In 1799 Britain’s East India Company attacked Srirangapatna (then Seringapatam) in southern Karnataka (then Mysore), India and killed its ruler, Tipu Sultan (Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu). A longstanding conflict between Tipu and the Company became a proxy war with France when Tipu allied with Napoleon to expel the British from his kingdom. In India, Tipu was celebrated as a hero of anti-colonial resistance, but British propaganda demonised him as a tyrant. In around 1800 Turner painted the siege, based on drawings by British soldiers and probably intended for engraving. Here, the Company’s army advances across the River Kaveri toward’s Tipu’s island fortress.