South India

Hyder Ali (1720-1782), the self-made military genius who rose from a minor officer to become the effective ruler of Mysore, transforming it into the most powerful state in southern India and mounting the first serious indigenous military challenge to British colonial expansion.

The Kingdom of Mysore rose from a small principality under the Wodeyar dynasty in 1399 to become one of South India's most powerful states, reaching its zenith under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan before its restoration as a princely state under British suzerainty.