Storming of Seringapatam, 4 May 1799

Coloured aquatint by J C Stadler after William Heath, published by Thomas Tegg, 1 April 1818.

On 5 April 1799, in the culminating act of the 4th Mysore War (1799), East India Company and British crown forces besieged Seringapatam, fortress capital of Tipu Sultan, the 'Tiger of Mysore'. Tipu was demonised by the British as he was believed to be in alliance with the French. On 4 May the city was assaulted and captured. Tipu was killed in the fighting; with his death the war ended and the state of Mysore was partitioned.