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Siege of Koppal

VictorArmy of the Nizam of Hyderabad, with Company troopsMahabat Jang
1790vs
Mysore garrisonCommandant for Tipu Sultan

The Nizam’s contribution in the north was a long, slow siege of Koppal and its rock citadel. It was badly handled, and the fort gave in only after Cornwallis’s capture of Bangalore.

Date: 28 October 1790 – April 1791Where: Koppal hill fort, KarnatakaType: Siege
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
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Cite

MLA

“Siege of Koppal.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/siege-of-koppal-1790/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Siege of Koppal. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/siege-of-koppal-1790/

Result

The garrison surrendered in April 1791, mainly because Bangalore had fallen and no relief could come.

01A fort on a rock

Koppal has a lower fort in the town and an upper fort on a bare granite hill, rebuilt for Tipu, it is said, with the help of French engineers. In October 1790 the Nizam’s commander Mahabat Jang sat down before it, with two Company battalions from Madras lent to stiffen his force. His guns were too light for the walls, and the Hyderabad troops showed little wish to storm.

02Surrender after Bangalore

The siege ran through the winter with little progress. Company officers wrote scathingly of the way it was conducted. The end came from elsewhere. Once Bangalore had fallen to Cornwallis on 21 March 1791, the Koppal garrison knew Tipu could not reach them, and they surrendered in early April.

Why it matters

Koppal and its district passed to the Nizam under the 1792 treaty.

Places near the battlefield 8

Mahadeva Temple, ItagiStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Mahadeva Temple, Itagi

The temple its own inscription calls Devalaya Chakravarti, emperor among temples. A general of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI built it in 1112.

Virupaksha Temple, HampiStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

The family deity of the Vijayanagara kings, who signed their grants ‘Shri Virupaksha’. When the city around it was destroyed in 1565, worship here went on.

Hampi (Vijayanagara)Ruined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Hampi (Vijayanagara)

Vijayanagara, the City of Victory, capital of the empire that held the south for over two centuries. After the defeat at Talikota in January 1565 it was plundered for months and never lived again.

Lakshmi Narasimha (Ugra Narasimha) Monolith, HampiRuined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Lakshmi Narasimha (Ugra Narasimha) Monolith, Hampi

The largest image at Hampi is a Narasimha 6.7 metres high, cut from one boulder in 1528 and seated on the coils of Shesha with seven hoods above. Lakshmi once sat on his lap; only her hand on his back remains.

Anjanadri Hill, Hampi (Kishkindha)Standing
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Anjanadri Hill, Hampi (Kishkindha)

Across the Tungabhadra from Hampi, in the country the Ramayana calls Kishkindha, a white shrine on a boulder hill marks where the Kishkindha tradition holds that Mata Anjana gave birth to Hanuman.

Hazara Rama Temple, HampiRuined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Hazara Rama Temple, Hampi

The private temple of the Vijayanagara kings in the royal centre, its walls carved with the Ramayana in long running bands. Hazara Rama means ‘a thousand Ramas’.

Vittala Temple, HampiRuined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Vittala Temple, Hampi

The finest temple of Vijayanagara, with the stone chariot of Garuda in its court and pillars that ring when struck. It has stood empty of worship since 1565.

Anegondi (Kishkindha)Standing
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Anegondi (Kishkindha)

The old fort town across the Tungabhadra from Hampi, honoured as Kishkindha of the Ramayana, where Harihara and Bukka began before they founded Vijayanagara on the south bank in 1336. The descendants of the Vijayanagara royal house still live here.