HAIDAR ALI
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
HAIDAR AL!'S ANCESTORS. THE MYSORE DYNASTY.
The terrible uprising in India in 1857, commonly called the Mutiny, has to some extent obliterated the recollection of previous events in that country; but two generations ago most people had heard of the siege of Seringapatam, while readers of the Waverley Novels were familiar with the slight story called 'The Surgeon's Daughter.' In both cases the scene lay in that part of India now known as Mysore (Maisur), which was the cradle of one of the most daring and successful adventurers recorded in the annals of the East, and perhaps the most formidable adversary whom the British ever encountered in that region. The name of this leader of men was Haidar Ali, and although the kingdom founded by him lasted only during his own time and that of his son, Tipu Sultan a brief space of some thirty-eight years this short period was
