Editing Hyder Ali (section)

==Military rocket innovations==
{{main|Mysorean rockets}}
[[File:Congreve rockets.gif|175px|thumb|The Mysore rockets utilised effectively during the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]], and were later updated by the British into the [[Congreve rocket]]s, which were successively employed during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]].]]

Hyder Ali was an innovator in the military use of [[rocket]]s, which were used against positions and territories held by the East India Company during the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]]. Although rocket technology originated in China and had made its way to India and Europe by the 13th century, development of accurate [[cannon]]s had sidelined rockets as a military technology in Europe.<ref>Narasimha et al, p. 118</ref> Rocket technology was already in use when Hyder's father served (he commanded a company of 50 rocketmen), but it was Hyder who improved them and significantly expanded their use in the military. Technological innovations included the use of [[Mysorean rockets|high-quality iron casing]] (better than was then available in Europe) for the combustion chamber, enabling the use of higher-powered explosive charges. He also organised companies of rocketmen who were experienced in aiming rockets based on the size of the rocket and the distance to the target. Rockets could also be mounted on carts that improved their mobility and made possible the firing of large numbers of them all at once.<ref name=Narasimha120>Narasimha et al, p. 120</ref> Rockets developed by Hyder and Tipu led to a renaissance of interest in the technology in Britain, where [[Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet|William Congreve]], supplied with rocket cases from Mysore, developed what became known as [[Congreve rocket]]s in the early 19th century.<ref>Narasimha et al, p. 122</ref>

In Hyder's time the Mysorean army had a rocket corps of as many as 1,200 men, which Tipu increased to 5,000. At the 1780 [[Battle of Pollilur]], during the second war, Colonel William Baillie's ammunition stores are thought to have been detonated by a hit from one of Hyder's rockets, contributing to the British defeat.<ref>Narasimha et al, pp. 120–121</ref>