After, as usual, perpetrating horrible atrocities, and after sending a large proportion of the population as slaves to Mysore, he marched against Travancore.

Now, Travancore was specially mentioned, in the treaty of Mangalore, as one of the allies of the English, with whom Tippoo bound himself not to make war; and had he not been prepared to fight the English, he would not have attacked their ally.

The excuse for attacking Travancore was that some of the fugitives, from Coorg and Malabar, had taken refuge there.
"Seeing that Tippoo was bent upon hostilities, Lord Cornwallis and his council at Calcutta directed, as I learnt from an official at Madras, the authorities there to begin at once to make preparations for war.
Instead of doing so, Mr.Holland, the governor, gave the Rajah the shameful and cowardly advice to withdraw his protection from the fugitives.

The Rajah refused to comply with such counsel, and after some months spent in negotiations, Tippoo attacked the wall that runs along the northern frontier of Travancore.
"That was about six months ago.

Yes, it was on the 28th of December--so it is just six months.