BOIGNE, BENOIT, COUNT (1751-183o), the first of the French military adventurers in India, was born at Chambery, Savoy, March 8 1751. He joined the Irish Brigade in France in 1768; subsequently he entered the Russian service and was captured by the Turks. After serving for a short time in the East India Company, he resigned and joined Mahadji Sindhia in 1784 In the battles of Lalsot and Chaksana, Boigne and his two battalions proved their worth by holding the field when the rest of the Mahratta army was defeated by the Rajputs.
In the battle of Agra (1788) he restored the Mahratta for tunes, and made Mahadji Sindhia undisputed master of Hindu stan. He was given the command of a brigade of ten battalions of infantry, with which he won the victories of Patan and Merta in 179o. Boigne was then allowed to raise two further brigades of disciplined infantry, and made commander-in-chief of Sindhia's army. In the battle of Lakhairi (1793) he defeated Holkar's army. In '796 he returned to Europe with a fortune of .f400,000.
See H. Compton, European Military Adventurers of Hindustan (1892).