From 1761 onwards, Hyder Ali, a distinguished soldier in the Mysore army, took "de facto" control of the throne of the Kingdom of Mysore through the Wodeyar dynasty. Hyder occupied Mangalore in 1763. The Mangalorean Catholics numbered 80,000 in 1767. In February 1768 the British captured Mangalore from Hyder. Toward the end of 1768, Hyder and his son Tipu Sultan defeated the British and recaptured Mangalore fort. After the conquest, Hyder was informed that the Mangalorean Catholics had helped the British in their conquest of Mangalore. Hyder believed that this behaviour of the Christians amounted to treachery against the sovereign.