Tipu and his forces reached the Nedumkotta line which protected Travancore's northern frontier and launched an attack in late December 1789. But a small number Travancore soldiers managed to change the course of events, by opening fire on the 14,000 Mysore infantry from a close cover that killed the Mysorean officer leading a bayonet charge. The Mysorean column, hemmed in by the confines of the wall, retreated in confusion and Tipu Sultan himself was carried away by the crowd. His palanquin, seals, rings, sword and other personal ornaments fell into the hands of the Travancore armies under the Dewan Raja Kesavadas Pillai. Tipu fell back into the ditch twice before scrambling out and the occasional lameness which he suffered until his death was due to the contusions suffered by his fall into the ditches of Travancore.