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The death of Haider Ali in December 1782 plunged the Kingdom of Mysore into a moment of precarious transition. With his son and successor, Tipu Sultan, campaigning far away in the Carnatic region, a dramatic episode of betrayal and plunder unfolded at Bednore (modern-day Nagara), one of the realm’s most opulent strongholds. This is the story of how the garrison commander, Ayaz Khan, conspired with British Brigadier-General Richard Matthews to surrender the city, and how their greed for its fabled treasury led to a spectacular act of theft, a swift siege, and a brutal retribution.

A Kingdom’s Treasure Chest

Bednore was no ordinary provincial capital. When Haider Ali had first conquered the city in 1763, it was reported to have yielded wealth worth “twelve millions”—almost certainly a reference to rupees—a sum that underscored the immense wealth of the region. By 1782, the city served as a crucial military and financial hub, its vaults stuffed with coin, jewels, and valuable goods accumulated from years of conquest and revenue collection. Control of Bednore meant command over a fortune capable of funding entire military campaigns, making its treasury a prize of the highest strategic and personal value.

Conspiracy and Betrayal

At the heart of this drama stood Ayaz Khan, a military slave raised to high office by Haider Ali. Despite his competence, Ayaz was deeply unpopular with Tipu Sultan. Ayaz Khan, fearing that Tipu Sultan intended to remove him from command, decided to betray his new ruler. With his life and position under threat, Ayaz secretly negotiated with the advancing British forces under Brigadier-General Richard Matthews. He agreed to surrender Bednore to them without resistance.

The Thieves Enter the City

On February 14, 1783, the British marched into Bednore unopposed. The formal terms of capitulation, later agreed upon, were generous: the garrison and inhabitants were promised safe passage and the right to retain their personal property. Crucially, the public treasury was to remain untouched, the property of the Mysore state.

These terms were almost immediately broken. In an act of staggering avarice, General Matthews divided the garrison’s public treasury among his own officers. This was not a distribution of legitimate spoils of war; it was theft, a private plunder that enriched Matthews and his inner circle while sowing deep resentment among the ordinary soldiers who were excluded.

The exact worth of what they stole remains a matter of sharp historical dispute, a confusion fueled by the chaotic and unaccounted nature of the looting. Contemporary accounts offer wildly different figures:

• One source claims the treasure seized was “exceeding £800,000, besides a large quantity of jewels.”
• The British authorities in Bombay, perhaps keen to downplay the scandal, officially reported a much more modest sum of just £175,000.
• The officers who had participated in the expedition themselves later asserted that the total public property was worth at least £1,200,000, with some estimates soaring to £1,920,000.

This gaping discrepancy points to a looting process that was swift, secretive, and far from fully documented. What is certain is that a colossal fortune was stolen. Ayaz Khan, having served his purpose to the British, was permitted to take his personal property and would soon flee to Bombay, where he later lived on a government stipend.

Tipu Sultan’s Fury and the Empty Vaults

News of Bednore’s fall reached Tipu Sultan as a profound shock. He reacted with characteristic speed, marching his army back to lay siege to the city on April 9, 1783. Matthews, meanwhile, had fatally weakened his own position. Having dispersed his forces into small detachments to plunder the surrounding countryside, he left the main garrison dangerously vulnerable and poorly supplied. Disease swept through the ranks.

The siege lasted barely three weeks. On April 28, 1783, Matthews surrendered. When the Mysore forces entered the fort, they made a discovery that transformed the military defeat into a personal outrage for Tipu Sultan: the treasury and treasure vaults were completely empty. The vast wealth of Bednore, a symbol of his dynasty’s power, had been stolen by a treacherous servant and a greedy enemy commander.

This discovery provided both a justification and a convenient pretext for severe retribution. General Matthews and his senior officers were immediately seized. Intense searches were conducted, and the bulk of the missing treasure was eventually recovered. But the theft had been so brazen that punishment was inevitable. Many of the captive British officers were later poisoned. Richard Matthews himself was held in captivity and executed on August 16, 1783. Some accounts from the period note that his reputation was irreparably tarnished by suspicions of rapacity.

A lingering historical mystery surrounds a portion of the treasure that may have been sent away before the siege. A convoy under a Lieutenant Matthews (relation unknown) was reportedly dispatched to Bombay, but its fate was never fully accounted for. Whether it was lost, captured, or secretly absorbed remains unknown.

Background of the Key Individuals

Ayaz Khan (also known as Hyat Sahib or Hyat Khan)
A military slave or pupil of Haider Ali, Ayaz Khan rose to become the governor of the strategic province of Bednore. Haider Ali held him in high regard for his abilities, a fact that poisoned his relationship with Tipu. The prince saw Ayaz as a rival for his father’s favour. After his act of treachery, Ayaz escaped to Mazagon in Bombay, where he lived under British protection, drawing an annual stipend and fading into a comfortable but ignominious exile.

Brigadier-General Richard Matthews
A commander in the Bombay Army of the British East India Company, Matthews had achieved initial successes in the Second Anglo-Mysore War, capturing forts along the Malabar coast. His taking of Bednore was less a military triumph than the result of a bought betrayal. His subsequent conduct—splitting his forces, alienating his men, and violating the surrender terms to enrich himself—demonstrated a profound failure of judgment and character. He paid for it with his life, dying a prisoner in Tipu Sultan’s custody, his name forever linked to greed and dishonour.

References:

Source: Khan, M. H. (1951). History of Tipu Sultan. Calcutta: The Bibliophile Ltd.