A scroll painting depicting the Battle of Pollilur, India, circa 1850

This scroll depicts the Battle of Pollilur, which took place on 10 September 1780, as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. It represents the great victory of the Mysore armies led by Haidar Ali, the ruler of Mysore, and his son Tipu, against the British troops of the East India Company. To commemorate his father's victory against the British, Tipu commissioned the painting of the Battle of Pollilur as part of a mural that was installed in the Daria Daulat Palace, Seringapatam in 1784. This scroll is a mid-nineteenth century copy of the original Pollilur mural painting. Three existing copies of the original Pollilur mural painting are known, three details in a miniature in Baroda Museum; twenty-four preparatory paintings depicting sections of the series, sold through these rooms, 6 October 2010, lot 60, and a complete panorama sold in these rooms, 30 March 2022, lot 70.