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The Sultanate of Mysore under Tipu Sultan was one of the most interesting Indian kingdoms in the late eighteenth century. Under Tipu, Mysore continued to ally with France. Even after its revolution, rather than being horrified, Tipu Sultan decided to ally with the First Republic. In 1794, a Jacobin Club was established in Mysore, and he was proclaimed Citizen Tipu, with French envoys proclaiming their hatred for all kings except for Tipu.

That’s right, a king was a Jacobin. And not just any king, a Muslim Sultan in South India.

Along with it came a number of Enlightenment texts, which were later destroyed by the British conquerors who were terrified at the thought of brown Jacobins. If they hadn’t, it would make for an interesting scenario if Jacobin ideals spread across India at such an early time. But I digress.

Tipu Sultan engaged in an ambitious program of modernization. In terms of the economy, Mysore was able to surpass Bengal, a region which once made up half of the GDP of the Mughal Empire, and in terms of GDP per capita, it surpassed the Netherlands. According to Prasannan Parthasarathi, it even surpassed Britain. Yet, modernizing the military began to fail as the British were successfully able to encircle Mysore by allying with Travancore and Hyderabad. As the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended up in a British victory, in 1793, Tipu Sultan issued a hukmnama, or edict, which proclaimed the creation of a 100-ship fleet, using the harbours of Malabar to construct ships and hide them from the British with its excellent natural harbours, as well as the immediate construction of 10 ships. The edict further added:

Necessary material like wood, iron, ropes etc, required for the construction of these vessels Khizi and Ilaysi is to be purchased and the ships made ready. If for purchase of war equipment, money is not found suf cient, a report should be made to the court and the required amount obtained. Labourers of all kinds should be paid their wages and the ships built.​

This was further elaborated by an edict in 1796. According to this, work was to begin on 40 vessels, 20 of which were 62-gun and the remainder were frigates. It also officially established a board of eleven members in a British-style Admiralty, with governance for naval yards directly copied from British naval management. Yet, while the fleet was under construction, the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War happened, Tipu Sultan was killed, and his sons were placed in prison. Mysore would never rise again.

But then my question is, what if the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was delayed? The war was caused by a letter received by Richard Wellesley from the British spy network, which stated that the French planned to invade British India from Egypt. This is a pretty crazy plan, especially since the French had no real way to send a fleet through Egypt, and Wellesley suspected whether the letter was genuine. Nevertheless, he declared war on Mysore and conquered it. But what if Wellesley suspected the letter of being fake slightly more, and the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War did not take place?

Tensions would still be bad, but only a few years later, in 1803, the Marathas were about to have a civil war where the British were involved. Wanting to avoid further encirclement, I suspect Mysore would fight alongside the anti-British Holkar clan in the Second Anglo-Maratha War. From Malabar, in natural harbours shielded from British eyes, a fleet of Mysorean ships is unveiled. The British had little experience fighting in naval wars with Indian states, so it would be something new for the British - psychological shock, which allowed Mysore to win the First and Second Anglo-Mysore Wars, would be in play. Mysore would be able to conduct naval raids and battle British ships on sea. I still think that the British would win the Second Anglo-Maratha War, but they would not be able to conquer Mysore (though that still means further encirclement). And from there, the British have to sweep the remnants of the Maratha Empire, a complicated task which took a few decades. That gives Mysore a fair amount of breathing room.
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