WD107

Pen-and-ink and water-colour drawing of Anchittidrug by 1st Baronet Sir Alexander Allan (1764-1820) between 1790 and 1792 for 'Views in the Mysore Country', plate 4.

Note: Drawing for ‘Views in the Mysore Country’, plate 4. Anchittidrug surrendered to the British, 18 July 1791.

Note: In 1794 Colebrooke’s drawings taken in 1791-2 were published as ‘Twelve Views of Places in the Kingdom of Mysore.’ This did not include the present view of Anchitty Droog that was previously attributed to Alexander Allan on account of its similarity to the latter’s ‘Views in the Mysore Country,’ plate 4, nor the related view from the Archer Collection and now also in the India Office collections (WD4511). However, there are significant stylistic differences between the artists, particularly noticeable in their rendering of foreground figures and trees, and a confident attribution to Colebrooke of these two views of Anchettidurgam can now be made. It is quite probable that Colebrooke saw and copied Allan’s drawing when they were in Mysore together in 1791. For Allan’s own worked up version of this subject, see Christie’s Arts of India sale, 24 September 2003.

This drawing was made during the third Anglo-Mysore war (1790-92), one of the most crucial battles fought by the British in their campaign to become the major power in India. In the first and second Anglo-Mysore Wars, Haidar Ali (c.1722 - 1782) and his son Tipu Sultan (1753 -1799) had fended off the British, but neither side could claim absolute success. Haidar died in the second Anglo-Mysore war. In the third war, helped by strategic alliances with other Indian rulers, the British defeated Tipu who was forced to sue for peace in the Treaty of Srirangapatna. On 18 July 1791, Anchittidrug was surrendered to the British under Lord Cornwallis, the Governor General in India, and was maintained as a post of communication until the conclusion of the war. The fort is situated at Anchetti in Tamil Nadu 35 miles from Bangalore.