Hyder Ali was the first Indian ruler to use rocket artillery in war. He was the Sultan and de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. He became the de facto ruler of Mysore as Sarvadhikari (Chief Minister) by 1761. He offered strong anti-colonial resistance against the military advances of the British East India Company during the First and Second Anglo–Mysore Wars, and he was the innovator of military use of the iron-cased Mysorean rockets.
