George Thomas

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. 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. He fought one of his best campaigns against the Sikh chiefs, taking almost all of...