BOBBILI, a town of British India, in the Vizagapatam district of Madras, Tom. north of Vizagapatam town, on a branch line of the Bengal-Nagpur railway. Pop. (1931) It is the resi dence of a raja of old family.
The attack on the fort at Bobbili made by Gen. Bussy in 1756 is a memorable episode. 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 ii,000 men against his rival. The defenders held out with desperate valour. Before surrender they killed their women and children and only succumbed at last because every man of them was either killed or mortally wounded. An old man, however, crept out of a hut with a child, the son of the dead chief, who was later in vested with his father's estate. The old feud broke out again, and the Bobbili chief was forced to take refuge in the nizam's country, but was later restored by the British. In 18o1 a per manent settlement was made with his son, and the title of raja was recognized as hereditary in the family.
For the siege see Imp. Gazetteer of India (Oxford, 1908), s.v. "Bobbili Estate."