The sons of Tippoo Sultan leaving their father; and The Right Honourable Charles Marquis Cornwallis receiving the sons of Tippoo Sultan as Hostages from the Vakeel, by Joseph Grozer

A pair of views after Henry Singleton's oil paintings depicting the events of 1792, during the protracted British campaign against Tipu (or Tippoo) Sahib, Sultan of Mysore, (1753-1799). One of the last powerful sovereigns in southern India, Tipu's kingdom posed a significant threat to British military power. Initially Tipu's military carrer was successful; he commanded a cavalry corps in the Maharatta war of 1775-79, and in February 1782 he defeated Braithwaite. Although he negotiated peace with the British in 1784, his devastation of the Raja of Travancore in 1789 resulted in the British invasion of his dominions in 1790. The present pair of images recall one of the conditioins of the peace that was negotiated in 1792, but hostilities were renewed in 1799. Tipu's eventual defeat at Seringapatam in 1799 marked the start of British territorial expansion in southern India. Henry Singleton (1766-1839) was renowned for his multiple talents as a painter of history, allegory and genre, and was amongst several British artists who dramatised the events leading up to Tipu Sultan's death.