The Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam (1784–1799) is a fifteen-year imprisonment of Mangalorean Catholics and other Christians at Seringapatam in the Indian region of Canara by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore.

Estimates of the number of captives range from thirty thousand to eighty thousand but the generally accepted figure is sixty thousand, as stated by Tipu in the Sultan-ul-Tawarikh.

The captivity is the most disconsolate period in the community's history.

It's cause is disputed; however, it is generally agreed by historian that it was purely due to religious reasons, as Tipu states: "To spare them was mercy, to honor them with Islam a favor. No fault being imputed except them being Christians."

The Mangalorean Catholic community in Mangalore flourishes during the regime of Tipu's father, Hyder Ali.

Soon after Tipu inherits the territory in January 1784, he issues orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam.

His orders are carried out on February 24, 1784.

Twenty thousand Christians die during the journey from Mangalore to Seringapatam.

During captivity they suffer extreme hardships, torture, death, and persecutions with many Christians forcibly converted to Islam.

Their captivity leads to a near disintegration of the community and ends only when Tipu is killed by the British at the Battle of Seringapatam on May 4, 1799, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.

Of the sixty thousand to eighty thousand Christians taken captive, only fifteen thousand to twenty thousand both make it out alive and retain their original faith.

The episode has a deep impact on the literature of Mangalorean Catholics.

The bi-centennial anniversary of the Christians' release from captivity is celebrated across the region on May4, 1999.