Even under the command of Wellesley, the British remained unsuccessful in taming the revolt or capturing Pazhassi. By when Wellesley who had defeated the Marathas a year earlier went back to England, failing to capture Pazhassi. Pazhassi finally fell to treachery, on November 30, when a Chetti who found out the location of their camp leaked it to Thomas Hervey Baber, who was the then Sub-Collector.
Baber who reached the camp with a huge army defeated and killed Pazhassi in a fiercely fought battle. But according to folklore, Pazhassi consumed poison before he was captured by the British. Unlike many other kings who had fallen before and after him, the British cremated his body with full military honours at same spot where he died. Videos News India. Latest Stories. Mutual Funds. Worth X. Science And Future. Human Interest. Social Relevance. Healthy Living. All India World Sports Weird.
This made a confrontation with Pazhassi Raja inevitable. The first Pazhassi Revot was a reaction against the mistaken revenue policy of the British1. The Mysore rules had followed the policy of collecting revenues directly from the cultivators. But the British administrators abandoned this policy and entrusted the revenue collection in the various dominions to the respective Rajas who paid lump sums to the Government.
These Rajas resorted to heavy assessments which the people found exceedingly difficult to honour. There were forced collections as well. All this evoked strong reactions among all sections of the people.
The situation in Kottayam took a grim turn as the people took to direct action. Pazhassi Raja and his people considered this as a deliberate act of betrayal on the part of the British2. Pazhassi Raja decided to challenge the action of the British by organising an open rebellion against the foreign power.
The English were forced to make some concessions. The Raja strongly resented the British action and remained in a state of open rebellion till During the first phase of the Pazhassi Revolt which covered the period from to the British failed in their efforts to crush the rebels. The hill tribes of the Kurichiyas and Kurumbars stood steadfastly by him the British made a futile attempt to seize the Raja in his own palace at Pazhassi. Having become conscious of the futility of waging pitched battles against the English on the plains, the Raja and his men withdrew into the jungles of Wayanad and resorted to guerrilla tactics.
The British troops under the command of Col. Arthur Wellesley went into action against the Pazhassi troops but they could not withstand the guerrilla warfare indulged in by the rebels.
The British troops stationed at various strategic points in Wynad were forced to withdraw under threat of annihilation. The outbreak of the fourth Mysore war compelled the British to come to terms with the Raja and ensure a temporary cessation of hostilities.
The lease granted to the Raja of Kurumbranad was cancelled and Pazhassi Raja3 was prevailed upon to call off the rebellion. The second Pazhassi Revolt an off shoot of the fourth Mysore was, had all the ingredients of a mass upsurge. As Wynad had not been formally ceded by Tipu to the Company, the Raja resisted British attempts to collect revenue from the area.
The Nairs, Kurichias. Local Mappilas, and Muslims from outside formed the backbone of his army. The Wynad region provided ample opportunities to the Pazhassi troops to indulge on it and run tactis.
The British army stationed itself in full strength in Wynad and tried to cut off the Raja from his men in south Malabar. By May the British troops captured all places of strategic importance in Wynad and forced the Raja to become a wanderer.
The kingdom of Kottayam covers what is today the Thalassery taluk km 2 of the Kannur District and Wayanad district along with Gudalur and Panthalur taluks of the Nilgiris District and some parts of Kudagu.
As a royal clan, Purannattu Swarupam had three branches, a western branch or Padinjare Kovilakam at Pazhassi near Mattannur, an eastern branch or Kizhakke Kovilakam at Manatana near Peravoor and a southern branch or Tekke Kovilakam at Kottayampoil near Koothuparamba. Pazhassi Raja's warfare with Mysore troops can be divided into two phases based on the rulers of the kingdom of Mysore.
First phase lasted from to during this time Mysore ruler was Hyder Ali. Second phase extended from to and during this phase he fought troops of Tipu Sultan, son and successor of Hyder Ali:. In , Hyder Ali marched into Malabar for the second time, for non-payment of tributes from the Rajas kings of Malabar as agreed after war in Most of the Rajas of Malabar, along with many Naduvazhis or vassals fled to seek political asylum in Travancore.
Princes and younger noblemen who refused to flee the invasion organised resistances. The Malabari partisans made excellent use of the wooded hills that covered most of Malabar during this rebellions. In , at age of 21, Pazhassi Raja took over the throne to replace his uncle who had fled to Travancore. He vowed to resist Hyder Ali's troops, and stayed on in Kottayam where he gathered a force and began a guerrilla battles against the troops of Mysore as he had neither guns or troops enough to face them in an open battle.
He set up a large number of bases in the nearly impenetrable forested mountains of Puralimala and Wynad and repeatedly inflicted severe minor losses to the Mysore army in Kottayam as well as in Wynad. Once true Raja of Kottayam had fled away, a three royals rose to power in Kottayam. Vira Varma was a skilled in political intrigue and manipulation whereas Ravi Varma was too incompetent to play any serious political role and hence his role only was nominal.
Pazhassi Raja become most powerful figure in Kottayam, much to chargin of his uncle Vira Varma. Hence Vira Varma played a series of power games with aim to check growing clout of his nephew. So relations between Vira Varma and Pazhassi Raja was one of enmity right from onset. Military situation was grim for Pazhassi Raja and his troops — in , Coorgs had joined hands with Hyder Ali on promise of being gifted Wynad and a large Coorg army camped in Wynad to help Mysore troops.
This triple alliance which lasted till reached nowhere near defeating Kottayam army. During his long war with the Mysore and then the English East India Company, Pazhassi Raja increased his sphere of influence significantly eastwards as far as the outskirts of Mysore.
His men regularly looted enemy treasuries and sandalwood from southern Karnataka and his enemies could do little to check these raids.
This enabled him to lay claim on a great chunk of the Mysore district — as far as Nanjangod in east. Along with this he had close ties with Ravi Varma and Krishna Varma , who were princes of Calicut and popular rebel leaders of southern Malabar. Thalasseri or Tellicherry in late 18th century was a harbour-fort which was held by British East India Company as a factory. Value of Tellicherry as a naval base meant that her capture could seriously impact British naval situation in West Coast.
Also rebels in North Malabar bought arms and ammunition from British in Tellicherry. So if Hyder could capture this fort, he could in a stroke cripple both rebels in North Malabar as well as British military power at a regional basis. The Chirakkal troops began to retreat. But Pazhassi chased and devastated the Chirakkal army, and then marched to Kottayam where he obliterated the Mysorean occupation and over-ran all of Western Kottayam.
But at this critical moment when the Mysorean army in Malabar could have been destroyed by a joint action on the part of British and the Rajas, the British factors at Talassery were instructed by the Governor not to upset the nominal peace with Hyder. Thus the British decision not to exploit the victory at Thalasseri was exploited by Mysore. Then the Mysore-Chirakkal army captured Kadathanad and installed a puppet Raja who joined hand with Mysore.
In , a huge Mysore-Chirakkal-Kadathanad army besieged Thalasseri. Pazhassi Raja sent a force of Nairs to aid British defence of Thalassery-and this enabled factors to hold on successfully. By end of , Sardar Khan, the Mysorean general was sent to Thalasseri to bring the siege speedily to a successful conclusion.
It was well beyond the capacity of Kottayam to raise so huge a sum in so short a time. But Pazhassi did his best to pay Sardar Khan [probably in hope that latter would make concessions] and 60, rupees was paid to the latter. This greedy and tactless approach of Sardar Khan's made sure that there was little chance for Mysore to capture Thalasseri. Kottayam army became far more stronger with their major victory in at Kalpetta Wynad where whole Coorg army of 2, was surrounded and decimated by Pazhassi Raja's troops.
Destruction of Coorg army in Wynad enabled Raja to throw a whole new army into contest at Thalasseri. In , Pazhassi Raja proposed a plan to the British to break the Mysorean siege of Thalassery: he and his men would strike the enemy in the rear from the east as the British came out of the fort and struck the Mysorean line in front. Both armies would effect a junction that would split the enemy into two.
The Mysorean and allied troops could then be routed easily. But it was only in that the British understood the value of this plan and their Bombay authorities agreed to it. An operation was carried out as per Pazhassi's plan; it ended with the destruction of the Mysorean forces. Sardar Khan himself was killed. What followed was a rebellion in Kottayam by the Nayar militia led by Pazhassi Raja.
Soon, the Mysoreans were ousted. By , Kottayam was once more a free land. Thus with its only valuable ally lost, Kottayam was ready to become a vassal state of Mysore. Once more, as Sardar Khan did in , Mysore exacted an exorbitant rate of tribute. Although Ravi Varma, the elder brother of Pazhassi Raja agreed to pay 65, rupees per year, Mysore demanded 81, rupees. So Pazhassi Raja took up this issue and decided to launch a mass resistance struggle once more.
What angered Pazhassi Raja even more was that his brother Ravi Varma who paid visit to Tipu Sultan in for peace talks was forced to sign a treaty which ceded Wayanad to Tipu Sultan. Pazhassi Raja decided not to let Tipu enjoy Wayanad in peace and kept up a guerrilla warfare that constantly harassed Mysore troops in Wayanad and neighbourhood. War in Wayanad lasted for seven years — till — when the last of Mysore garrisons were expelled from soil of Wayanad.
So he strengthened his ties with British on one hand and with fellow rebel chiefs and princes in Malabar on other hand. Not surprisingly, Tipu sent an army under a French general named Lally with a genocidal mission—the extermination of the Nair caste from Kottayam to Palakkad — as Tipu was determined to end the menace of Nair rebels in Malabar who had foiled all attempts of him and his late father Hyder Ali to subjugate and exploit Malabar. But in , Tipu abandoned the war in Malabar as the war in Deccan drew his attention.
Pazhassi Raja joined the British with a force of Nairs to capture the Mysorean stronghold in Katirur near Talassery. Thus once more the whole of Kottayam was in the control of Pazhassi Raja.
In , the British recognised Pazhassi Raja as the head of Kottayam instead of the original Raja who was in refuge at Travancore. Raja agreed to pay 25, rupees as tribute to the British. But his struggle with Mysore troops continued in Wayanad till when he freed that land also.
The British then began to work for establishment of their supremacy in Malabar. Pazhassi Raja was disturbed when he heard about the terms which British put forward to Rajas of Malabar in because British had signed a cowl with him in which promised to respect independence of Kottayam. The summary of the British terms in were as follows:. These terms converted monarchs to mere agents of the British. Rajas were now stripped of their right to rule as they willed; they also lost control over their economies.
Vira Varma concluded treaty with British by which he accepted all terms and conditions put forward by British. Pazhassi Raja resisted British imperialism from onwards till his death in He fought two wars to resist British intervention in the domestic affairs of his kingdom. From — he fought over the question of the management of Kottayam and from — over the issue of who was to be master of Wynad. British called their wars with Pazhassi Rajah as Cotiote War.
In , foxy Vira Varma who had surrendered Kottayam to British back in , convinced British Commissioners to let him collect tax in Kottayam.
He calculated that a good collection might please the British and that that would let him seize all of Kottayam. Needless to say, Pazhassi Raja was angry at this British move.
He felt betrayed. After all he was the only Raja in Northern Malabar to have helped the British consistently in the war with Mysore. Vira Varma Raja was a real crook — on the one hand he undertook to collect tax in Kottayam directly and on the other hand he instigated Pazhassi Raja to oppose the British. Moreover, the British assessment was harsh and beyond the peasants' capacity to pay. They resisted its forcible collection by the agents of the British, and Pazhassi Raja took up their cause.
As seen before, Raja was deadly opposed to extortion of the peasantry. In , Pazhassi Raja made sure that no tax was collected in Kottayam by the British — as a mark of his protest. He also threatened that if British officials did not give up their enumeration of pepper vines, he would have the vines destroyed. So the British put forward a solution acceptable to the Raja by which 20 percent of gross revenue would go to Raja and another 20 percent would go for the temples' expense.
No tax would be imposed on temple property in the immediate future. Soon the Raja was supreme in the Wayanad Plateau. But the Governor General unwisely revoked the agreement in and gave Kottayam to Kurumbranad Raja on a five-year lease. The Raja was truly angry at this decision and decided to retaliate by ruling his country as per customary law. The year before the lease was concluded the Raja had provided asylum to a Nayar noble, Narangoli Nambiar belongs to the Iruvazinad royal clan, who had been declared an outlaw by British for the murder of three men who had killed his kinsman.
The British also became angry that the Raja impaled two robbers as per customary law. British planned to arrest Raja for 'murder', but gave up the idea as the Raja had a bodyguard of well armed Wayanad Nayars. In , orders were issued from Bombay to collect tax arrears for 2 years in Kottayam. For British no more pretexts were needed to arrest Raja. Gordon plundered the palace where traditional treasure of Raja was kept.
Raja was angry at this loot and sent a letter to Supervisor at Talassery. The British retaliated by cutting all communications between Raja and Low Malabar. But as they did not have enough troops to chase him they waited for reinforcements.
So Raja thought that this old friend might help him mediate with the British government. Raja offered to give up the struggle provided he was pardoned and his treasure and house restored. So Northern Superintendent ordered the restoration of the Raja's house [but not treasure], and the Raja's pardon was confirmed by the Bombay and Supreme Governments. But the orders of government were communicated to the Raja via Vira Varma — which meant that uncle Raja took care not to report to his nephew that the British had agreed to his requests.
Uncle Raja had a vested interest in war between the Company and his nephew Pazhassi Raja. Vira Varma also removed Kaitheri Ambu , a favourite noble and general of Raja, from home administration of Kottayam.
Raja feared that British planned to seize him [not knowing that their truce terms were kept blocked from him by his uncle] and retreated into depths of Wayanad.
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