page_title: First Anglo-Mysore War
section_title: Course of the war
hierarchical_section_title: First Anglo-Mysore War / Course of the war
caption_attribution_description: Mir Nizam Ali Khan, the 5th Nizam of Hyderabad.
context_page_description: The First Anglo–Mysore War was a conflict in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the company's resources from attempts to gain control of the Northern Circars.
context_section_description: The war began in January 1767 when the Marathas, possibly anticipating movements by the nizam, invaded northern Mysore. They reached as far south as the Tunghabadhra River, before Haider entered into negotiations to end the invasion. In exchange for payments of 30 lakhs rupees the Marathas agreed to withdraw north of the Kistna River; by March, when the nizam began his invasion, they had already withdrawn. According to Mysore historian Mark Wilks, this action by the Marathas was a somewhat typical move to acquire wealth that might otherwise be claimed by other belligerents. The nizam advanced as far as Bangalore, accompanied by two battalions of company troops under Colonel Joseph Smith.
  In May, Smith discovered that the Haider and the nizam were negotiating an alliance, and consequently withdrew most of his troops to the Carnatic frontier. The deal struck between the two powers called for them to join against the British. Haider was to pay 18 lakhs rupees for the invasion to end, and the nizam was to recognise Haider's son Tipu Sultan as Nawab of the Carnatic once that territory was conquered. Despite the agreement the two sides exhibited little trust for one another; Haider was known to place spies in the nizam's camp.
  This diplomatic manoeuvring resulted in an attack against a company outpost at Changama by the combined Mysore-Hyderabad army under Hyder's command. Despite significantly outnumbering the British force (British estimates place the allied army size at 70,000 to the British 7,000), the allies were repulsed with heavy losses. Haider moved on to capture Kaveripattinam after two days of siege, while Colonel Smith, who commanded at Changama, eventually retreated to Tiruvannamalai for supplies and reinforcements. There Haider again attacked, and was decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767. With the onset of the monsoon season, Haider opted to continue campaigning rather than adopting the usual practice of suspending operations because of the difficult conditions the weather created for armies. After overrunning a few lesser outposts, he besieged Ambur in November 1767, forcing the British to resume campaigning. The British garrison commander refused large bribes offered by Haider in exchange for surrender, and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Haider to lift the siege. He retreated northward, covering the movements of the nizam's forces, but was disheartened when an entire corps of European cavalry deserted to the British. The failures of this campaign, combined with successful British advances in the Northern Circars and secret negotiations between the British and the nizam, led to a split between Haider and the nizam. The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768. Haider, apparently seeking an end to the conflict, made peace overtures to the British, but was rebuffed.
  In early 1768, company authorities in Bombay organised an expedition to Mysore's Malabar coast territories. Hyder had established a small fleet, based primarily in the port of Mangalore, in the mid-1760s. This fleet, which the British reported as numbering about ten ships, deserted en masse, apparently because the captains were unhappy with Lutf Ali Beg, a Mysorean cavalry officer, as fleet commander. Owing to a British deception, Lutf Ali Beg also withdrew much of the Mangalore garrison to move on what he perceived to be the British target, Onore. The British consequently occupied Mangalore against minimal opposition in February. This activity, combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally, prompted Hyder to withdraw from the Carnatic, and move with speed to the Malabar. Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force, Haider followed, and eventually retook Mangalore and the other ports held by the over-extended British forces. He also levied additional taxes as punishment against rebellious Nair districts that had supported the British.
  During Haider's absence from the Carnatic, the British recovered many places that Hyder had taken and only weakly garrisone
caption: Asaf Jah II opposed the East India Company in 1766,[6] and initially allied himself with Haider Ali during the First Anglo-Mysore War, particularly during the Battle of Chengam,[12][13] but later abandoned Mysore's cause in 1768.
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