addressed himself to the weakest of the three southern powers,
the Nizám of Haidarábád. Here he won a diplomatic success,
which turned a possible rival into a subservient ally. The French
battalions at Haidarabad were disbanded, and the Nizám bound
himself by treaty not to take any European into his service
without the consent of the English Government,—a clause since
inserted in every engagement entered into with Native powers.
Third Mysore War, 1799.—Wellesley next turned the whole weight of his resources against Tipú, whom Cornwallis had defeated, but not subdued. Tipú's intrigues with the French were laid bare, and he was given an opportunity of adhering to the new subsidiary system. On his refusal, war was declared, and Wellesley came down in viceregal state to Madras to organize the expedition in person, and to watch over the course of events.
One English army marched into Mysore from Madras, accompanied by a contingent from the Nizám. Another advanced from the western coast. Tipú, after a feeble resistance in the field, retired into Seringapatam, his capital, and, when it was stormed, died fighting bravely in the breach (1799). Since the battle of Plassey, no event so greatly impressed the Natives as the capture of Seringapatam, which won for General Harris an eventual peerage, and for Wellesley an Irish marquessate. In dealing with the territories of Tipú, Wellesley acted with moderation. The central portion, forming the old State of Mysore, was restored to an infant representative of the Hindu Rájás, whom Haidar Alí had dethroned; the rest of Tipú's dominion was partitioned between the Nizám, the Maráthás, and the English. At about the same time, the Karnátik, or the part of South-Eastern India ruled by the Nawáb of Arcot, and also the principality of Tanjore, were placed under direct British administration, thus constituting the Madras Presidency almost as it has existed to the present day. The sons of the slain Tipú were treated by Lord Wellesley with paternal tenderness. They received a magnificent allowance, with a semi-royal establishment, first at Vellore, and afterwards in Calcutta. The last of them, Prince Ghulám Muhammad, who survived to 1877, was long a well-known citizen of Calcutta, and an active Justice of the Peace.
