Battle of Pollilur (1781)

Battle of Pollilur Part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War Date 27 August 1781 Location Pollilur, Kanchipuram, India Result Company victory Belligerents British East India Company Sultanate of Mysore Commanders and leaders Eyre Coote Hyder Ali Strength 11,000[1] unknown Casualties and losses 421[2] 2,000+[3]

The Battle of Pollilur was fought on 27 August 1781, between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and British East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. The battle was fought on the site of a 1780 encounter in which a Company force was almost completely killed or captured.

In the 1781 battle, the company's army was organized into 2 lines. One line fought against the troops under Tipu. But Hyder Ali's army faced severe casualties and retreated to Kanchipuram.

After the battle a shortage of provisions led Coote to move his forces toward Tripasur.^[4] Hyder interpreted this as a retreat, and claimed victory.

References

1. Roy p.85
2. Roy p.85
3. Roy p.85
4. Roy p.85

Bibliography

• Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture, Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Routledge, 2011.
• Vibart, H. M (1881). The military history of the Madras engineers and pioneers, from 1743 up to the present time, Volume 1