Timeline

1750

Born at Devanahalli in November (some sources: 1751), eldest son of Haidar Ali and Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa.

1761

Haidar Ali becomes de facto ruler of Mysore; Tipu Sultan is educated as heir — Persian, law, and the military arts.

1767–69

First Anglo-Mysore War. The teenage Tipu Sultan commands cavalry and raids the outskirts of Madras; Treaty of Madras ends the war on Haidar's terms.

1774

Marries; the royal household is established. Twelve sons will survive him.

1780

Battle of Pollilur: Tipu Sultan destroys Colonel Baillie's column — the Company's worst defeat in India to date.

1782

Haidar Ali dies in December, mid-war. Tipu Sultan succeeds to the throne of Mysore without serious challenge.

1784

Treaty of Mangalore ends the Second Anglo-Mysore War on equal terms. Tipu Sultan begins rebuilding the state: revenue reform, monopolies, factories.

1785–86

Embassy to the Ottoman Sultan seeks recognition and alliance; the caliph grants recognition, declines the alliance.

1787–88

Embassy to France reaches Versailles seeking a military pact; the French Revolution soon makes it moot. Sericulture is introduced to Mysore.

1789

Tipu Sultan attacks the Travancore lines — the casus belli for the next war.

1790–92

Third Anglo-Mysore War: Cornwallis takes Bangalore and besieges Srirangapatna with Maratha and Hyderabad allies.

1792

Treaty of Seringapatam: half of Mysore ceded, 3.3 crore rupee indemnity, two sons given as hostages. Reconstruction begins again.

1796

Board of Admiralty established; a Mysorean navy is laid down. Diplomacy intensifies with Revolutionary France, Persia, and Kabul.

1798

French volunteers arrive from Mauritius; Napoleon lands in Egypt. Governor-General Wellesley prepares war.

1799

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Srirangapatna is besieged in April; on 4 May the walls are stormed and Tipu Sultan dies fighting at the Water Gate, aged 48. He is buried at the Gumbaz beside his parents on 5 May.

After

Mysore is partitioned; the Wodeyars are restored under Company control; Tipu Sultan's family is exiled to Vellore, then Calcutta. His rockets go to Woolwich — and into world history.