Haider Ali, 1761 – 1782
Haider Ali was born in 1722 and began life as a soldier. After a few years he became a captain
of a band of brave warriors; he captured a fort and began to live like a chieftain. Hearing of his
skill at war, Raja of Mysore made him an officer in his army. He fought so well for the raja, that
before long he became the commander – in – chief of the Mysore army. The Raja of Mysore
was a young man and his uncle quarrelled, the raja asked Haider Ali for help. Haider Ali seized
the wicked uncle and put him in prison. The raja was very grateful to Haider Ali, and gave him
still more power. Haider Ali soon found that the young raja was really a useless man, so he
decided to rule the state of Mysore himself. Neither the Nizam nor the English liked this change
of rulers so they both became his enemies. Haider Ali struck first and conquered parts of
Hyderabad and the Karnatic. Both these states appealed to the English for help, so the English
marched on Bangalore and captured it.
When Haider Ali heard of the English attack, he gathered together his army and marched on
Madras. In his anger he destroyed everything he met with on his way. At Madras he attacked
Fort St. George, the English stronghold. The Governor of Madras sent to Calcutta for help. It
was only when an army under Sir Eyre Coote came from Bengal that Haider Ali was driven
away and Madras was saved. Haider Ali ruled for twenty years and he fought all his life against
the Maharattas, the Nizam and the English. He was a wise man and so powerful a ruler that
everybody was afraid of him. He left behind him an army of nearly 100,000 trained soldiers,
and a rich treasury.
Haider Ali was succeeded by his brave son, Fateh Ali, commonly known as Tipu Sultan, 1782 –
1798.
A. Complete the following form.
Name:
Born in:
Professions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
B. In the given map:
a. Circle the names of places that Haider Ali conquered.
b. Underline the places that he attacked but was not able to conquer.
c. Square other places that are mentioned in the text.
d. Link the places with lines of different colour to show different events.
e. Make a key to indicate the meaning of each coloured line.
C. Name the characters to which each of the following statements refer.
i. ruled for 20 years
ii. saved Madras
iii. Fateh Ali succeeded his father.
iv. attacked and captured Bangalore
v. quarrelled with the Raja
vi. was born in1722
vii. didn’t like the change of rulers in Mysore
viii. was made an officer in the army
ix. gathered his army and attacked Madras
x. was removed from the post of Mysore’s raja
xi. had a stronghold in Fort St. George in Madras
xii. put the wicked uncle in prison
xiii. was not capable of being a raja
xiv. conquered parts of Hyderabad and the Karnatic
D. Put the statements related to Haider Ali in the sequence that they occurred. Add
statements if any important event of his life is left.
E. Give reasons for the following.
Event Reason
a. Haider Ali lived like a
chieftain.
b. Haider Ali was made an
officer in Raja of Mysore’s
army.
c. Haider Ali put the Raja’s uncle
in prison.
d. Haider Ali took the rule from
the raja.
e. The English attacked
Bangalore.
f. Haider Ali attacked Madras.
F. Write two good things that Raja did for Haider Ali.
G. Write two good things that Haider Ali did for the Raja.
H. Who was a better person? Justify your answer.
I. Write a note on Haider Ali in your own words. You may use the replies of the above
exercises as reference. Give a proper introduction and end your note with your personal
comments about his role in history.
