The Battle of Pollilur on 10th September 1780, fought as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, was one of the worst defeats the British ever faced on the Indian subcontinent. It was fought between The East India Company, led by Colonel William Baillie, and the Mysore Army under the command of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. Heavily outnumbered and wounded in battle, Bailie was taken prisoner and eventually died in captivity in Seringapatam, in the state of Karnataka near Mysore on 13th November 1782. News of Pollilur aroused widespread consternation in England that India was lost, yet the details of Baillie's defeat and capture are often shrouded in mystery. In this engaging new biography, derived from fresh new research and archival material previously unseen, Alan Tritton presents the true story of William Baillie's life and death in India covering the period 1760-1782. Overturning the consensus view on the disaster at Pollilur, Tritton provides an original new angle in reassessing Colonel Baillie's blame for the defeat, and questions whether he should be remembered as a failure or, indeed, a British military hero.

When the Tiger Fought the Thistle: The Tragedy of Colonel William Baillie of the Madras Army

History

Tritton, Alan

Europe

Radcliffe Press

<p>This is the story of two Scotsmen, Baillie and Edmonstone, who went out to India in 1782 and 1791 respectively, to earn their fortune. Neil Edmonstone rose through the ranks to be appointed the Acting Governor-General of India, Secretary of the Secret, Foreign and Political Department and for more than 20 years the Chief Intelligence Officer of the Company. John Baillie was appointed the Political Agent, aged 30, for Bundelkhand, which he brought successfully under British control, before his appointment as British Resident at Lucknow in 1807.</p>
<p>Both men had no less than 21 Anglo-Scottish and Scottish-Indian children, 9 of whom were all sent back to Inverness in Scotland to be educated and brought up by John's sister Margaret Baillie. This book tells us their stories as well as those of their parents.</p>

Scotland and the Indian Empire: Politics, Scholarship and the Military in Making British India

Asia

Bloomsbury Academic

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