BOBBILI  , a

town of British India, in the Vizagapatam district of Madras, 70 M. north of Vizagapatam town . Pop . (190r) 17,387 . It is the residence of a raja of old family, whose estate covers an area of 227 sq. m.; estimated income, £40,000; permanent Iand revenue, 9000 . The attack on the fort at Bobbili made by General Bussy in 1756 is one of the most memorable episodes in Indian history . There was a constant feud between the chief of Bobbili and the raja of Vizianagram; and when Bussy marched to restore order the raja persuaded him that the fault lay with the chief of Bobbili and joined the French with 11,000 men against his rival . In spite of the fact that the French field-pieces at once made practicable breaches in the mud walls of the fort, the defenders held out with desperate valour . Two assaults were repulsed after hours of hand-to-hand fighting; and when, after a fresh bombardment, the garrison saw that their case was hopeless, they killed their women and children, and only succumbed at last to a third assault because every man of them was either killed or mortally wounded . An old man, however, crept out of a hut with a child, whom he presented to Bussy as the son of the dead chief . Three nights later four followers of the chief of Bobbili crept into the tent of the raja of Vizianagram and stabbed him to death . The child, Chinna Ranga Rao, was invested by Bussy with his father's estate, but during his minority it was seized by his uncle . After a temporary arrangement of terms with the raja of Vizianagram the old feud broke out again, and the Bobbili chief was forced to take refuge in the nizam's country .

In 1794, however, on the break-up of the Vizianagram estate, Chinna Ranga Rao was restored by the British, and in i8ot a permanent

settlement was made with his son . The title of raja was recognized as hereditary in the family; that of maharaja was conferred as a personal distinction on Sir Venkataswetachalapati Ranga Rao, K.C.I.E., the adopted great-great-grandson of Chinna Ranga Rao . For the siege see Imp . Gazetteer of India (Oxford, 1908), s. v .