Tippoo Sahib or Tipu Sahib [key], 1749–99, Indian ruler, sultan of Mysore (1782–99); son and successor of Haidar Ali. He fought in his father's campaigns against the Marathas and the British but, after his succession, made peace with the British in 1784. His invasion (1789) of Travancore, a state under British protection, provoked war anew, and in 1792 he was defeated by a force under Lord Cornwallis composed of British, Maratha, and Hyderabad troops. He was forced to cede territory. In 1798, Tippoo formed a vague alliance with the French, which gave the British governor-general Lord Wellesley a pretext to invade Mysore in alliance with the nizam of Hyderabad. Tippoo was killed (May, 1799) defending his capital at Shrirangapattana. His kingdom was divided among the victors.
See M. Hasan Khan, History of Tipu Sultan (1951); biography by D. M. Forrest (1970).
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