One of the far-reaching and resounding events of a large chunk of Southern India was the capture of Srirangapattana by the English in the so-called Fourth Mysore war in 1799.The First Mysore war and the Second Mysore war was fought by Hyder Ali and the Third and Fourth Mysore wars under Tippu Sultan which were won by the English .The English were routed in the First and Second Mysore wars.
In the Third Mysore war the English forced Tippu Sultan into conceding many things.Two of his sons were taken hostage by the English and the English got the release of Colonel Biard who was imprisoned in Bangalore and Srirangapattana forts.Col.Biard was a very important planner in the Fourth Mysore war and was a key figure at making it a success.
Lord Wellesley was the Governor General of India at this time who succeeded Lord Cornwallis who had served in the American War of Independence and had come to India with vast military experience. Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Willington was in charge of the Fourth Mysore war, and with the Mysore Sultans on the French side Lord Conrnwallis wanted to remove French from Indian soil and the Mysore Sultans harboured the French and hence had to be annihilated lest the English meet the same fate as they did loosing territory in the American war of Independence where the French supported the American mercenaries.
The Fourth Mysore War was a very well planned and executed operation. The English were supported by Travancore and the Nizam of Hyderabad and also has a swiss contingent on their side. The English moved contingents from Bombay and Madras. Tippu Sultan un-successfully tried to prevent the onslaught of the Bombay contingent from entering Srirangapattana few kilometres from Mysore but was unsuccessful. A large contingent of some ten thousand lay seige around Srirangapattana across the Cauvery river.
Many discussions and consultations were underway to facilitate the withdrawal of the English and the Mysore Sultan was under the mistaken impression that an attack was not imminent. The English knew very well any attack must happen before monsoon and they were keen to use forces of espionage to the fullest extent. They chose the day 4th of May a Friday ..the time around 12 noon when prayers would be underway..and 4th was the salary day where staff would be busy to collect salaries and 12 noon was also the time when many inside the Fort would not have had their lunch yet and would not last long without supplies in a skirmish. All very well planned under the careful guidance of Col.Biard. Many spies were placed within the Fort to mislead the Mysorean Armies a tactic the English used everywhere.
The English side decided to use their mariners to enter through a breach that is to be created with explosions and thereafter on gaining dominance within the premises to set the other entrances into the fort open so that the place can be swarmed from many sides. A controlled explosion was used to create a breach in the walls of the Fort large enough to send at least hundred people in one go.
For a crucial half an hour or more the Mysorean army did not react to the tragedy that was in the offing. By the time they reacted a sizeable amount of Mariners had entered the fort through the breach. Though initially the English faced many causalities the matters began to reverse due to many internal and external factors. It appears to me that the English were successful in getting the main entrance to the Fort open within two hours of the contest sending even more English foot soldiers inside the Fort.
Tippu Sultan understood what was abound after some delay and himself with his personal staff proceeded towards the water gate. Seeing the commotion his attendants appear to have deserted him and he had to fight a lone combat engaging many English soldiers near the water gate only to be shot in the head by an English soldier who himself did not know he was dealing with the Sultan.
The English side were victorious almost a dusk with limited visibility ;they had succeeded in calming the Mysore side some five hours or more into the onslaught creating once and for all an English dominance of South India because the area ruled by Tippu Sultan was a large chunk of Southern India.
Arthur Wellesley chose to reside in the Daria Daulat palace. There were heavy rains on Saturday the 5th of May 1799 and Tippu Sultan was buried with Military Honours a large procession from within the Fort to its outskirts where it is evident even to this day.
