he mausoleum which Tipu built in 1784, for his father, Haidar Ali, stands at the South East end of the island of Seringapatam. Haidar died on 7th December, 1782, at Narasingarayapet, near Chittoor. He had been ill since November, suffering from a carbuncle, but with his son, he had continued the campaigns of the Second Mysore War. After Haidar's sudden demise, his Ministers, fearing revolt and desertion, made every effort to conceal the death of the Mysorean commander. Haidar's body was placed in a chest, to resemble valuable goods, and was transported first to a temporary resting place at the tomb of Fath Muhammed in Kolar, and then to Seringapatam. Here, at Gumbaz, Tipu laid out the garden with great care and expense, planting many ornamental trees, and an avenue of austerely elegant cypresses, leading from the Naubat Khana, or Royal Drum House to the mausoleum itself.

Colebrooke (1794) and Hunter (1804) included views of the building in their collections of Mysore engravings, and Robert Home, in the text which accompanies the engraving of 'Haidar's Tomb in the Loll Baug Garden' comments 'We cannot better terminate our work than with the proud mausoleum of Haidar Ali'. After describing how Haidar came to power in Mysore, Home continues: 'When Hyder died in 1782 his remains were deposited in a tomb at he west end of the extensive garden at Seringapatam; and in honour of this founder of a new race of princes, over it his son and successor erected a superb and magnificent mausoleum. It is surrounded by a square of faqirs choultries, which formed a convenient hospital for the sick and wounded of the British troops, during the siege of Seringapatam in 1792.'

When Tipu's own body was brought to Gumbaz for burial on 5th May 1799, two companies of European grenadiers preceded the bier, and Tipu's son, Abdul Khaliq rode behind as chief mourner. Tipu's subjects lined the route of the cortege, prostrating themselves as it passed. At the mausoleum, the escort presented arms, and the body was carried to its final resting place.