Malabar Mysore and a Tale of Two Sultans

Haider Ali usurped the kingdom of Mysore from the Wodeyar in the mid-18th century and spent two turbulent decades expanding his borders and fighting the British. His son Tipu Sultan after a chaotic 16-year reign was killed in Srirangapatna at the culmination of the Fourth Anglo–Mysore War. The British returned the kingdom to a minor Wodeyar heir. Thus the dynasty of the Mysore sultans began with Haider Ali and ended with Tipu Sultan.The father-son duo terrorized and alienated all their neighbours in southern India. They fought several wars against the Marathas. Malabar Mangalore and Coorg suffered greatly during their occupation. They ignored the Mughal emperor in Delhi and made enemies of their Muslim neighbours. The nizam of Hyderabad and nawab of Arcot hitched their wagons to the British star.Contrary to popular belief the sultans did not oppose colonial domination. In fact they allied with the French with Tipu even inviting Napoleon Bonaparte to invade India. The gruesome events of their reign are routinely denied by their admirers but contemporary chroniclers and later historians have recorded their dark deeds in a variety of Indian and foreign languages. This book attempts to sift the wheat from the chaff and present a balanced view of the history of the sultans. It also presents oral narratives of people whose families were impacted by the advent of the Mysoreans.