of his career as the 'all-conquering' military commandant. (A few years earlier he had been given the rank of 'Commandant of Company's sepoys'). His greatest supporter during this period was George Pigot, the English governor in Madras. Yusuf Khan was held in very high esteem even after his death in battle and in the opinion of the British he was one of the two great military geniuses India had ever produced (the other being Hyder Ali of Mysore). Yusuf Khan was regarded for his strategy and Hyder Ali for his speed. Major General Sir. John Malcolm said of him almost fifty years later, "Yusuf Khan was by far the bravest and ablest of all the native soldiers that ever served the English in India". Control of Madurai When Muhammad Ali was installed as the Nawab of Arcot, he owed huge debts to the British East India Company, to whom he gave the tax collection rights of the Madurai kingdom. This brought the British into conflict with the Polygars, influential feudal administrators who were unwilling to pay taxes to the weak Nawab and refused to recognize British tax collectors. In 1755, to quell the rebellious Polygars, the Nawab and British dispatched an army to the south under Col. Heron and the Nawab's brother Mahfuz Khan, accompanied by Yusuf Khan as bodyguard. Mahfuz Khan and Heron raided the countryside. This infuriated Yusuf Khan, who lodged a complaint with the British. Heron was later court-marshalled. There were several instances of rebellion to pay taxes to the Muslim and British invaders by the Kallars. In 1755. Colonel. Heron, led an expedition, against the Poligar of Kumaravadi, Lackenaig (Lakshmi Naik?), whose Governor Mayana had taken refugee at the temple of Kovilkudi, at Tirumbur Village. Colonel. Heron and Yusuf Khan led the soldiers in burning down the temple. In this incident, an idol revered by the Kallans were removed and held for a ransom of Five Thousand Rupees. The Kallans being unable to pay, the idol was melted down. This act of Colonel. Heron was condemned even by the Madras Council of the East India Company, as an action becoming unworthy of an English officer, and the prejudice that this act will cause among the natives about England. These events were followed by the Vellaloor Massacre, 1767 in which some 5000 kallans were massacred. In March 1756, Yusuf Khan was sent to Madurai to collect taxes