George Thomas (soldier)

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
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.

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.