Tipu Sultan: Ruler of Mysore
A military leader in 18th century South India, Tipu Sultan (ruled from 1782-99) was the ruler of Mysore for a seventeen-year-period until his death in 1799 . He succeeded to the throne when his father Hyder Ali died on December 7, 1782 during the course of Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84). The Second Anglo-Mysore War came to an end by the Treaty of Mangalore (March 1784) on the basis of mutual restitution of conquests. Tipu Sultan was born in 1750 in Devanahalli (near Bangalore in Karnataka). Unlike his father who was a de facto ruler, Tipu assumed royal title of Sultan by dethroning the Hindu raja of Mysore in 1786. The increasing power of Mysore made the Marathas and the Nizam enter into a coalition in 1786 against Tipu Sultan who became successful in defeating them by crossing the flooded Tungabhadra in rafts and basket boats in a brilliant military feat. The defeat brought the Marathas and the Nizam closer to the English who were eyeing opportunity to avenge the past defeat