George Thomas (soldier)
George Thomas (born Roscrea, Tipperary, c1756; died Barhampur, India, August 22, 1802) was an Irish mercenary who was active in 18th century India. In the 1790s he was the most successful general in India.
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[edit] Biography
His father was a poor Catholic tenant farmer near Roscrea who died when George was a child. Originally pressganged at Youghal, where he worked as a labourer on the docks, Thomas deserted from the British Navy in Madras in 1781. Still illiterate, he led a group of Pindaris north to Delhi by 1787, where he took service under Begum Samru of Sardhana. Supplanted in her favour by a Frenchman, he transferred his allegiance to Appa Rao, a Mahratta chieftain. [1]
He fought one of his best campaigns against the Sikh chiefs, taking almost all of the Punjab. He was finally defeated and captured by Sindhia's army under General Pierre Cuillier-Perron. He died on his way down the Ganges on the 22nd of August 1802.[1]
The Punjab remained Indian-ruled until its conquest by the East India company in 1849.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thomas, George". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.; Endnotes:
- Francklin, Military Memoirs of Mr George Thomas (1803)
- Compton, Military Adventurers of Hindustan (1892).
[edit] Further reading
- Hennessy, MN "George Thomas - the Rajah from Tipperary", London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1971. ISBN 0283484926
- "George Thomas - the Rajah from Tipperary", The Calcutta Review, No. CXL (1880) (reprint of H. G. Keene, George Thomas -An episode from the Great Anarchy)
- Bidwell, Shelford, Swords for hire: European Mercenaries in Eighteenth Century India (1971). John Murray.
- Haefs, Gisbert, Raja (2000), btb Verlag, a historical novel in German
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