Hyder Ali

Who was Hyder Ali?

Hyder Ali was the sultan and de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers. Rising to the post of commander-in-chief to Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, he came to dominate the titular monarch and the Mysore government. He became the ruler of Mysore by 1761. He offered strong anti-colonial resistance against the military advances of the British East India Company during the First and Second Anglo–Mysore Wars, and he was the innovator of military use of the iron-cased Mysorean rockets.

Though illiterate, Hyder Ali earned an important place in the history of southern India for his administrative acumen and military skills. He concluded an alliance with the French against the British, and used the services of French workmen in raising his artillery and arsenal. His rule of Mysore was characterised by frequent warfare with his neighbours and rebellion within his territories. This was not unusual for the time, as much of the Indian subcontinent was then in turmoil. He spoke Kannada, Telugu, Hindustani, Persian, Marathi and Tamil fluently. He was a shrewd leader, and left his eldest son Tipu Sultan an extensive kingdom bordered by the Krishna River in the north, the Eastern Ghats in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west.