Born 1722; died Dec. 7, 1782, near Chittoor, in the Carnatic. Ruler of the Indian state of Mysore; organized opposition in southern India to the British conquerors.
As the leader of a military detachment, Haidar Ali took advantage of the internecine war (1758–60) between the raja of Mysore and the commander in chief of the Mysore Army to seize power and reduce the raja to a nominal head of state. Haidar Ali reorganized and centralized the army: he abolished the jagir system, arranged for soldiers to be paid a salary from the treasury, formed infantry units trained in the European fashion, and strengthened the artillery. The army was built up by raising taxes and increasing the tribute paid by vassal princes, measures that provoked numerous uprisings. Between 1761 and 1764, Haidar Ali added considerable territory to Mysore.
In the Anglo-Mysore War of 1767–69 (seeANGLO-MYSORE WARS), Haidar Ali approached the walls of Madras and dictated a peace treaty requiring the British to render him military assistance in case of war; when the Marathas attacked Mysore in 1770, however, the British refused to offer any aid. Haidar Ali subsequently repulsed several attacks by the Marathas and Hyderabad; in 1780 he formed an alliance with them aimed at ending British hegemony in India. In the Anglo-Mysore War of 1780–84, Haidar Ali initially seized almost all the Carnatic from the British; beginning in mid-1781, however, he suffered a series of defeats, which helped the British break up the alliance. Haidar Ali continued his struggle alone and died during the war.
K. A. ANTONOVA