[2] Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, and his father Hyder Ali before him, had previously fought twice with the forces of the British East India Company.

The First Anglo-Mysore War, fought in the 1760s, had ended inconclusively on both sides, with treaty provisions including promises of mutual assistance in future conflicts.

Tipu, who gained control of Mysore after his father's death in December 1782, maintained an implacable hatred of the British, and declared not long after signing the 1784 treaty that he intended to continue battle with them given the opportunity.

Indirect attempts to take over the kingdom had failed in 1788, and Archibald Campbell, the Madras president at the time, had warned Tipu that an attack on Travancore would be treated as a declaration of war on the company as per the Treaty of Mangalore.

[7] To follow them, Tipu began in the fall of 1789 to build up troops at Coimbatore in preparation for an assault on the Nedumkotta, a fortified line of defence built by Dharma Raja of Travancore to protect his domain.

Cornwallis, observing this build-up, reiterated to Campbell's successor, John Holland, that an attack on Travancore should be considered a declaration of war, and met with a strong British response.

While the Mysorean forces and their allies regrouped, Governor Holland, much to Cornwallis' dismay, engaged in negotiations with Tipu rather than mobilising the military.

Cornwallis was on the brink of going to Madras to take command when he received word that Holland's replacement, General William Medows was about to arrive.

In the meantime, Tipu had renewed his attack on Travancore, and successfully breached the Nedumkotta line in late April 1790, despite the heavy losses inflicted by the Tranvancorean army.

The monsoon rains prevented the Mysorean army from fording the river and as Tipu received the news that the British campaign from Madras began to take shape as a significant threat, he retreated from Travancore.

[13][14] Various sources describe the massacres,[15][16] imprisonment,[17][18][19] forced conversion,[20][21][22] and circumcision[23][24] of Hindus (Kodavas of Coorg and Nairs of Malabar) and Christians (Catholics of Mangalore) and the destruction of churches[25] and temples[26] which are cited as evidence for his religious intolerance.

He also reneged on his promises of humanely treating and releasing the prisoners of wars, e.g. in one case noted by a chronicler, he killed a local king who had submitted to him and got his body dragged through the city.

[citation needed] However, others have pointed out that Tipu's actions against the Hindus of Coorg and Malabar, and the Nairs were in consequence were due to political motives, after they had rebelled "six times" and he had forgiven them, similar to how he punished the Christians of Kanara[27][28] during the Second Anglo-Mysore War after they had committed treason, rendering invaluable help to the English.

[34] During the summer of 1790, a Maratha army of some 30,000 under the command of Purseram Bhow, accompanied by a detachment of British troops from Bombay, began marching toward Mysore.

The first several Mysorean outposts surrendered in the face of the large army, and it made steady if slow progress until it reached Darwar in September.

[36] Hurry Punt went to confer with the Nizam, who had not crossed into Mysore in fear that Tipu's large army would overwhelm his before it could be joined to that of one of the other allies.

One force under Colonel Hartley gained a decisive victory at Calicut in December, while a second under Robert Abercromby routed the Sultan at Cannanore a few days later.

Tipu had fortified the city and supplied the garrison, but he stayed with his main force on the outskirts of the Company positions as Cornwallis began siege operations.

Lieutenant Chalmers, the garrison commander, ignored orders from Cornwallis to withdraw if attacked in force, and chose to fight, in spite of having less than 300 men and inferior gunpowder.

His defence was spirited, and reinforcements from Palgautcherry prompted him to sortie and successfully take the defenders' supply train in August.

Purseram Bhow, desirous of recapturing the Bednore district that Tipu's father Hyder had taken in an earlier war, captured Hooly Honore and Shimoga, although British forces attached to his army did much of the necessary work.

Whereas the earl's younger brother, Commodore William Cornwallis, was engaged in the naval Battle of Tellicherry, Charles spent the remainder of 1791 securing his supply lines to Madras.

By 23 February, Tipu began making overtures for peace talks, and hostilities were suspended the next day when he agreed to preliminary terms.

On 26 February, his two young sons were formally delivered to Cornwallis amid great ceremony and gun salutes by both sides.

He later wrote, "If we had taken Seringapatam and killed Tippoo, [...] we must either have given that capital to the Marathas (a dangerous boon) or have set up some miserable pageant of our own, to be supported by the Company's troops and treasures, and to be plundered by its servants.

[49] One notable military advance championed by Tipu Sultan was the use of mass attacks with rocket brigades, called cushoons, in the army.

Cornwallis was raised to the title of Marquess for his actions in the war,[50] while the native Indian soldiers under his command were awarded the Mysore Medal.