ollilur lies 10 miles North West of Conjeeveram (modern Kanchipuram) and 56 miles from St Thomas's Mount, Madras. It was the site of Tipu Sultan's great victory, on 20th September 1780, over a British contingent, commanded by Colonel William Baillie. Today, the site is little-known, (and often confused with nearby Pullalur). The battle field is marked only by two small obelisks - which commemorate two British officers, Capt. James Hislop and Colonel George Brown, who died there in 1781. Colonel Baillie is commemorated at Seringapatam, where he died, a prisoner of Tipu after the Mysorean victory at Pollilur in 1780.

After the humiliating defeat at Pollilur, the British retaliated and defeated Haidar at Porto Novo on 1st July 1781. The contest , in which 80-100,00 of Haidar's troops faced little more than 7,800 British, was as unevenly matched as the Battle of Pollilur had been. After next surrendering Tirupasur, Haidar decided to offer battle to Sir Eyre Coote on the same auspicious field as that of the Mysorean victory over Colonel Baillie the previous year. Again, Haidar's forces vastly outnumbered the British, but they, often on the brink of disaster, managed to gain a dubious victory. For this, Sir Eyre Coote acknowledged in particular the steady and gallant conduct of his Indian troops, adding that he hoped that the Army's efforts 'will eventually be the means of shortening the confinement and suffering of our brother soldiers in the enemy's miserable prisons.'