Important Battles question: The Battle of Pollilur (1780) was a major British defeat at the hands of which ruler?

The verified answer to “Important Battles question: The Battle of Pollilur (1780) was a major British defeat at the hands of which ruler?” is Hyder Ali, option B. The source-backed, question-specific record explains: The Battle of Pollilur (September 10 1780) was fought during the Second Anglo-Mysore War between Hyder Ali of Mysore and British forces under Colonel William Baillie. Hyder Ali with his son Tipu Sultan won a decisive victory capturing Colonel Baillie. This evidence establishes the historical relationship required in this Important Battles item. A correct solution must preserve the exact battle, date, participants, commander, location, outcome or significance requested by the stem. Similar periods, genres or national traditions do not make two battle facts interchangeable. Option B gives Hyder Ali and satisfies every condition stated in the question. The remaining choices—Tipu Sultan, Marathas and Nizam—do not satisfy the complete requirement. The reliable checking method is to identify the named battle first, recall or verify its verified participant or outcome, and then read qualifiers such as “both works,” “original language,” “first published,” “correctly matched” or “incorrectly matched.” These qualifiers determine what counts as the answer. Replaying that method for this Important Battles question confirms Hyder Ali without relying on option position.