capitulate the fort. Tippu also sent a large force to besiege Mangalore, and after two months took the fort. Tippu's rule was harsh for the local chiefs, who he executed and dispossessed due to their perceived collaboration with the English. British rule and early resistance During the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799, the British returned the lands to their feudal chiefs. After Tippu's defeat, the British gave the Raja of Coorg several maganes which had been taken from him by Hyder Ali and set up their administration, with Thomas Munro the first Collector of Kanara. However Vittala Hegde, who had fled when Tippu campaigned in Tulunadu and returned at the start of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, began to develop an armed following to retake his lands. His ally Subba Rao attacked the Tehsildar of Kadaba, but was defeated by a British ally, Kumara Hegde. In July 1800, the British pursued the last remnants of Vittala Hedge's army into Shishila Ghat, where they were defeated and many of the chief rebels were arrested. At this time, the district was in severe distress due to the many bloody wars waged across it. The British deputed an administrator to study the economic condition of Kanara district, which noted severe deprivation in the south but more commerce further north. The Company then imposed harsh revenue demands on the poor peasants, who were already reeling from depression. The peasants organised themselves and participated in a 'no-tax' campaign, forcing the British to rethink their tax policy on the poor. The British then invaded Coorg when its ruler objected to British interference and took all territory of the state below the Western Ghats, adding it to Kanara district. In 1837, the British faced the Amara Sullia rebellion. After the British had deposed Kalyanaswami, a pretender to the throne of Coorg, he went to Bellare, and gathered a large number of supporters who marched on Puttur. Kalyanaswami defeated two companies of sepoys near Puttur, and Kalyanaswami then marched on Mangalore, causing the British to flee. For two weeks Kalyanaswami held Mangalore, released prisoners and set the homes of British soldiers alight. When British forces came from Thalassery to Mangalore, his poorly armed forces melted away. Kalyanaswami and other prominent leaders were hanged while others were deported to Singapore. Before 1860, Dakshina Kannada was part of a district called Kanara, which was under a single administration in the Madras