Shezada Hyder Ali was the grandson of Hyder Ali and the eldest son of Abdul Kareem.
After the fall of Seringapatam and death of Tippu Sultan on 4 May 1799, Shezada Hyder Ali and other family members were sent to the Vellore fort on 19 June 1799 and kept under custody of the East India Company. Shezada Hyder Ali managed to escape; he joined the Marathas in 1801.
On July 10, 1806, at the marriage of one of Tippu Sultan's daughters at the Vellore fort, Indian soldiers staged a revolt known as the Vellore Mutiny, opening fire in the parade ground, killing several army officers and taking control of the fort's arms and ammunition. They pulled down the Union Jack flag, hoisted the Royal Tiger Flag of Tippu Sultan in its stead, and declared Shezada Hyder Ali as their king. However, they failed to close the gates of the fort securely, and a British officer escaped and alerted the garrison in Arcot. Nine hours later, the British 19th Light Dragoons, led by Colonel Rollo Gillespie, and the Madras Cavalry recaptured the fort. Nearly 350 of the rebels were killed, and another 350 injured before the fighting had stopped. Some accounts state that 17 Indian officers were hanged in public and many were imprisoned at the Vellore and Tiruchi prisons.
Shezada Hyder Ali later was married Zaibunnisa Begum of Bijapur. They had a son, Fateh Ahmed Sahib, in Bijapur in 1816. Today, many of Shezada Hyder Ali's descendants live in Calcutta, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Sydney (Australia).