Death of Tipu Sultan

Overview

Tipu Sultan was killed on 4 May 1799 during the storming of Seringapatam (Srirangapatna), the climactic action of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, when British-led forces breached the fortress walls and overran the city under General George Harris and assault commander Major General David Baird. His death ended Mysore’s independent resistance, after which the British partitioned the state and restored a Wodeyar prince under a subsidiary alliance.

Context: Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the Siege

• The British and their allies (Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas) invested Seringapatam from early April; the siege ran 5 April–4 May 1799, with batteries opening a practicable breach by 2 May and an assault fixed for 1 p.m. on 4 May to catch defenders at their noon respite.
• Governor-General Richard Wellesley orchestrated the campaign; David Baird led the storming columns, while Arthur Wellesley commanded a reserve column.
• The attackers forded the Cauvery and scaled the breach within minutes, then swept along the ramparts, rolling up Mysore’s defenses from both directions.

The Final Fight and Where Tipu Fell

• Contemporary British accounts describe a fierce fight on the northwest sector as assault troops turned the corner inside the walls, repeatedly engaging a “fat officer” firing hunting pieces that servants reloaded for him; after the fall, officers found Tipu’s body in a choked passage near the Water Gate and identified him as that officer.
• Detail from an eyewitness summary notes multiple wounds, including a head wound above the right ear with the ball lodged in the opposite cheek, and several wounds to the body; he was described as about 5ft 8in, corpulent, and richly dressed for battle.
• Alternative retellings place his last stand at or near the Hoally (Hole Vuddy/Diddy) Gateway on the north side, roughly 300 yards from the northeast angle, consistent with the Water Gate vicinity inside the northern works.
• The storm and clearance were rapid: the breach was carried in roughly 16 minutes, after which fighting continued along the ramparts and in gate passages where Tipu was ultimately killed in close-quarters combat and musket fire.

Date, Command, and Immediate Aftermath

• Seringapatam was stormed on 4 May 1799; Tipu was killed that day in the fighting during the breach and interior clearance.
• The British victory ended the war; the Wodeyar dynasty (Krishnaraja Wodeyar III) was restored under a subsidiary alliance, while the Company and the Nizam took substantial territorial shares and imposed British paramountcy over Mysore’s external affairs.
• Tipu was buried the next day at the Gumbaz (Gumbaz mausoleum) beside Hyder Ali, his father, per standard summaries and site histories.

Why the Assault Succeeded

• Concentrated siege artillery opened a practicable breach in the older western curtain; the plan synchronized a midday storm with covering fire and rapid exploitation right and left along the ramparts.
• Allied numbers and integration (Company, Hyderabad troops, and other contingents) overwhelmed Mysore’s defenders; British commanders pressed the assault with speed to preempt monsoon river levels and supply constraints.
• Contemporary narratives also allege betrayal by Mir Sadiq drawing off troops from the breach under pretext of pay at the critical hour, further weakening the defense, a claim preserved in many later accounts.

Significance

• Tipu’s death removed the most formidable indigenous opponent to late-18th-century British expansion in the south; the state was partitioned and bound within the Company’s alliance system, consolidating British dominance in peninsular India.
• The fall of Seringapatam became a touchstone in British military memory; objects associated with the storm and with Tipu (e.g., uniform pieces, “war turban”) entered museum collections as symbols of the campaign’s end.

Key Facts at a Glance

• Date and place: 4 May 1799, Seringapatam (Srirangapatna), Kingdom of Mysore.
• Event: Breach and storm of the fortress; Tipu Sultan killed fighting near the Water Gate/northern gateways during the interior fighting.
• British commanders: General George Harris (overall), Major General David Baird (assault), Arthur Wellesley (reserve).
• Outcome: Decisive British victory; Mysore partitioned; Wodeyars restored under subsidiary alliance; effective British paramountcy established.

Notable Primary Details Preserved in Summaries

• Body description and wounds: Multiple wounds, including cranial shot traversing head; found in a tunnel-like passage near the Water Gate amid thick carnage, then identified by officers on site.
• Assault timing: Planned for the hottest part of the day to catch defenders at refreshment; storming columns crossed the Cauvery in 4ft of water and were on the ramparts within minutes.
• Siege timeline: 5 April–4 May 1799; practicable breach opened 2 May; storm on 4 May.