Overall: 42cm (16.5in) x 31.5cm (12.5in)
Provenance: The Parker Gallery, Albermarle Street, London
Hand coloured mezzotint.. Title and publication details beneath the image, ‘Marquis Cornwallis receiving the sons of Tippoo Saib / as Hostages for their Father’s performance of the Treaty made at Seringapatam the / Capital of the / Mysore Country in the East Indies in 1792’. Published by Haines & Son, No. 19 Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane, London. Contained in period Hogarth frame.
During the Third Mysore War (1790-1792), Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, after invading British and Maratha territory, was forced to cede lands and pay reparations as part of the Treaty of Seringapatam. As a guarantee of Tipu's adherence to the treaty, Lord Cornwallis demanded his two young sons as hostages. The princes Abdul Khaliq (aged 10) and Mohin-ud-din (aged eight), left their father's city in some state, mounted on elephants in a procession led by camels and standard bearers, followed by an escort guard. They were received by Cornwallis with a 21-gun salute, and were each presented with a gold watch. In return, they gave him a fine Persian sword. In March 1794, on the fulfilment of his promises, the hostages were returned to their father.
Tipu Sultan, the implacable 'Tiger of Mysore', subsequently sought an alliance with Revolutionary France which was intent on the capture of British possessions in India. Nelson’s victory at the Nile ended French ambitions in this direction, whence the combined forces British East India Company, Hyderabad Deccan and the Maratha Confederacy defeated Mysore and killed Tipu in an assault on his stronghold at Seringapatam on 4 May 1799.