The Battle of Ooscota (or Ooscata) was a battle in the First British-Mysore War, a conflict between the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

, the sultan of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. It took place on the night of the 22–23 August 1768. Ooscota, the location of the battle, is the modern

Hoskote Hoskote (historically known as Ooscota or Ooscata) is a taluk in Bangalore Rural District, India. Headquartered at the Hosakote town, it consists of five hoblis - Anugondanahalli, Jadigenahalli, Kasaba, Nandagudi and Sulibele. History Hoskote ...

Bangalore Rural district Bangalore Rural district, is one of the 31 districts in Karnataka, India. It was formed in 1986, when Bangalore District was divided into Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban. Presently in Bangalore Rural district, there are 1 division, 4 taluk ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Background

The British under Colonel Donald Campbell, and the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

forces under Morari Rao were under march, and they encamped near Ooscata. The British contingent invited the Maratha to encamp within their defensive lines, but due to the illness of Mohammed Ali, the Nawab of Arcot, Rao declined, and they threw up their own picket a short distance away. Meanwhile, Hyder Ali was nearby and decided to attack the Maratha forces in the night.

Battle

The Mysore cavalry attacked behind Hyder Ali's

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...

s, which took down the defences. Rao instructed his cavalry to remain unmounted, so that his forces could bring down any mounted troops; knowing them to be enemy. In the chaos Rao's state elephant broke loose, and wielding its chain as a weapon, threw back the cavalry in the face of the supporting infantry. Disheartened the Mysore troops retreated, with a loss of some 300 troops compared with the Maratha losses of 18. As the British had been alerted and were advancing to relieve the Maratha, Hyder Ali decided against further attacks. The British lost Cambell's '' aide de camp'', Gee who had ridden to the Maratha camp to investigate, and been shot down under Rao's blanket orders to kill mounted men.

References

{{coord missing, Karnataka 1768 in British India Ooscota Ooscota Ooscota Ooscota History Bangalore Rural district