Since the year 1497, when Vasco de Gama discovered a passage to India, the southern coasts of Asia have been repeatedly visited by navigators from the different states of Europe. For a long time, however these were merely plunders or merchants. Not contended with the precarious benefits derived from occasional voyages they began to form permanent establishments for the adventurers the English traders distinguished from the rest ; from the possession of a few petty factories, established in India an empire so powerful as to enforce laws to its native rulers.

Aspiring to the foundation of a new empire in India, Hyder Ali the Sultan of Mysore rose on this occasion against the British. But he was no match with their power and diplomatic designs.

This volume is a historical account of the British officers and soldiers who fought against Hyder Ali and compelled him to relinquish half his dimensions. The engraving published in the book focuses on the battle grounds where the forces of Mysore defended against the British