Hyder Ali

(born 1722, Budikote, Mysore, India—died Dec. 7, 1782, Chittoor) Muslim ruler of Mysore, in southern India. He organized the first Indian-controlled corps of Indian soldiers armed with Western weapons, obtained a command in the Mysore army, and eventually overthrew Mysore's raja. He conquered neighbouring areas and joined a confederacy with the Nizam 'Ali Khan and the Marathas against the British. He fought the British for more than a decade, but at the end of his life, recognizing that he could not defeat them, he urged his son to make peace.