George Thomas (born Roscrea, Tipperary, c 1756; died Barhampur, India, Aug. 22, 1802) was an Irish mercenary who was active in 18th-century India. In the 1790s he was the most successful general in India.
Biography[]
Areas under the East India company's control, 1765-1805
His father was a poor Catholic tenant farmer near Roscrea who died when George was a child. Originally press-ganged 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 was finally defeated and captured by Sindhia's army under General Pierre Cuillier-Perron. He died on his way down the Ganges on 22 Aug. 1802.[1]
See also[]
- Company rule in India
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chisholm 1911.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. "[[Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Thomas, George|]]" Encyclopædia Britannica Cambridge University Press; Endnotes:
- Francklin, Military Memoirs of Mr George Thomas (1803)
- Compton, Military Adventurers of Hindustan (1892).
Further reading[]
- Hennessy, MN "George Thomas - the Rajah from Tipperary", London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1971. ISBN 0-283-48492-6
- "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
The original article can be found at George Thomas (soldier) and the edit history here.