Dining out in Mysore
Long before “decolonization” was a glint in the eyes of left-leaning political scientists, Hyder Ali, an upstart mercenary soldier turned sultan of Mysore, and his nepo baby son, Tipu Sultan, fought four bloody wars to keep the British from controlling the south of India. If wars were like soccer league tables, the Hyder/Tipu team would have come out on top with an enviable record of three wins to one loss. That loss was the final match otherwise known as the Fourth Anglo Mysore War, in which Tipu was defeated by the inspired generalship of the future Duke of Wellington. Tipu died in battle and the general was soon comfortably billeted
