Battle of Pollilur

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)