Haidar Ali

Muslim ruler of Mysore, born in Budikote, S India. Having conquered Calicut and fought the Marathas, he waged two wars against the British, in the first of which (1767–9) he won several gains. In 1779 he and his son, Tippoo, again attacked the British, initially with great success; but in 1781–2 he was defeated.

Hyder Ali or Haidar 'Ali (c.

Hyder Ali was a Muslim soldier-adventurer, who, followed by his son Tipu Sultan, became the most formidable Asiatic rival the British had ever encountered in India. An elder brother, who like himself, was , at an early age, turned out into the world to seek his own fortune, rose to command a brigade in the Mysore army, while Hyder, who never learned to read or write, passed the first years of his life aimlessly in sport and sensuality, sometimes, however, acting as the agent of his brother, and meanwhile acquiring a useful familiarity with the tactics of the French when at the height of their reputation under Joseph François Dupleix. He is said to have induced his brother to employ a Parsi to purchase artillery and small arms from government of Bombay Presidency, and to enroll some thirty sailors of different European nations as gunners, and is thus credited with having been "the first Indian who formed a corps of sepoys armed with firelocks and bayonets, and who had a train of artillery served by Europeans."

At the siege of Devanhalli (1749) Hyder's services attracted the attention of Nanjiraj, the minister of the Raja of Mysore, and he at once received an independent command; In 1763 the conquest of Kanara gave him possession of the treasures of Bednor, which he resolved to make the most splendid capital in India, under his own name, thenceforth changed from Hyder Naik into Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur; Hyder Ali now began to occupy the serious attention of the Madras Presidency, which in 1766 entered into an agreement with the Nizam of Hyderabad to furnish him with troops to be used against the common foe. But hardly had this alliance been formed when a secret arrangement was come to between the two Indian powers, the result of which was that Colonel Smith's small force was met with a united army of 50,000 men and 100 guns.

On the loss of his recently made fleet and forts on the western coast, Hyder Ali now offered overtures for peace; Under these arrangements Hyder Ali, when defeated by the Marathas in 1772, claimed British assistance, but in vain;

Again master of all that the Marathas had taken from him, and with empire extended to the Krishna River, he descended through the passes of the Western Ghats amid burning villages, reaching Kanchipuram (Conjeevaram), only 45 miles from Madras, unopposed. Warren Hastings sent from Bengal Sir Eyre Coote, who, though repulsed at Chidambaram, defeated Hyder thrice successively in the battles of Porto Novo, Pollilur and Sholingarh, while Tipu Sultan was forced to raise the siege of Vandavasi (Wandiwash), and Vellore was provisioned. On the arrival of Lord Macartney as governor of Madras, the British fleet captured Nagapattinam (Negapatam), and forced Hyder Ali to confess that he could never ruin a power which had command of the sea. He had sent his son Tipu to the west coast, to seek the assistance of the French fleet, when his death took place suddenly at Chittoor in December 1782.

The Wodeyars of Mysore, although nominally king, were effectively prisoners of Haidar Ali . ABDUL KAREEM was the second son of( Nawab Hyder 'Ali Khan Bahadur , Sarvadhikari of Mysore)Nawab 'Abdu'l Karim Khan Sahib, Karim Shah, Safdar Shikoh Bahadur.

SHEZADA(PRINCE) HYDER ALI(Grand Son of Hyder Ali & 1st son of Abdul Kareem) After the fall of Seringapatam, on 4th May 1799, all family members of Sultan were sent to Vellore Fort and kept under custody of East India Company and from there, the grand son of Hyder Ali,and s/o Abdul Kareem.SHEZADA HYDER ALI Escaped from British captivity and joined the Marathas in 1801.Other family members shifted to CACUTTA after mutiny in the Vellore Fort on 10th July 1806 ,after the death of the most of the family members buried at Mysore Family Cemetery, Kalighat Park-Calcutta)

Haidar Ali's son Tipu Sultan dropped the charade and declared himself a sovereign ruler.