Treaty of Mangalore - End of the Second Anglo-Mysore War

Overview

On 11 March 1784, Tipu Sultan and representatives of the British East India Company signed a peace treaty at Mangalore, then also called Codial Bunder. The agreement ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War, a conflict that had begun in 1780 and had brought major military successes to both Mysore and the Company. Neither side had achieved a decisive victory. The treaty therefore sought to restore territories, release prisoners, and re-establish peaceful relations.

The settlement was notable not only for its provisions but also for the circumstances of its signing. Mangalore had recently been retaken by Tipu Sultan from the British. The Company’s commissioners consequently travelled to a place that represented a recent Mysorean military success. In Britain, the agreement was widely regarded as humiliating. Its political effect extended beyond the immediate restoration of forts and districts: it contributed to a determination to defeat Tipu in a later war and encouraged closer scrutiny of the East India Company’s administration.

The treaty was concluded in the name of Tipu Sultan and the Company, including the three Company governments of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. Its ten articles addressed peace, military withdrawal, prisoners, territorial restoration, political claims, protection for allies, and commercial privileges.

Background

The political tensions behind the war reached back to the rise of Hyder Ali in Mysore. In 1761, Hyder became the kingdom’s dalwai, or dalavayi, by force, displacing the Wodeyar dynasty that had previously ruled Mysore. His growing power brought him into conflict with the British East India Company.

The first major war between Mysore and the Company began in 1766. Hyder Ali’s forces came close to capturing Madras, although his attacks later lost momentum. The conflict ended in April 1769 with the Treaty of Madras. That agreement provided for the mutual restoration of conquests and mutual aid in a defensive war.

The terms of the Treaty of Madras became a central grievance for Hyder Ali. He considered the Company to have violated the agreement because it did not assist Mysore when the kingdom faced a defensive war with the Marathas. This failure helped turn an earlier arrangement of mutual assistance into a cause of renewed hostility.

In 1780, Hyder Ali led between 80,000 and 90,000 men into the Carnatic. His forces burned and destroyed much of the countryside around British strongholds, including Vellore and Madras. The Company responded by sending an army of about 5,000 men to raise the siege of Arcot. Hyder countered with a force of approximately 10,000 under his son, Tipu Sultan.

At Pollilur, Tipu defeated the British force in what the account describes as the worst defeat suffered by the British East India Company in India up to that time. Around 4,000 British troops were lost. Hyder continued the siege, while Tipu maintained pressure on British positions in the Carnatic.

Prelude

The war did not remain a sequence of Mysorean successes. Tipu won another important victory in 1782, defeating Colonel Braithwaite at Tanjore. The entire British force, estimated at about 2,000 men and ten field guns, was either killed or captured.

From the end of 1781, however, the Company began a counterattack. British forces won at Porto Novo, the Second Battle of Pollilur, Sholinghur, and the siege of Negapatam. The balance of the conflict shifted repeatedly rather than settling in favour of one side.

Hyder Ali died suddenly in 1782, and Tipu succeeded him as ruler. The change in leadership did not end the war. In 1783, the British captured Coimbatore. By January 1784, Tipu had retaken Mangalore from the Company. These reversals left both sides with reasons to continue fighting but without a clear path to final victory.

The immediate diplomatic setting was therefore one of exhaustion and stalemate. Tipu held the advantage of having recovered Mangalore, while the Company had made important gains elsewhere. The eventual agreement was not the result of one side imposing complete defeat on the other. It was a negotiated settlement based on restoring much of the pre-war position.

The Event

The Treaty of Mangalore was signed at Mangalore on 11 March 1784. The document describes the place as “Mangalore, otherwise called Codial Bunder,” and records the date in both the Christian era and the Hijri calendar. Tipu Sultan signed on his own behalf and on behalf of his dominions, including Seringapatam and Hyder Nagur. Anthony Sadlier, George Leonard Staunton, and John Hudleston signed for the English East India Company.

The treaty opened with a broad declaration of peace and friendship. It included the Company, Tipu Sultan, their friends and allies, the three Company governments, the Rajahs of Tanjore and Travancore, the Carnatic Payen Ghaut, the Biby of Cannanore, and the rajahs or zamindars of the Malabar coast. Both parties promised not to assist the enemies of the other or make war upon the other’s friends and allies.

Key Phases

The first practical phase was the evacuation of territory. Immediately after signing, Tipu was to order the complete evacuation of the Carnatic and restore the forts and places held by his troops. Amboorgur and Satgur were temporarily excepted from this requirement. The evacuation and restoration were to be completed within thirty days.

The Company, in turn, agreed to give written orders for the delivery of Onore, Carwar, Sadasewgude, and adjoining forts or places. It was also to restore Caroor, Avaracourchy, and Daraporam. Dindigul was to be evacuated and restored to Tipu after the prisoners had been released and delivered. Once this process was complete, Company troops were not to remain in Tipu’s country.

The second phase concerned the release and return of prisoners. Tipu was to issue orders immediately after the treaty was signed for the release of all living prisoners taken during the war, whether European or Indian. Their safe delivery to the nearest English fort or settlement was to be completed within thirty days. Tipu’s government was to provide provisions and conveyances for their journey, with the Company reimbursing the expense.

The agreement specifically mentioned Abdul Wahab Khan, taken at Chittoor, and his family. They were to be released immediately and allowed to return to the Carnatic if they wished. Company prisoners held in Bencoolen or other Company territories were also to be released and sent toward the nearest fort or settlement in Mysore if they desired to return. Baswapa, formerly amuldar of Palicacherry, was likewise to be released.

A further provision addressed people carried away from the Carnatic Payen Ghaut, including Tanjore, during the rule of Hyder Ali or Tipu Sultan. Those willing to return were to be allowed to do so with their families and children. Prisoners belonging to the Rajah of Venkatagiri, who had been captured while returning from Vellore, were also to be released. Lists of principal persons connected with the Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan and the Rajah of Venkatagiri were to be delivered to Tipu’s ministers, and the treaty’s provisions were to be publicly announced throughout his dominions.

Turning Points

One important turning point in the agreement was the treatment of Cananore. After all prisoners had been released and delivered, the fort and district of Cananore were to be evacuated and restored to Ali Rajah Biby, identified in the treaty as the queen of that country. The transfer was to take place in the presence of a person appointed by Tipu, but without troops.

At the same time, Tipu was to issue written orders for the evacuation and delivery of Amboorgur and Satgur to the English. Until that happened, his troops were not to remain in any other part of the Carnatic.

Another significant clause required Tipu to make no future claim on the Carnatic. This restricted his later territorial claims even as the agreement restored other places to Mysore. The treaty also protected coastal rajahs and zamindars who had supported the English during the war: Tipu agreed that they would not be molested for that reason.

The final substantive provisions concerned trade. Tipu renewed and confirmed the commercial privileges and immunities that Hyder Ali had granted to the English, especially those specified in the agreement of 8 August 1770. He also agreed to restore the English factory and privileges at Calicut that had been held until 1779, as well as Mount Dilly and its district, which belonged to the Tellicherry settlement and had been held by the English until the beginning of the war.

The treaty required further confirmation by the Company’s authorities. A copy signed and sealed by the President and Select Committee of Fort St. George was to be returned to Tipu within one month, if possible. The Governor-General and Council of Bengal, along with the Governor and Select Committee of Bombay, were to acknowledge the agreement as binding on all the Company governments in India. Copies of these acknowledgements were to be sent to Tipu within three months, or earlier if possible.

Participants

Tipu Sultan and Mysore

Tipu Sultan negotiated as ruler of Mysore and as the successor of Hyder Ali. He had commanded Mysorean forces before becoming king, including at Pollilur, where he defeated a Company army. During the later war he defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Tanjore and retook Mangalore in January 1784.

The treaty preserved Mysore’s position as a power capable of compelling a formal settlement from the Company. Tipu accepted the restoration of territories, the release of prisoners, limits on claims in the Carnatic, and the return of certain commercial privileges. In exchange, the Company also withdrew from places it held and recognized peace with Mysore.

The British East India Company

The Company was represented at the signing by Anthony Sadlier, George Leonard Staunton, and John Hudleston. Their authority came through the President and Select Committee of Fort St. George, under powers connected to the Governor-General and Council appointed to direct and control the Company’s political affairs in India.

The Company had experienced severe reverses during the war, including the defeat at Pollilur and the destruction or capture of Braithwaite’s force. It had also recovered ground through victories at Porto Novo, the Second Battle of Pollilur, Sholinghur, and Negapatam, and through the capture of Coimbatore. The final treaty reflected this mixed military record rather than an unequivocal Company victory.

Aftermath

The immediate result was the ending of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Both sides were required to withdraw from specified territories and restore forts. The agreement also attempted to resolve the human consequences of the conflict through the release and repatriation of prisoners and displaced people.

For Tipu Sultan, the treaty carried a strong psychological advantage. A senior Company representative in Madras had to travel to Mangalore, which Tipu had recently reconquered, to sign the agreement. The settlement therefore demonstrated that the Company had been compelled to negotiate after a war in which Mysore had inflicted several major defeats.

The treaty did not eliminate every source of tension. Tipu’s renunciation of future claims in the Carnatic, the return of Company commercial privileges, and the protection of English-aligned coastal rulers placed limits on Mysorean policy. Yet the agreement restored a broad balance of territory and ended active hostilities.

Historical Significance

In Britain, many viewed the Treaty of Mangalore as a humiliation. The feeling was intensified by the recent loss of the Thirteen Colonies in America. Together, these developments contributed to a determination to defeat Tipu Sultan in the future rather than accept another settlement that appeared to place the Company in a weak position.

The treaty also affected the wider debate over Company rule. Its reception was described as evidence, in the eyes of many in Britain, that the East India Company was failing. Company stock prices fell, and concern grew because the Company’s trade represented a sixth of British national income.

The British government responded through what became known as Pitt’s India Act. The measure addressed problems of corruption and gave the Governor-General greater power to act in the interests of the king and the country. One purpose was to prevent a repetition of the political difficulties associated with the Treaty of Mangalore.

In this way, the treaty connected a regional war in southern India with changes in the structure of British imperial governance. Its terms dealt with Mysore, the Carnatic, the Malabar coast, and Company settlements, but its political consequences reached into debates about how the Company should be controlled.

Legacy

The Treaty of Mangalore is remembered as the agreement that ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War and as the last major settlement in which the British East India Company negotiated with Mysore without imposing a decisive defeat. Its significance lies partly in the contrast between the battlefield and the negotiating table: the Company had recovered from early disasters, but Tipu’s victories and the recapture of Mangalore prevented it from dictating the peace.

The document also remains important for the detail of its provisions. It addressed military evacuation, prisoners, families separated by war, commercial privileges, allied rulers, and the obligations of the Company’s separate governments. It therefore reveals how an eighteenth-century peace agreement attempted to regulate both territory and people after a prolonged conflict.

Historiography

The historical interpretation most clearly recorded in connection with the treaty concerns its political meaning in Britain. Many British observers regarded it as humiliating because the Company had been forced to send commissioners to Mangalore and accept a settlement with Tipu Sultan after suffering major defeats.

The treaty can also be understood as a negotiated stalemate. The Company had achieved important successes after 1781, including the capture of Coimbatore, while Tipu had retained the ability to strike back and had retaken Mangalore. The final agreement restored territories to both sides rather than recording the complete collapse of either Mysore or the Company.

Its later significance is therefore not limited to the text of the ten articles. The settlement influenced British attitudes toward Tipu and contributed to institutional changes in Company administration. It marked the end of one war while helping to shape the political conditions for future confrontation.

Timeline

See Also

• Tipu Sultan
• Hyder Ali
• Second Anglo-Mysore War
• Treaty of Madras