Battle of Assaye

The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British force, under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington), defeated the combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar. The battle was Wellesley's first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his more famous victories in the Peninsular War, and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.

From August 1803, Wellesley's army and a separate force under the command of his subordinate, Colonel James Stevenson, pursued the Maratha cavalry-based army, which had threatened to raid south into Hyderabad. After several weeks of pursuit and countermarching, Scindia reinforced the combined Maratha army with his modernized infantry and artillery as the British forces closed in on his position. Wellesley received intelligence indicating the location of the Maratha encampment on 21 September and devised a plan whereby his two armies would converge on the Maratha position three days later. Wellesley's force, however, encountered the Maratha Army, under the command of Colonel Anthony Pohlmann, a German formerly in British service, 6 miles (9.7 km) farther south than he anticipated. Although outnumbered, Wellesley resolved to attack at once, believing that the Maratha army would soon move off. Both sides suffered heavily in the ensuing battle; Maratha artillery inflicted large numbers of casualties among Wellesley's troops, but the vast numbers of Maratha cavalry proved largely ineffective. A combination of bayonet and cavalry charges eventually forced the Maratha army to retreat, with the loss of most of their guns, but Wellesley's army was too battered and exhausted to pursue.

Wellesley's victory at Assaye, preceded by the capture of Ahmednagar and followed by victories at Argaon and Gawilghur, resulted in the defeat of Scindia and Berar's armies in the Deccan. Wellesley's progress in the Deccan was matched by Lieutenant General Gerard Lake's successful campaigns in northern India and led to the British becoming the dominant power in the heartland of India.

## Background

Feuding between the two dominant powers within the Maratha Empire, Yashwant Rao Holkar and Daulat Rao Scindia, led to civil war at the turn of the 19th century. The hostilities culminated in the Battle of Poona in October 1802 where Holkar defeated a combined army of Scindia and Baji Rao II – the Peshwa and nominal overlord of the Maratha Empire. Scindia retreated into his dominions to the north, but Baji Rao was driven from his territory and sought refuge with the East India Company at Bassein. He appealed to the company for assistance, offering to accept its authority if he were restored to his principality at Poona. Lord Mornington, the ambitious Governor-General of British India, seized on the opportunity to extend Company influence into the Maratha Empire which he perceived as the final obstacle to British paramountcy over the Indian subcontinent. The Treaty of Bassein was signed in December whereby the Company agreed to restore Baji Rao in return for control over his foreign affairs and a garrison of 6,000 Company troops permanently stationed in Poona. The restoration was commanded by Lord Mornington's younger brother, Major General Arthur Wellesley, who in March 1803 marched on Poona from Mysore with 15,000 Company troops and 9,000 Hyderabad allies. Wellesley entered Poona without opposition on 20 April, and Baji Rao was formally restored to his throne on 13 May.

The treaty gave offence to the other Maratha leaders, who deemed that the system of subsidiary alliances with the British was an unwarranted interference into their affairs and fatal to the independent Maratha states. The Maratha leaders refused to submit to the Peshwa's authority and tensions were raised further when Holkar raided into Hyderabad in May, claiming that the Nizam of Hyderabad (a British ally) owed him money. Mornington consequently engaged the various Maratha chieftains in negotiations. Lieutenant Colonel John Collins was sent to Scindia's camp to discuss his objections and propose a defensive alliance. However, Scindia had formed a military alliance with the Rajah of Berar with a view to bringing the Maratha leaders into a coalition against the British, and had begun to mass his forces on the Nizam's border. Wellesley, who had been given control over the company's military and political affairs in central India in June, demanded Scindia declare his intentions and withdraw his forces or face the prospect of war. After a protracted period of negotiations, Collins reported to Wellesley on 3 August that Scindia refused to give an answer and would not withdraw his troops. Wellesley's response was to declare war on Scindia and Berar "in order to secure the interests of the British government and its allies".

## Prelude

The East India Company attacked the two principal Maratha forces of Scindia and the Raja of Berar from the north and the south. Of the other Maratha leaders, Holkar was hesitant to enter the war in cooperation with his rival, Scindia, and remained aloof from the hostilities, and the Gaekwad of Baroda placed himself under British protection. Operations in the north were directed by Lieutenant General Gerard Lake who entered Maratha territory from Cawnpore to face Scindia's main army which was commanded by the French mercenary Pierre Perron. A second British force, under the command of Major General Wellesley, confronted a combined army of Scindia and Berar in the Deccan. Wellesley was determined to gain the initiative through offensive action and told his senior subordinate, Colonel James Stevenson, that "a long defensive war would ruin us and will answer no purpose whatever".

The Maratha army in the Deccan was largely composed of fast-moving cavalry able to live off the land. Consequently, Wellesley planned to work in conjunction with a separate force under Colonel Stevenson to enable his slower troops to outmanoeuvre the Maratha army and force it into a position where it could not avoid a pitched battle. Stevenson was despatched from Hyderabad with an army of some 10,000 men to Jafarabad to deny Scindia and Berar the chance to raid east into the Nizam's territory. In the meantime, Wellesley moved north from his camp near the Godavari River on 8 August with some 13,500 troops and headed towards Scindia's nearest stronghold – the walled town and fort at Ahmednagar. The bulk of his forces were Company troops from Mysore: five sepoy infantry battalions of the Madras Native Infantry and three squadrons of Madras Native Cavalry. The core contingent of British Army regulars included cavalry from the 19th Light Dragoons and two battalions of Scottish infantry from the 74th and 78th Regiment of Foot. Irregular light cavalry were also provided by the company's Mysore and Maratha allies.

Wellesley reached Ahmednagar later the same day after a 7-mile (11 km) march and immediately ordered an escalade assault on the town rather than enter into a time-consuming siege. The walled town, which was garrisoned by 1,000 Arab mercenaries, upwards of 60 cannon and one of Scindia's infantry battalions under the command of French officers, was captured with minimal losses after a brief action. The adjacent fort's defenders capitulated four days later once the walls were breached by British artillery. With the fortification providing a logistics base and point of support for future operations into Maratha territory, Wellesley installed a garrison and headed north towards the Nizam's city of Aurangabad. Along the way he captured Scindia's other possessions south of the Godavari and established a series of guarded bridges and ferries along the river to maintain his communication and supply lines.

### Maratha reinforcements

The Marathas slipped past Stevenson and advanced on Hyderabad. After receiving reports of their movement on 30 August, Wellesley hurried east down to the Godavari to intercept. Stevenson, meanwhile, marched westwards to the Maratha city of Jalna, which he took by storm. Scindia learned of Wellesley's intentions and returned to a position north of Jalna. Unable to make a clean break from the pursuing British, he abandoned plans to raid into Hyderabad and instead assembled his infantry and artillery. The combined Maratha army was around 50,000 strong, the core of which was 10,800 well-equipped regular infantry organised into three brigades, trained and commanded by European adventurer and mercenary officers. Colonel Anthony Pohlmann, a Hanoverian and former East India Company sergeant, commanded the largest brigade with eight battalions. A further brigade with five battalions was provided by Begum Samru, and was commanded on her behalf by a Frenchman, Colonel Jean Saleur. The third brigade had four battalions and was commanded by Dutchman Major John James Dupont. In addition, the Maratha force included 10,000–20,000 of Berar's irregular infantry, some 30,000–40,000 irregular light cavalry and over 100 guns ranging in size from one to 18-pounders.

After several weeks of chasing down the Maratha army, Wellesley and Stevenson met at Budnapoor on 21 September and received intelligence that the Maratha army was at Borkardan, around 30 miles (48 km) to the north. They agreed on a plan by which their two armies – moving separately along either side of a range of hills with Wellesley to the east and Stevenson to the west – would converge on Borkardan on 24 September. Wellesley's force reached Paugy on the afternoon of 22 September and departed camp before dawn. By noon, the army had marched 14 miles (23 km) to Naulniah, a small town 12 miles (19 km) south of Borkardan, where they intended to rest before joining Stevenson to attack the Maratha army the next day. At this point, Wellesley received further intelligence that, rather than being at Borkardan, the Maratha army was camped just 5 miles (8.0 km) north, but their cavalry had moved off and the infantry were about to follow.

At about 13:00, Wellesley went forward with a cavalry escort to reconnoitre the Maratha position. The rest of his army followed closely behind, apart from a battalion of sepoys left at Naulniah to guard the baggage. In all, Wellesley had 4,500 troops at his disposal, plus 5,000 Mysore and Maratha horse and 17 cannon. Aware that the British were nearby, the Maratha chiefs had positioned their army in a strong defensive position along a tongue of land stretching east from Borkardan between the Kailna River and its tributary the Juah. However, Scindia and Berar did not believe Wellesley would attack with his small force and had moved away from the area in the morning. Command of their army was given to Pohlmann, who had positioned his infantry to the east of the Maratha camp in the plains around the village of Assaye on the southern bank of the Juah.

To his surprise, Wellesley found the entire combined army before him. Nevertheless, he resolved to attack at once, believing that if he waited for Stevenson, the Marathas would have the chance to slip away and force the pursuit to drag on. Wellesley was also eager to forge a reputation for himself, and despite his numerical disadvantage, he was confident that the Maratha's irregular forces would be swept aside by his disciplined troops, and only Scindia's regular infantry could be expected to stand and fight.

## Battle

### Initial manoeuvres

Pohlmann struck camp and deployed his infantry battalions in a line facing southwards behind the steep banks of the Kailna with his cannon arrayed directly in front. The great mass of Maratha cavalry was kept on the right flank and Berar's irregular infantry garrisoned Assaye to the rear. The only observable crossing point over the river was a small ford directly ahead of the Maratha position. Pohlmann's strategy was to funnel the British and Madras troops across the ford into the mouth of his cannon, and then on to the massed infantry and cavalry behind. Wellesley's local guides assured him that no other ford existed nearby, but he quickly discarded the option of a frontal assault as suicide. While reconnoitring he had noticed two unguarded villages, Peepulgaon and Waroor, one on each bank of the Kaitna beyond the Maratha left. On the assumption that a ford must exist between the two villages, Wellesley ordered the area to be further reconnoitred by his Chief Engineer, Captain John Johnson, who reported that there was indeed a ford at that spot. Thus Wellesley led his army east to the crossing in an attempt to launch an attack on Pohlmann's left flank.

At around 15:00, the British crossed to the northern bank of the Kaitna unopposed apart from a distant harassing fire from the Maratha cannon which was largely inaccurate but succeeded in decapitating Wellesley's dragoon orderly. Once across, Wellesley ordered his six infantry battalions to form into two lines, with his cavalry as a reserve in a third. His allied Maratha and Mysore cavalry were ordered to remain south of the Kaitna to keep in check a large body of Maratha cavalry which hovered around the British rear. Pohlmann soon recognised Wellesley's intentions and swung his infantry and guns through 90 degrees to establish a new line spread approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) across the isthmus with their right flank on the Kaitna and the left on Assaye. Although the new position secured the Maratha flanks, it restricted Pohlmann from bringing his superior numbers into action.

The Maratha redeployment was swifter and more efficient than Wellesley had anticipated and he immediately reacted by extending his front to deny Pohlmann the opportunity to outflank him. A battalion of pickets and the 74th Highlanders, which formed the right of the first and second lines, were ordered to move obliquely to the right. This allowed the 78th to anchor the left flank and Madras infantry battalions (the 1/10th, 1/8th, 1/4th and 2/12th) to form the centre of the British line. Wellesley's intention was to force back the Marathas from their guns and then – operating by his left to avoid the heavily defended Assaye – throw them back on the Juah and complete their destruction with his cavalry.

### British infantry attack

The Maratha cannonade intensified as the British redeployed. Although British artillery was brought forward to counter, it was ineffective against the mass firepower of the Maratha guns and quickly disabled through the weight of shot directed against it. British casualties mounted as the Maratha guns turned their attention to the infantry and subjected them to a barrage of canister, grape and round shot. Wellesley decided that his only option to neutralise the artillery and get his men out of the killing field was to advance directly into the mouth of the Maratha artillery. He ordered his cannon to be abandoned and gave the command for his infantry to march forward with bayonets fixed.

The Maratha cannonade punched holes in the British line, but the infantry maintained a steady pace, closing up the gaps in their ranks as they advanced. The 78th Highlanders were the first to reach the enemy in the southern sector next to the River Kailna. They paused 50 yards (46 m) from the Maratha gunners and unleashed a volley of musket fire before launching into a bayonet charge. The four battalions of Madras infantry to the right of the 78th, accompanied by the Madras Pioneers, reached Pohlmann's line shortly afterwards and attacked in the same fashion. The gunners stood by their cannon but were no match for the bayonets of the British and Madras troops who swiftly pressed on towards the Maratha infantry. However, instead of meeting the charge, the Maratha right broke and fled northwards towards the Juah, causing the rest of the southern half of the line to follow. The officers of the Madras battalions temporarily lost control as the sepoys, encouraged by their success, pushed too far in pursuit. Maratha cavalry momentarily threatened to charge, but were checked by the 78th, who remained in order and re-formed to face the danger.

In the northern sector of the battlefield however, Wellesley's right flank was in turmoil. The commander of the pickets, Lieutenant Colonel William Orrock, had mistaken his orders and continued his oblique path directly towards Assaye. Major Samuel Swinton of the 74th Regiment was ordered to support the pickets and followed close behind. This created a large gap in the centre of the British line and brought the two battalions under a barrage of cannonade from the artillery around the village and the Maratha left. The two battalions began to fall back in disarray, and Pohlmann ordered his remaining infantry and cavalry forward to attack. The Marathas gave no quarter; the pickets were virtually annihilated, but the remnants of the 74th were able to form a rough square behind hastily piled bodies of dead. Realising that the destruction of his right would leave his army exposed and outflanked, Wellesley ordered a detachment of British cavalry under Colonel Patrick Maxwell, consisting of the 19th Light Dragoons and elements of the 4th and 5th Madras Native Cavalry, into action. From their position at the rear, the cavalry dashed directly towards the 74th's square, crashed into the swarming attackers and routed them. Maxwell pressed his advantage and continued his charge into the Maratha infantry and guns on the right, driving them backwards and across the Juah "with great slaughter".

### Culmination

A number of Maratha gunners who had feigned death when the British advanced over their position re-manned their guns and began to pour cannon fire into the rear of the 74th and Madras infantry. Wellesley ordered his four sepoy battalions to re-form and ward off any threat from the Maratha infantry and cavalry while the 78th were sent back to retake the Maratha gun line. Wellesley, meanwhile, galloped back to 7th Madras Native Cavalry, which had been held back in reserve to the east, and led a cavalry charge from the opposite direction. The gunners again stood their ground but were eventually driven from their guns and this time it was ensured that all those who remained were dead.

While Wellesley was preoccupied with re-taking the gun line, Pohlmann rallied his infantry and redeployed them into a semicircle with their backs to the Juah; their right flank across the river and their left in Assaye. However, most of the Maratha cannon, which had inflicted heavy losses on Wellesley's infantry, had been captured or lay abandoned on the battlefield. Reluctant to join the fray, the Maratha cavalry lingered in the distance to the west. Most were Pindarries: loosely organised and lightly armed horsemen whose traditional role was to cut down fleeing enemy troops, harass convoy lines and carry out raids into enemy territory. They were not trained to attack well-formed infantry or heavily armed European cavalry, and did not play a further part in the battle.

With the remanned Maratha artillery silenced, Wellesley turned his attention to Pohlmann's reformed infantry. Although Maxwell had suffered heavy losses, he had rallied his cavalry and returned to the field of battle. Wellesley ordered him to charge the Maratha left flank, while the infantry moved forward as a single line to meet the centre and right. The cavalry spurred forward but were met with a volley of canister shot which struck Maxwell, killing him instantly. Their momentum lost, the cavalry did not complete their charge, but veered away from the Maratha line at the last moment. The British and Madras infantry marched on against the Maratha position. Pohlmann's men, their morale low, did not wait for the attack and instead retreated northwards across the Juah. Maratha sources claim the line marched away from the battlefield in an orderly manner on Pohlmann's orders, but British accounts claim the Maratha infantry fled in an uncontrolled panic. Berar's irregulars inside Assaye, now leaderless and having witnessed the fate of the regular infantry, abandoned the village and marched off northwards at around 18:00, followed shortly afterwards by the Maratha cavalry. Wellesley's troops were exhausted and in no condition to pursue, and the native allied cavalry which had remained on the south bank of the Kailna and had not been engaged, refused to pursue without the support of the British and Madras cavalry.

## Aftermath

The East India Company and British Army casualties amounted to 428 killed, 1,138 wounded and 18 missing; a total of 1,584 – over a third of the force engaged in combat. The 74th and the picket battalion were decimated; from a strength of about 500, the 74th lost ten officers killed and seven wounded, and 124 other ranks killed and 270 wounded. The pickets lost all their officers except their commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Orrock, and had only about 75 men remaining. Of the ten officers forming the general's staff, eight were wounded or had their horses killed. Wellesley himself lost two horses; the first was shot from underneath him and the second was speared as he led the charge to re-capture the Maratha gun line.

The number of Maratha casualties is more difficult to ascertain. Despatches from British officers give a figure of 1,200 dead and many more wounded but some modern historians have estimated a total of 6,000 dead and wounded. The Marathas also surrendered seven stands of colours, large amounts of stores and ammunition and 98 cannon – most of which were later taken into service by the East India Company. Although Scindia and Berar's army was not finished as a fighting force, several of Scindia's regular infantry battalions and artillery crews had been destroyed. Their command structure had also been damaged: many of their European officers, including Colonel Pohlmann and Major Dupont, surrendered to the Company – which had offered amnesty to Europeans in the service of the Maratha armies – or deserted and sought employment with other native chieftains.

The sound of the guns at Assaye was heard by Stevenson who immediately broke up his camp 10 miles (16 km) to the west in an attempt to join the battle. However, he was misled by his guide and marched first on Borkardan before he reached the battlefield on the evening of 24 September. Suspecting that his guide had intentionally led him astray, Stevenson later had him hanged. He remained with Wellesley to assist with the wounded – troops were still being carried from the battlefield four days after the engagement – until ordered to recommence the pursuit of the Maratha army on 26 September. Wellesley remained to the south while he established a hospital at Ajanta and awaited reinforcements from Poona. Two months later, he combined with Stevenson to rout Scindia and Berar's demoralised and weakened army at Argaon, and shortly afterwards stormed Berar's fortress at Gawilghur. These victories, coupled with Lieutenant General Lake's successful campaign in the north, induced the two Maratha chiefs to sue for peace.

Wellesley later told Stevenson that "I should not like to see again such a loss as I sustained on the 23rd September, even if attended by such a gain", and in later life he referred to Assaye as "the bloodiest for the numbers that I ever saw". Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Munro, the Company's district collector at Mysore, was critical of the high proportion of casualties and questioned Wellesley's decision not to wait for Stevenson. He wrote to Wellesley: "I am tempted to think that you did it with a view of sharing the glory with the smallest numbers". In response, Wellesley politely rebuffed Munro's accusations and defended his action as necessary because he had received and acted upon incorrect intelligence regarding the Maratha position. Assaye was 34-year-old Wellesley's first major success and despite his anguish over the heavy losses, it was a battle he always held in the highest estimation. After his retirement from active military service, the Duke of Wellington (as he later became known) considered Assaye the finest thing he ever did in the way of fighting even when compared to his later military career.

Lord Mornington and his Council lauded the battle as a "most brilliant and important victory", and presented each of the Madras units and British regiments involved in the engagement with a set of honorary colours. The British regiments and native units were also awarded the Assaye battle honour and most were later given permission to adopt an Assaye elephant as part of their insignia. A public monument was also erected by the East India Company at Fort William, Calcutta to commemorate the victory. The 74th Regiment of foot later became known as the Assaye regiment due to their stand at the battle and their modern-day successors, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2 SCOTS), still celebrate the anniversary of the battle each year. Of the native infantry battalions, only the Madras Sappers survive in their original form in the Indian Army but they no longer celebrate Assaye as it has been declared a repugnant battle honour by the Government of India.

## In fiction

- Bernard Cornwell's fictional character Richard Sharpe earned his battlefield promotion to officer's rank by saving Wellesley's life at the Battle of Assaye. The novel Sharpe's Triumph (HarperCollins, 1998, ) depicts the campaign and the battle in detail. Both men's memories of Assaye are mentioned several more times throughout the series as Sharpe and Wellington's careers progress. The television adaptation differs and depicts Sharpe saving Wellesley's life from French soldiers in Spain during the later Peninsular War.

Battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War

Battles involving the British East India Company

History of the Corps of Engineers (Indian Army)


Banton, Romblon

Banton, officially the Municipality of Banton (Bantoanon: Banwa it Banton, Filipino: Bayan ng Banton, formerly known as Jones), is a fifth-class municipality in the province of Romblon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 5,737 people.

Its territory encompasses the entire Banton Island and a few uninhabited smaller islands. The island is located on the northern portion of the province and lies on the northern portion of the Sibuyan Sea near the southern tip of Marinduque. It is a town of about 5,000 people majority of which speak the Bantoanon language (also known as Asi), one of the five primary branches of the Bisayan languages.

Banton is thought to be already inhabited by Filipinos since the pre-colonial period, based on analysis of human remains, coffins, an ancient burial cloth and other archaeological finds discovered at the Guyangan Cave System by the National Museum in 1936. The present settlement was founded in 1622 by the Spanish and is the oldest settlement in the province. During the American colonial period, the municipality changed its name to Jones in honor of American congressman William Jones, who authored the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916. Today, Banton is one of Romblon's thriving municipalities, with an economy dependent on copra farming, fishing, raffia palm weaving, and tourism. The island is collectively known as a cultural landscape due to its historical, cultural and archaeological value to humanity.

## Etymology

The name "Banton" was derived from the Asi word batoon, meaning "rocky", referring to the mountainous and rocky topography of the island due to its volcanic origin. Another possible origin is the word bantoy, which is the Asi word for the venomous stonefish.

## History

### Early history

Banton was already inhabited during pre-colonial times as proven by ancient artefacts such as wooden coffins and skeletal remains found in the island's Guyangan Cave System in 1936 by a team of researchers from the National Museum of the Philippines. Among the artefacts was the Banton Cloth, a piece of a traditional burial cloth found in one of the wooden coffins. It is estimated to be 400 years old, making it the earliest known warp ikat (tie-resist dyeing) textile in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. These artifacts are now preserved at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.

The municipality of Banton was established by Spanish colonial authorities in 1622, the first town established in Romblon, which was then part of Capiz province. It was initially founded in a site in Bacoco Hill (now part of Barangay Hambian), south-west of its present site. The administration of the other islands of Romblon were put under the jurisdiction of Banton until 1631, when Pueblo de Romblon was founded. In 1640, due to frequent raids by Moros, who looted and pillaged the settlement, the limestone fort called Fuerza de San Jose and the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish Church was constructed under the leadership of Father Agustin de San Pedro, also known as El Padre Capitan, who was the parish priest of Banton at that time. The construction was completed in 1644, and in 1648, San Nicolas de Tolentino was installed as the town's patron saint. The fort effectively protected the town against further Moro raids. Banton ceased being part of Capiz when the Spanish colonial government created the politico-military province of Romblon on 11 January 1868.

### 20th century

When civilian government was introduced in Romblon by the Americans on 16 March 1901, Banton was one of the 11 new municipalities reinstated or created. In 1918, the municipality was renamed Jones in honor of American congressman William Jones, who authored the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 that provided for greater autonomy for the Philippines under American colonial rule. On 8 June 1940, with the passage of Commonwealth Act No. 581, all of Romblon's municipalities were dissolved and Jones, together with Corcuera and Concepcion, were consolidated into a special municipality called Maghali, one of four special municipalities that the law created (the rest being Romblon, Tablas and Sibuyan). The reorganization proved to be difficult for the province's local leaders, and after World War II, Republic Act No. 38 repealed Commonwealth Act No. 581, restoring Jones to its pre-war status. On 24 April 1959, Republic Act No. 2158 restored the island to its former name, Banton.

### 21st century

In 2013, Banton was one of the sites of a detailed resource assessment by the Department of Energy (DOE), along with Maricaban Island in Batangas and Balut Island in Saranggani. The study aimed to determine whether the island can be a site for low enthalpy geothermal power generation. However, no exploitable geothermal resource has been delineated on the island. On 19 March 2013, the National Museum of the Philippines declared the island's Guyangan Cave System, where precolonial wooden coffins, remains, and the Banton Cloth were found, as an Important Cultural Property.

The island municipality was greatly devastated by Typhoon Melor on 15 December 2015, which made its fourth landfall over the island, and by Typhoon Kammuri on 3 December 2019, which made its second landfall over the island. The typhoon destroyed or damaged 912 houses in the island municipality, while 42 percent of agricultural lands were damaged. The estimated cost of damage to infrastructure in the town was ₱39 million.

In 2020, the population of the Philippine long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis philippensis) in the island was found to have increased over previously documented levels, with the monkeys destroying crops and raiding homes. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources sent a team to the island, which confirmed the population increase. To control its population, the team suggested that the macaques be exported to monkey farms in Luzon for use in scientific research on diseases such as Ebola. Nedim Buyukmihci, a professor emeritus of veterinary medicine at the University of California-Davis has expressed opposition to the plan.

On 21 October 2020, several fishing boats in the villages of Mainit and Yabawon on the western side of the island municipality were destroyed by huge waves caused by Typhoon Saudel, which passed over the central portion of Luzon Island in the north of the Philippines. A few days later, on 25 October, the island municipality was devastated by Typhoon Molave, which made landfall over Torrijos, Marinduque, just north of the island. PAGASA raised typhoon Signal No. 3 over the island, along with the rest of northern Romblon, as the typhoon passed over the province with winds of up to 130 kph. The typhoon caused a landslide along the Togbongan-Nabalay Road on the north of the island and also destroyed several homes and agricultural lands.

In 2021 and 2022, the island municipality marked two important milestones: On 15 March 2021, Banton marked a year of being COVID-19 free since the community quarantine in the Philippines began. It joined 23 other municipalities in the distinguished status. In August 2022, the town celebrated its 400th founding anniversary with a host of religious and festive social activities, including a ceremonial release of balloons.

On 16 July 2023, MV Maria Helena, a ROPAX ferry owned and operated by Montenegro Shipping Lines intentionally beached in Barangay Nasunogan after it titled in the Sibuyan Sea while en route to San Agustin from Lucena. The incident was caused by a tire blowout in one of the vehicles being carried by the ferry amid rough seas, causing the vehicle the tilt and its lashing to snap, and resulting in vehicle pileup on the port side of the vessel. All 120 passengers and crew were rescued. The vessel has since been righted, its cargo transferred to another vessel, and has sailed back to Lucena for repairs.

## Geography

Banton lies on the northern portion of the Sibuyan Sea and is equidistant between Marinduque Island to the north and Tablas Island to the south. It is composed of the main island of Banton and the uninhabited islands of Bantoncillo, Carlota and Isabel, the last two of which are collectively known as the Dos Hermanas Islands. There is also Polloc Islet near Tabonan Beach just off the northwest portion of the island and part of Barangay Yabawon.

Banton has a total land area of 3,248 hectares (32.48 km2). Based on rock petrology, the island is a dormant volcano which lies at the southernmost portion of the Pleistocene-Quaternary West Luzon volcanic arc and may have been active during the Pliocene period. Because of its volcanic origin, the island has a mountainous, rocky topography, with very few patches of flat land suitable for farming. The island's highest elevation, Mount Ampongo, rises at 596 metres (1,955 ft).

### Barangays

Banton is politically subdivided into 17 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

In 1954, the sitios of Mahaba, Angomon, Solocan, Kapanranan, and Yabawon were consolidated into the barangay known as Yabawon.

- Balogo
- Banice
- Hambi-an
- Lagang
- Libtong
- Mainit
- Nabalay
- Nasunogan
- Poblacion
- Sibay
- Tan-Ag
- Toctoc
- Togbongan
- Togong
- Tungonan
- Tumalum
- Yabawon

### Climate

As part of Romblon, Banton is classified under Type III of the Corona climatic classification system. This type of climate is described as having no prominent wet or dry seasons. The wet season, which usually occurs from June to November can extend up to December during the onset of the southwest monsoon. The dry season from January to May may sometimes have periods of rainfall or even inclement weather.

## Demographics

According to the 2020 census, Banton has a population of 5,737 people. The island municipality is sparsely populated with a population density of . According to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), in 2013, there were 3,694 registered voters in Banton, spread over 31 electoral precincts. Of this figure, 1,794 are male registered voters, while 1,900 are female.

### Language

The island's inhabitants speak the Asi language (also known as Bantoanon), one of three major languages spoken in Romblon and one of five primary branches of the Bisayan language family. The island's inhabitants were the first speakers of the language throughout the province, having spoken it since precolonial times. From Banton, the language spread to other island like Maestro de Campo, Simara, and in the towns of Calatrava, and Odiongan in Tablas Island.

David Paul Zorc, a linguist from the Australian National University whose expertise is on Philippine languages, notes that Asi speakers may have been the first Bisayan speakers in the Romblon region. He also suggests that Asi may have a Cebuano substratum and that many of its words may have been influenced by the later influx of other languages such as Romblomanon.

## Economy

Banton has a primarily agricultural economy, with copra farming and fishing as the main sources of livelihood. There is also an indigenous raffia palm handicraft industry. Other crops grown in the island are root crops (such as cassava, sweet potatoes), fruits and vegetables. The locals also engage in livestock raising for local consumption, and small-scale shipbuilding of wooden boats and launches.

Due to the island's rocky topography and lack of a stable supply of freshwater, rice production is difficult in the island. Rice from Mindoro, Marinduque or Quezon is supplied to the island by local traders. In recent years, the island has also become a small tourist hub for Asi expatriates and foreign tourists from the United States and other countries.

## Tourism

Banton is an eco-tourism and heritage destination due to its beaches, diving sites, caves, churches and Spanish-era fortifications.

### Heritage sites

Being the oldest settlement in Romblon, Banton has several Spanish-era fortifications and churches, as well as American-era houses. These include Fuerza de San Jose, Banton Church, the old campanile made of limestone at Everlast in Barangay Poblacion, and a limestone watchtower at Onte in Barangay Toctoc. There is an American-era house at Pinagkaisahan in Barangay Poblacion which used to be the Ugat Faigao Museum but now serves as a sari-sari store. The Asi Studies Center for Culture and the Arts (also in Purok Everlast) serves as an information center for the Asi language and Banton history, as well as depository of Banton's archaeological and cultural artifacts. The Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino also has a small museum of pre-colonial and Spanish-era artifacts. Among these artifacts is an intricate jar known locally as balogodibo, which three children accidentally found at Barangay Balogo in 2010.

The National Museum of the Philippines also announced in 2016 the construction of a site museum near the island's Guyangan Cave System on a 1.5-hectare (3.7-acre) property donated by the Fabicon family. The site museum will serve as depository of the island's cultural treasures and will conduct research on how to best preserve the island's intangible heritage.

### Natural formations

Caves are Banton's well-known natural formations. The Guyangan Cave System, situated at the boundary of Barangay Toctoc and Togbongan, has seven caves, some of which were inhabited during pre-colonial times, and is now an Important Cultural Treasure as declared by the National Museum. Guyangan Hill, where the caves are situated, also has a natural view deck called Manamyaw overlooking Barangay Poblacion and the Sibuyan Sea. On a clear day, the islands of Sibuyan, Romblon, and Tablas, as well as Burias Island, can be easily seen from Manamyaw. The island has several rock formations as well. Punta Matagar in Barangay Poblacion is a pointed rock formation in the shape of a spear or arrow head. In Barangay Banice, on the southern portion of the island, lies a rock arch said to be the anchorage of "Lolo Amang", a mythological figure in Romblon's nautical folklore similar to the Flying Dutchman.

### Beaches

Several beaches dot Banton's coast including Macat-ang, Tabonan, Mahaba, Recodo, Togbongan, Mainit, and Tambak beaches. Some like Macat-ang, Tabonan, and Tambak are white sand beaches, while others, like Togbongan, are pebbled and rocky. The island's waters are also well-known dive sites, with corals that serve as breeding ground for groupers, snappers, sharks, and stingrays.

### Festivals

Banton has annual religious and cultural festivals. The Sanrokan festival showcases the local tradition of sharing food, especially viand, among neighbors and starts from Holy Saturday up to Easter Sunday. The festival has two phases: the Sanrokan sa Barangay (sharing of food in the villages) and the Sanrokan sa Poblacion (sharing of food at the town proper). Parlor games such as chasing the pig and palosebo (climbing a greased bamboo pole to claim a prize) are held during the celebration. This is followed by the Hanrumanan (meaning "souvenir/legacy") street dancing and parade. Meanwhile, every year, on 10 September, the entire island pays tribute and homage to the town's patron saint, San Nicolas de Tolentino through the Biniray festival. Holy mass is held during feast day, followed by the parading of the saint's image around town. This leads to a fluvial parade around the island, with each village giving homage to the saint. Bantoanons also hold an annual Via Crucis during the Holy Week and Flores de Mayo in May.

## Government

### Local government

As a municipality in the Province of Romblon, government officials in the provincial level are voted by the electorates of the town. The provincial government have political jurisdiction over local transactions of the municipal government.

Pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991, the municipality of Banton is composed of a mayor (alkalde), a vice mayor (bise alkalde) and eight members (kagawad) of the Sangguniang Bayan or town council, alongside a secretary to the said council, all of which are elected to a three-year term and are eligible to run for three consecutive terms. As of 30 June 2022, Banton's incumbent mayor is Milagros "Mely" Faderanga of the Nacionalista Party while the incumbent Vice Mayor is Loijorge Fegalan, also of the Nacionalista Party.

The barangays or villages, meanwhile, are headed by elected officials, the topmost being the Punong Barangay or the Barangay Chairperson (addressed as Kapitan; also known as the Barangay Captain). The Kapitan is aided by the Sangguniang Barangay (Barangay Council) whose members, called Barangay Kagawad (Councilors), are also elected. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

In 2011 and 2013, Banton was a recipient of the Seal of Good Housekeeping from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). As recipient of the award, the local government was rewarded with one million pesos from the Performance Challenge Fund of the DILG for use in local projects. The Seal of Good Housekeeping is a mechanism which tracks the performance of local government units, "specifically in the areas of local legislation, development planning, resource generation, and resource allocation".

### Municipal seal

The municipal seal of Banton is composed of two concentric circles: a thin yellow outer circle and a small white circle. The yellow outer circle has the words Bayan ng Banton (Municipality of Banton) written on top in a semi-circular fashion and the words Lalawigan ng Romblon (Province of Romblon) on the bottom in a semi-circular fashion. At the center of the small white circle is a shield with five grey sides, a motif taken from the Provincial Seal of Romblon. The shield has a light blue field representing the Sibuyan Sea where the island municipality is located.

At the center of the light blue field is an outline map of the island in green. Two figures can also be seen on the seal: A coconut tree on the center of the outline of the island, representing copra, the island's major crop and economic activity, which als' symbolizes the Bantoanons' desire to live a decent life and gain greater knowledge for a brighter tomorrow. On light blue field to left of the outline of the island is an image of a wooden ship, locally known lanson, as the Bantoanons are skilled shipbuilders. It also symbolizes their desire to seek adventure and greener pastures.

## Infrastructure

### Utilities

Electricity in the island is supplied by a 0.326 MW diesel power plant of the Romblon Electric Cooperative (ROMELCO). Electricity service used to be available only in early morning, from 4:00 to 6:00 a.m. and at night, from 5:00 to 11:00 p.m., due to limited fuel supplies. On 16 March 2018, ROMELCO began supplying the island with 24-hour electricity.

Water is being supplied through a level-one water system installed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi CIDDS) initiative in 2015. The water is sourced from underground freshwater springs in Barangay Mainit and distributed to individual homes through a network of pipes and pumps. Aside from this system, locals also get potable water from artesian wells built in several locations in the island and rainwater collection systems that many residents have in their homes.

The island has access to cellular phone and Internet service through Smart and Globe. Terrestrial and cable television service are also available.

### Transportation

As seas surrounding Banton can be rough during the wet season, the best time to visit the island is from March to May during the dry (summer) season. This is also the typical time for Asi families living in Metro Manila or abroad to visit the island since it coincides with the Lenten season and barangay fiestas. Within the island, the main forms of transportation are passenger motorcycles (known elsewhere as habal-habal) and motorized boats. A circumferential road connects the 17 barangays of Banton to each other.

By sea: Banton is accessible via RORO vessels, wooden launches and motorized boats that regularly travel from Lucena City, Quezon. A RORO ferry by Starhorse Shipping leaves for Banton at 4 p.m. every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday and returns to Lucena City from Banton at 5 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tourists and visitors can also take RORO vessels that ply the Manila-Odiongan, Batangas City-Odiongan, or the Roxas-Odiongan route. From Odiongan, Banton can be reached by jeepney and motorized boat via Calatrava, Romblon. Another alternative route is through Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro using motorized boats.

By air: The closest airport with active airline service is Tugdan Airport in Alcantara, Romblon. Cebu Pacific has flights to the airport, with four flights weekly from Manila. From Alcantara, Banton can be reached in five to six hours by jeepney and motorized outrigger boats from Calatrava.

## Health

Banton has a rural health unit located beside the town hall and town square in Barangay Poblacion that can provide basic healthcare services to its residents. Aside from this, there are barangays that have a health center that provide healthcare monitoring, first aid, and other basic healthcare services. For more severe medical emergencies and other medical tests, patients need to be transported to Romblon, Odiongan, or Lucena to receive healthcare services.

## Education

Banton has a high literacy rate owing to the establishment of several public elementary and secondary schools. All schools in the island are administered by the Department of Education (DepEd). The main public elementary school, Banton Central School, and the main secondary school, Banton National High School, are both located in the main village of Poblacion. There are public elementary schools as well in the villages of Balogo, Banice, Libtong, Nasunogan, Tan-ag, Tungonan, and Tumalum (shared with the village of Lagang). Another secondary school, Tungonan National High School, is located in Tungonan.

## Notable personalities

- Gabriel Fabella, co-founder and first president of the Philippine Historical Association; Father of June 12 Independence Day; and sole representative of Romblon in the First National Assembly (1935–1938).

## Gallery

Municipality in Romblon, Philippines

Island municipalities in the Philippines


Doolittle (album)

Doolittle is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in April 1989 on 4AD. Doolittle was the Pixies' first international release, with Elektra Records as the album's distributor in the United States and PolyGram in Canada. The album's lyrics invoke surrealist imagery, refer to instances of biblical violence, and allude to themes of torture and death.

"Doolittle" has been considered as one of the quintessential albums of the 1980s, and continued to sell consistently since its release. The album itself reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart. It was certified gold in 1995 and Platinum in 2018 by the Recording Industry Association of America. Pixies released two singles from the album: "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven", both of which reached the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US, while tracks such as "Debaser" and "Hey" remain critical favourites. Numerous music publications have ranked it as one of the top albums of the 1980s, and it has been cited as an inspiration for many alternative rock artists.

## Background

Following their 1988 album Surfer Rosa, which was well received in England but not in the United States, the band embarked on a European tour with fellow Bostonians Throwing Muses. In July 1988, versions of the songs that would appear on Doolittle—including "Dead", "Hey", "Tame" and "There Goes My Gun"—were recorded during several sessions for John Peel's radio show in 1988, and "Hey" appeared on a free EP circulated with a 1988 edition of Sounds.

`In mid-1988 the Pixies began to record demo sessions while on breaks from touring. The band headed to the Boston recording studio Eden Sound, located in the basement of a hair salon. They recorded at the studio for a week, similar to the previous year's Purple Tape sessions. Black Francis, the group's frontman and principal songwriter, gave the demo tape and upcoming album the provisional title of Whore, later claiming that he meant it "in the more traditional sense ... the operatic, biblical sense, ... as in the great whore of Babylon". After completing the demo tape, band manager Ken Goes suggested two producers for the album: Liverpudlian Gil Norton and American Ed Stasium. The band had previously worked with Norton while recording the single version of "Gigantic" in May 1988. Francis had no preference. Ivo Watts-Russell, head of the band's label 4AD, chose Norton to produce the next album. Norton arrived in Boston in mid October 1988 and had Francis come over to his temporary apartment to review the album's demos. The two spent two days analyzing the song structures and arrangements. They spent a further two weeks in pre-production while Norton familiarize himself with the Pixies' sound.`

## Recording and production

Recording sessions for the album began on October 31, 1988, at Downtown Recorders in Boston, Massachusetts, which was at the time a professional 24-track studio. 4AD allotted the Pixies a budget of \$40,000 (approximately \$ today), excluding producer's fees. This was a modest sum for a 1980s major label album; however, it quadrupled the amount spent on the band's previous album, Surfer Rosa. Along with Norton, two assistant recording engineers and two second assistants were assigned to the project. The sessions lasted three weeks, concluding on November 23.

Production and mixing began on November 28. The band relocated to Carriage House Studios, a residential studio in Stamford, Connecticut, to oversee production and record further tracks. Norton recruited Steven Haigler as mixing engineer, whom he had worked with at Fort Apache Studios. During production, Haigler and Norton added layers of guitars and vocals to songs, including overdubbed guitars on "Debaser" and double tracked vocals on "Wave of Mutilation". During the recordings, Norton advised Francis to alter several songs; a noted example being "There Goes My Gun", which was originally intended as a much faster, Hüsker Dü-style song. At Norton's advice, Francis slowed down the tempo.

Norton's suggestions were not always welcome, and several instances of advice to add verses and increase track length contributed to the Francis's building frustration. Once, he took Norton to a record store and handed him a copy of a Buddy Holly greatest hits album in which most of the songs are around two minutes or three minutes long, justifying why his songs should be kept short. Francis later expressed that Norton was trying to give the band a more commercial sound and Francis wanted to keep it more grunge-like. Production continued until December 12, 1988, with Norton and Haigler adding extra effects, including gated reverb to the mix. The master tapes were then sent for final post-production later that month.

During the recording of Doolittle, tensions between Francis and Deal became visible to band members and the production team. Bickering and standoffs between the two marred the recording sessions and led to increased stress among the band members. John Murphy, Deal's husband at the time, later recalled that, with Doolittle, the band dynamic "went from just all fun to work". Exhaustion from touring and from releasing three records in two years contributed to the friction. The friction between Francis and Deal culminated at the end of the US post-Doolittle "Fuck or Fight" tour, and they did not attend their end-of-tour party. Soon afterwards, the band announced that they were going on hiatus.

## Composition

### Music

Francis wrote all the material for Doolittle with the exception of "Silver", which he co-wrote with Kim Deal. The album features an eclectic mix of musical styles. "Crackity Jones" has a distinctly Spanish sound, incorporating G and A triads over a C pedal. The song's rhythm guitar, played by Francis, starts with an eighth-note downstroke typical of punk rock. "Tame"'s three chord bass progression is overlaid by Joey Santiago's "Hendrix chord", and pivots on a sudden shift from quiet to loud, a signature Pixie dynamic. In contrast, "Monkey Gone to Heaven" features cellos and violins.

### Lyrics

The lyrics explore a variety of violent topics: the opening song, "Debaser", mentions slicing eyes and the closing song, "Gouge Away", ends with everyone dying in a crush. Black Francis often claimed that Doolittles lyrics were words which just "fit together nicely", and that "the point [of the album] is to experience it, to enjoy it, to be entertained by it".

"Debaser" contains references to surrealism; the lyrics "slicing up eyeballs" refers to Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's 1929 film Un Chien Andalou. Surrealism influenced Francis in his college years and throughout his career with the Pixies. Describing its influence on his songwriting method, he said "I got into avant-garde movies and Surrealism as an escape from reality. ... To me, Surrealism is totally artificial. I recently read an interview with the director David Lynch who said he had ideas and images but that he didn't know exactly what they meant. That's how I write."

"Monkey Gone to Heaven" describes the human-caused environmental catastrophe in the ocean, As Francis put it: "On one hand, it's this big organic toilet. Things get flushed and repurified or decomposed and it's this big, dark, mysterious place. It's also a very mythological place where there are octopus's gardens, the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, and mermaids." The song's lyrics question humanity's place in the universe. The following song, "Mr. Grieves" takes the theme of destruction further, suggesting the human race it doomed to extinction. Francis described "Wave of Mutilation" as being about "Japanese businessmen doing murder-suicides with their families because they'd failed in business, and they're driving off a pier into the ocean." Imagery of the drowning and the sea are also used in "Mr. Grieves" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven".

Two of the songs are based Old Testament stories of sex and death: the story of David and Bathsheba in "Dead", and Samson and Delilah in "Gouge Away". Francis' fascination with Biblical themes can be traced back to his teenage years; when he was twelve, he and his parents joined an evangelical church linked to the Assemblies of God. The themes also influenced the lyrics of "Monkey Gone to Heaven", the Devil being "six" and God being "seven".

The lyrics for "Crackity Jones" allude to Francis' roommate during a student exchange trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, whom he described as a "weird psycho gay roommate". "La La Love You", which was sung by the band's drummer David Lovering, is seen as a satire of love songs. Its tongue-in-cheek vocal style and simplistic lyrics (including the line "first base, second base, third base, home run") were a crude joke about sex. Francis asked Lovering to provide vocals so it would be "a Ringo thing". Lovering initially refused, but according to Norton Francis was soon unable to "get him away from the microphone".

### Artwork and title

The artwork was designed by photographer Simon Larbalestier and graphic artist Vaughan Oliver who had worked on the Pixies' previous albums, Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Larbalestier stated Doolittle was the first album where he and Oliver had access to the lyrics, which according to Larbalestier "made a fundamental difference", and he, like Francis, was interested in early surrealism.

The artwork was designed by photographer Simon Larbalestier and graphic artist Vaughan Oliver who had worked on the Pixies' previous albums, Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Larbalestier stated Doolittle was the first album where he and Oliver had access to the lyrics, which "made a fundamental difference" Larbalestier said that both Oliver and Francis supported the dark, macabre, and surreal images to illustrate the album. These were photographs constructed by juxtaposing two principle elements, such as a bell and teeth. Images included: Monkey Gone to Heaven, with a monkey and halo; "Tame", with a pelvic bone and stiletto; "Gouge Away", a spoon containing hair laid across a woman's torso.

Around the time Oliver decided to portray a monkey and halo for the cover art, Francis discarded the working title Whore for the album. He later explained that he "thought people were going to think I was some kind of anti-Catholic or that I'd been raised Catholic and trying to get into this Catholic naughty-boy stuff. ... A monkey with a halo, calling it Whore, that would bring all kinds of shit that wouldn't be true. So I said I'd change the title."

## Release

In Fall 1988, Elektra Records began to take interest in the Pixies, and amid a bidding war, signed the band. Elektra then began to negotiate with the Pixies' British label 4AD, which held their worldwide distribution rights, and released a promotional live album containing the album tracks "Debaser" and "Gouge Away" along with a selection of earlier material. Two weeks before Doolittle released on April 2, 1989, Elektra and 4AD closed a deal that gave Elektra distribution rights in the US. By that time, PolyGram had already secured Canadian distribution rights.

Doolittle was released in the UK on April 17, 1989, and in the US the following day. Elektra's major label status helped get retail displays for the record put up across the United States. Elektra also got "Monkey Gone to Heaven", the first single from the album, sent to major radio stations.

### Critical reception

When Doolittle was released, it was received positively by many critics, NME critic Edwin Pouncey wrote that "the songs on Doolittle have the power to make you literally jump out of your skin with excitement". He singled out "Debaser" as one of the highlights, describing it as "blessed with the kind of beefy bass hook that originally brought "Gigantic" to life". Q critic Peter Kane wrote that the album's "carefully structured noise and straightforward rhythmic insistence makes perfect sense". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote, "They're in love and they don't know why—with rock and roll, which is heartening in a time when so many college dropouts have lost touch with the verities". However, he concluded that "getting famous too fast could ruin them", while suggesting the lyrics reflect somewhat of a disconnection with "the outside world".

Some reviewers were more critical. Spin ran a hundred-word review of the album, with critic Joe Levy finding "the insanity less surreal and more silly, and the songs themselves more like songs and less like adventures". Rolling Stone published "a tentative endorsement" of Doolittle, rating it three and a half stars; reviewer Chris Mundy concluded, "The emphasis on more textured production has in no way taken away from the band's intensity. Francis is at all times in command of the album, quietly stringing us along before turning on us and screaming for attention."

Doolittle appeared on several end-of-year "Best Album" lists. Both Rolling Stone and The Village Voice placed the album tenth, and independent music magazines Sounds and Melody Maker both ranked the album as the second-best of the year. NME ranked the album fourth in their end-of-year list.

### Sales

In the first week after its release in Britain, Doolittle was number eight on the UK Albums Chart. In the US, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 171. With the help of college radio-play of "Monkey Gone to Heaven", it eventually rose to number 98, spending two weeks in the Top 100. Doolittle sold steadily in America, breaking sales of 100,000 after six months. By early 1992, while the band were supporting U2 on their Zoo TV Tour, the album was selling 1,500 copies per week. By the middle of 1993—two years after the release of the band's last album before their initial breakup, Trompe le Monde—Doolittle saw sales average 1,200 copies per week. Doolittle was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1995 and Platinum in 2018.

Ten years after their breakup, Doolittle continued to sell between 500 and 1,000 copies a week, and following their 2004 reunion tour sales reached 1,200 copies per week. At the end of 2005, best estimates put total US sales at between 800,000 and one million copies. As of 2015, sales in the United States have exceeded 834,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

A number of singles from Doolittle were released. In 1997, "Debaser" was re-released to promote the Death to the Pixies compilation. In June 1989, 4AD released "Here Comes Your Man" as the album's second single. It reached number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 56 in the UK Singles Chart. On May 6, 2019, "Here Comes Your Man" was certified Gold in Canada; On September 20, 2021, "Hey" was certified Gold in Canada.

## Legacy

"Doolittle" consistently appears in numerous lists as one of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time. In 2017, Pitchfork ranked it as the fourth best album of the 1980s; a 2003 poll of NME writers ranked Doolittle as the second-greatest album of all time; and Rolling Stone placed the album at 141 on its 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

The album has been recognized as one of the key alternative rock albums of the 1980s. It established the Pixies' loud—quiet dynamic, which became highly influential on alternative rock. After writing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", both Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana thought: "this really sounds like the Pixies. People are really going to nail us for this." Norton was frequently credited with capturing the album's dynamics and became highly sought after by bands wishing to achieve a similar sound. Fellow alternative musician PJ Harvey was "in awe" of "I Bleed" and "Tame", and described Francis's writing as "amazing".

A 2002 Rolling Stone review gave it the maximum score five stars, remarking that it laid the "groundwork for Nineties rock". The critic Michael Powell called "Doolittle" "their most famous album." It was included in critic Robert Dimer's influential book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. PopMatters included it in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums" saying, "Doolittle, captured the musicians at the top of their game when it was released in 1989."

## Track listing

All tracks were written by Black Francis, except where noted.

## Reissues

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album, 4AD released a deluxe edition titled Doolittle 25, containing unreleased B-sides, demos and two full Peel sessions. On December 9, 2016, a limited Pure Audio Blu-Ray version of the album was released containing a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album by Kevin Vanbergen and a high definition stereo mix by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

### Doolittle 25 bonus discs

All tracks previously released unless otherwise indicated.

## Personnel

Pixies

- Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
- Kim Deal – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic slide guitar ("Silver")
- Joey Santiago – lead guitar, backing vocals
- David Lovering – drums, lead vocal ("La La Love You"), bass guitar ("Silver")

Additional musicians

- Karen Karlsrud – violin ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
- Corine Metter – violin ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
- Arthur Fiacco – cello ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
- Ann Rorich – cello ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")

Technical'

- Gil Norton – producer, engineer
- Dave Snider – assistant engineer
- Matt Lane – assistant engineer
- Steve Haigler – mixing
- Vaughan Oliver – art direction, design
- Simon Larbalestier – photography
- Chris Bigg – calligraphy

## Charts

## Certifications

1989 studio album by Pixies