Battle of Pollilur

Overview

The Battle of Pollilur, also known as the Battle of Polilore or Battle of Perambakam, took place on 10 September 1780 at Pollilur near Conjeevaram, the city of Kanchipuram in present-day Tamil Nadu state, India, as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. It was fought between an army commanded by King Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, and a British East India Company force led by William Baillie. The EIC force suffered a high number of casualties before surrendering. It was fought between a Brigade Column of the East India Company, led by Colonel William Baillie, and the Mysore Army, under the command of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. It was the worst loss the East India Company suffered on the subcontinent until Chillianwala. Benoît de Boigne, a French officer in the service of 6th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry, wrote, "There is not in India an example of a similar defeat".

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Pollilur delivered the worst defeat suffered by the East India Company on the Indian subcontinent up to that point in its history. A Brigade Column under Colonel William Baillie was overwhelmed by the combined Mysore army under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, sustaining over 2,000 casualties from a force of fewer than 4,000 before surrendering. The scale of the loss, described by French officer Benoît de Boigne as without parallel in India, underscored the military capacity of Mysore and the vulnerability of EIC columns operating in the field against a numerically superior and coordinated enemy. Within the Second Anglo-Mysore War, Pollilur demonstrated that the Company could not assume operational dominance in southern India and forced a reassessment of how it prosecuted campaigns against Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. The battle would not be surpassed as the Company's worst Indian defeat until Chillianwala, decades later.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)