Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1753 to 1755–1834), French military adventurer in

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 ...

born Pierre Cuillier (or Cuellier) at Luceau near

Château-du-Loir Château-du-Loir (; literally 'Château of the Loir') is a former commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. On 1 October 2016, it was merged into the new commune Montval-sur-Loir.

, the son of a cloth merchant. In India, he changed his name to Perron (a diminutive of Pierre). He was generally referred to by his contemporaries and posterity as General Perron.''Biographie universelle et portative des contemporains'', Paris, 1826, p. 900. In 1780 he went out to India as a sailor on a French frigate, deserted on the

Malabar coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...

, and made his way to upper India, where he enlisted in the rana of Gohad's corps under a Scotsman named Sangster. In 1790 he took service under De Boigne, and was appointed to the command of his second brigade. In 1795 he assisted the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

forces to win the battle of Kardla against the ''

nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

'' of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, and on De Boigne's retirement became commander-in-chief of Maratha general

Mahadji Sindhia Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the fo ...

's army. At the

battle of Malpura The Battle of Malpura was a battle in 1800 between the Kingdom of Jaipur and supported by the Kingdom of Marwar against the Kingdom of Gwalior. It was the result of a crisis between the governments of the two sides. Background In 1800, a cri ...

(1800) he defeated the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

forces. After the

battle of Ujjain The Battle of Ujjain took place on 18 July 1801 near Ujjain between the rival factions of the Maratha empire. In July 1801, Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar attacked Sindhia's capital Ujjain, and after defeating Sindhia's army led by John Hessing, ...

(1801) he refused to send his troops to the aid of

Scindia The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal serva ...

. His treachery on this occasion shook his position, and on the outbreak of war between Scindia and the British in 1803 Perron was superseded and fled to the British camp. In the battles of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, Laswari, Ally Ghur (now Aligarh) and Assaye, Perron's battalions were completely destroyed by

Lord Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He was ...

and

Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...

. He returned to France with a large fortune, and died in 1834.

Buildings

Sir Shah Sulaiman Hall's main Building, which currently serves as the Provost Office (Administrative Block), was built by a him in year 1802.The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan
, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2 The palatial home he built for himself at

Chinsurah Hugli-Chuchura or Hooghly-Chinsurah is a city and a municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the bank of Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata. It is located in the district of Hooghly and is home t ...

was to house Hooghly College (

Hooghly Mohsin College Hooghly Mohsin College (HMC) began on 1 August 1836 as the New Hooghly College. It was established by Muhammad Mohsin, who also started other colleges. On its 100th anniversary it was renamed Hooghly Mohsin College. It became affiliated to Unive ...

) from 1837 to 1937.

References

* Herbert Compton
''A particular account of the European military adventurers of Hindustan, from 1784 to 1803''
(1892). * 1755 births 1834 deaths French sailors French mercenaries Mercenaries in India People from Sarthe People of the Second Anglo-Maratha War {{France-mil-bio-stub