CHELA BATTALIONS
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afterwards trained to arms, and formed the first nucleus of a band of compulsory converts from Hinduism to Islám; a band which was largely augmented in the reign of Tipú Sultán, under the title of the Chela, or disciple battalions[1].
- ↑ The kind-hearted but simple missionary, Schwartz, when he visited Seringapatam in 1779, was led to believe that these boys were destitute orphans, whom Haidar had kindly taken under his protection.
