First Anglo-Mysore War

During the mid-18th century, the British East India Company sought to expand its control of southern India by playing local kingdoms and principalities off one another and off the French. In 1767, the British formed a coalition with the Nizam and the Marathas, and together they attacked Mysore. Hyder Ali managed to make a separate peace with the Marathas, and then in June he sent his 17-year-old son Tipu Sultan to negotiate with the Nizam. The young diplomat arrived in the Nizam camp with gifts that included cash, jewels, 10 horses, and five trained elephants.In just one week, Tipu charmed the ruler of the Nizam into switching sides and joining the Mysorean fight against the British.

Tipu Sultan then led a cavalry raid on Madras (now Chennai) itself, but his father suffered a defeat by the British at Tiruvannamalai and had to call his son back. Hyder Ali decided to take the unusual step of continuing to fight during the monsoon rains, and together with Tipu he captured two British forts. The Mysorean army was besieging a third fort when British reinforcements arrived. Tipu and his cavalry held off the British long enough to allow Hyder Ali's troops to retreat in good order.

Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan then went on a tear up the coast, capturing forts and British-held cities. The Mysoreans were threatening to dislodge the British from their key east coast port of Madras when the British sued for peace in March 1769.

After this humiliating defeat, the British had to sign a 1769 peace agreement with Hyder Ali called the Treaty of Madras. Both sides agreed to return to their pre-war boundaries and to come to each others' aid in case of attack by any other power. Under the circumstances, the British East India Company got off easy, but it still would not honor the treaty terms.