Tipu Sultan defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi near Tanjore on 18 February 1782. Braithwaite's force, consisting of 100 Europeans, 300 cavalry, 1400sepoys and 10 field pieces, was the standard size of the colonial armies. Tipu Sultan seized all the guns and took the entire detachment prisoner. In December 1781 Tipu Sultan successfully seized Chittur from the British. Tipu Sultan had thus gained sufficient military experience by the time Hyder Ali died on Friday, 6 December 1782 - some historians put it at 2 or 3 days later or before, (Hijri date being 1 Muharram, 1197 as per some records in Persian - there may be a difference of 1 to 3 days due to the Lunar Calendar). Tipu Sultan realized that the British were a new kind of threat in India. He became the ruler of Mysore on Sunday, 22 December 1782 ( The inscriptions in some of Tipu Regalia showing it as 20 Muharram, 1197 Hijri - Sunday ), in a simple coronation ceremony. He then worked to check the advances of the British by making alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals.
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