Battle of Pollilur (1780)

This article is about the 1780 battle. For the 1781 battle, see Battle of Pollilur (1781).

The Battle of Pollilur, also known as the Battle of Polilore or Battle of Perambakam, took place on 10 September 1780 at Pollilur near the city of Kanchipuram in present-day Tamil Nadu state, India as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. It was waged between two forces commanded by Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, and Colonel William Baille of the British East India Company. The army of the East India Company surrendered and suffered a high number of casualties. It was the worst loss the British suffered on the subcontinent until Chillianwala.

Tipu prevented Col. Baillie, at Guntur, from joining Hector Munro at Canjeevaram, while Tipu's father Hyder continued the siege at Arcot. Of the 3853 British men under Baillie's command, only 50 officers and 200 men were taken prisoner after the "general massacre". Baillie was taken to Seringapatam.

Aftermath

The Battle of Pollilur, where the forces of Hyder Ali effectively used Mysorean rockets and rocket artillery against closely massed British forces.

Baille and many of his officers were captured and taken to the Mysore capital at Srirangapattana. After British reinforcements from Calcutta arrived, Eyre Coote was able to stabilise the situation and counter-attack. A second battle was fought a year later in the same area where Coote defeated Haider Ali's forces.

Rockets

The Mysore rockets used during the battle were much more advanced than the British East India Company had previously seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). After Tipu Sultan's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket, which was soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars.

See also

• Tipu Sultan
• Hyder Ali
• Mughal weapons

Gallery

• 

  Baillie Dungeon, Seringapatam (2004)

• 

  Narrow Passage to Colonel Baillie's Dungeon, Seringapatam (2004)

• 

  Memorial Plaque at Baillie Dungeon, Seringapatam

• 

  Signboard at Baillie Dungeon, Seringapatam

• 

  Old Signboard at Baillie Dungeon, Seringapatam

• 

  Stones to which prisoners were tied to, Baillie Dungeon, Seringapatam

• 

  William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam

• 

  Plaque of the William Baillie Memorial, Seringapatam

External links

• Tipu Sultan website
• Wilson, W. J. History of the Madras Army, Volume 2