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151

Figure i Pair of finials, silver, cast and gilt with chased decoration, Victoria and Albert Museum, IPN 2599 &A. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum

When Tipu Sultan was born, Haidar Ali ensured that he was given the Standard education of a Muslim prince in India at the time, meaning that he was necessarily familiar with Arabic, but also read the classics of Persian literature; in addition, he was proficient in Urdu and Kannada. Tipu Sultan’s literary interests were reflected in the contents of his library, which also contained some of his own compositions.6 As soon as he was old enough, he began to join his father on the battlefield, increasing his military prowess until he was able to take command of particular campaigns himself. Together they extended Mysore’s borders. This made conflict with the British East India Company at the time almost inevitable, given the expansionist tendencies of the Company, their awareness that the increasing stability and wealth of Mysore would threaten their own interests in the subcontinent, and the presence of the French - their arch-enemy - in the Mysore army.

Anglo-Mysore wars

Four wars took place between Mysore and the British between 1766 and 1799. The first ended in 1769 with Haidar dictating peace terms to the British forces near their settlement of Fort St George, Madras. A second conflict took place in 1780, ending in 1784 after enormous losses on both sides, and the capture by the Mysore army of British officers. Some would survive their years of captivity to publish reminiscences of the misery of life in captivity. Haidar Ali had died during this conflict, at the end of 1782, and Tipu Sultan was nominated his legitimate successor. He took formal power, though acknowledging the nominal supremacy of the almost powerless Mughal emperor, as other regional miers also did. A third conflict with the British under the command of Lord Cornwallis ended in disaster for Tipu Sultan in 1792, when he was forced to make peace and cede half of his kingdom to the British, while handing over two of his small sons as hostages to ensure that he kept to his part of the agreement. The final phase began in 1798 with the arrival of Lord Mornington as the new Governor-General. His expansionist aims for his country's presence in the