed the quorum and decisions were taken on the principle of majority.
Although the orders of the king were binding on the decision of the quorum. This shows that Tipu Sultan was aware of the principle of democracy. The Zamindars also called Poligars, brought under state control and law and order were the main concern of the state.
Military Empowerment
Man of Modern Ideology
So, the reforms of the Tipu Sultan became unbearable for EIC. So, Tipu was provoked on Tanjore’s episode and as he attacked Tanjore, Cornwallis in alliance with Marathas and Nizam supported Raja of Tanjore. This led to the third Anglo-Mysore war in which the EIC alliance defeated Tipu Sultan. The half of territories of Mysore have snatched away and a fine of 50 crores was imposed on Mysore.
In this scenario, Wellesley gave the option of the subsidiary alliance to Mysore. But Tipu Sultan rejected this proposal. So, this led to the fourth Anglo-Mysore war, 1799. In this war, Tipu Sultan was killed. This was the end of the story of Mysore under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. The policy of British expansion was then carried on by the next important man “Lord Hastings“.
We will read about Lord Hastings in upcoming post.
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