Marthanda Varma


Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma .
King Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company forces at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. He also put an end to the Nair-Brahmin Administrative setup, Ettuveetil Pillamar and the Ettara yogam council and took the full power as the king. The Yogakars and Pillamars were always against the Royal Family to which King Marthanda Varma belonged. He then adopted a European mode of discipline for his army and expanded his kingdom northward. He built a sizeable standing army of about 50,000 nair men, as part of designing an "elaborate and well-organised" war machine, with the role of the travancore army and fortified the northern boundary of his kingdom. His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of Kochi, against the northern Kingdom of Calicut, enabled the kingdom of Kochi to survive.
Travancore under Marthanda Varma made a deliberate attempt to consolidate its power by the use of Indian Ocean trade. It was the policy of Marthanda Varma to offer assistance to Syrian Christian traders. The principal merchandise was black pepper, but other goods also came to be defined as royal monopoly items between the 1740s and the 1780s. Eventually, Travancore challenged and broke the Dutch blockade of the Kerala coast.
Thiruvananthapuram became a prominent city in Kerala under Marthanda Varma. He undertook many irrigational works, built roads and canals for communication and gave active encouragement to foreign trade. In January, 1750, Marthanda Varma decided to "donate" his kingdom to the last Tiruvadi Sri Padmanabha and thereafter rule as the deity's "vice-regent". Marthanda Varma's policies were continued in large measure by his successor, Rama Varma.

Early life

Marthanda Varma was born in 1706 to queen Karthika Thirunal Umadevi, the Queen of Attingal, and Raghava Varma of Kilimanoor Palace. Queen Karthika Thirunal Uma Devi - an adoptee from the northern Kolathunadu ruling family - was the senior queen of Attingal at the time. His father Raghava Varma Koil Thampuran died of severe fever when Marthanda Varma was one year old.
Marthanda Varma was the nephew of the last Venadu king, Rama Varma. At the time of Varma's birth, Trippappur Swaroopam was a small chiefdom extending from Edava in the north to Aralvaimozhi under the Venadu Kingdom. Venadu Kingdom was split into small feudal regions ruled and controlled by the Nair Aristocracy.
King Rama Varma died in 1729. According to the matrilineal system of inheritance of Kerala, the next king would be Marthanda Varma. However, a problem cropped up when two of his cousins, Valiya Thampi and Kunju Thampi, who were sons of King Rama Varma, claimed the throne under the earlier patriarchal succession of Kshatriyas. Some historians note that these thampis are sons of Rama Varma and a Rajput woman named Abhirami, while some believe he is of Bengali or Tamil noble Devadasi who followed patriarchal. The Thampis requested the help of Ettuveettil Pillai, the Nair Aristocracy who controlled the regions near Padmanabhaswamy Temple, along with their associates Yogakkar.
Pillaimar were extremely influential in Venadu, and had more power than the kings themselves. Even the kings needed their permission to make decisions in Venadu. This conflict between Varma and the Thampis later resulted in severe consequences. In the aftermath, Marthanda Varma and his family lived in fear, many of his relatives were killed, they hide and moved from place to place, seeking refuge in various places with the help of several Nair Tharavads.
Marthanda Varma's brother in law and his sister travelled through Budhanoor, which was under the protection of Vattaparambil Valiathan, when they were attacked by the Ettuveettil. Marthanda Varma's brother-in-law and other fighters lost their lives, but the sister, the Rani of Attingal, and her son managed to escape and ran through the fields. They were helped by Aaruveettil Madambimar and the king of Vanjipuzha.
In 1729, Marthanda Varma planned his first attack with the help of powerful mercenaries from outside Kerala, but it ultimately failed. Later, he expanded his army, ascended to the throne and killed his cousins, the Thampis. Utilizing spies, Marthanda Varma analyzed the movements and secrets of the Ettuveettil Pillaimar, eventually defeating them and executing most of their family members. He later destroyed the power of more than 70 nobles across Venadu. Yogakkar and Brahmins who earlier supported Ettuveettil Nairs were expelled from Venadu. Marthanda Varma later expanded his territory by attacking Quilon, Tekkumkoor, and Vadakkumkur, and eventually formed the Travancore Kingdom.

Impact

  • Decentralized state. Influence of the local land lords and the barons. The authority of the throne was also curbed by the Council of Eight and a Half, the managing committee of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. There was no standing army.
  • European monopoly in Indian Ocean spice trade. The constant Dutch blockade of the Malabar Coast. Trade with the Europeans was an important source for augmenting the financial reserves of the Kerala kingdoms.
  • Quarrels and open warfare among the various royal lineages. Trade rivalries between the Dutch and English companies had a role in intensifying the conflict among the branches.
An English East India Company factory was established at Vizhinjam in 1644. The Ajengo Fort was established in 1695. The ruler Rama Varma entered into treaties with the English East India Company and the Madurai Nayaks with the aim of strengthening his position. The role played by Marthanda Varma in these moves are highlighted by P. Shungoonny Menon, the 19th-century Travancore court historian. The Dutch Company positioned themselves against the emerging Travancore by helping Quilon and Kayamkulam. The English Company became an ally of Travancore against the Dutch.

Rule of Marthanda Varma

Marthanda Varma ascended the throne when the crisis in Travancore had already deepened. King Rama Varma was forced to invite troops from Tamil Nadu to collect dues and impose order. Even the Padmanabha Swamy Temple affairs were heading towards a crisis due to lack of funds. The Thampi brothers, sons of Rama Varma, immediately revolted against Marthanda Varma with the assistance of a Tamil army.
Marthanda Varma's reign was one of constant warfare, against opponents both inside and outside his territory. After reducing the power of the Ettuveetil Pillamar, the Nair aristocracy, and their associates, the Yogakkars, Marthanda Varma turned his attention to central Kerala. He realised that Dutch power in Kerala stemmed from their flourishing spice trade at the port of Kochi. He set out to conquer the major spice-producing areas supplying cargo to Kochi. After declaring a state monopoly on pepper in Travancore in 1743, between then and 1752, the king annexed Quilon, Kayamkulam, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur and Purakkad to Travancore.
  • In 1731, the port of Kollam - which was ruled by a branch of the Venadu family to which Marthanda Varma also belonged - was defeated and its last chief was made to sign a treaty allowing the annexation of his chiefdom by Travancore after his death. The chief was brought to Thiruvananthapuram and lodged almost as a state prisoner in the Valikoikkal Palace. A contingent of the Travancore army under Dalavay Arumukham Pillai was stationed at Kollam.
  • Marthanda Varma next turned his attention towards the little chiefdom of Marta and seized it. The neighbouring chiefdom of Kayamkulam - sensing an imminent invasion by Travancore - soon allied itself with Kochi, Purakkad and Vadakkumkur. The Kayamkulam chief was also successful in rescuing the Kollam chief from his Thiruvananthapuram prison. The allies built new fortifications and strengthened their defences against the threat of Travancore. The Dutch East India Company also professed to support the war effort.
  • The subsequent invasion of Marta by the Kayamkulam chief signalled the outbreak of the war. The Travancore army seized Nedumangadu and Kottarakkara and prevented the joined forces of Elayadathu and Kayamkulam. Travancore Dalavay Ramayyan then lead an expeditionary force to capture the city of Kollam. But, he was forced to withdraw without accomplishing his mission.
  • Having equipped their forces with the help of the French and the English Companies, Travancore renewed a military operation against the chief of Kollam. In the campaigns that ensued, the ruler of Kayamkulam was killed. But the defence of Kollam continued under the leadership of the brother of the deceased chief and Travancore forces were forced to fall back once again.
  • Travancore's next campaign was against Elayadathu Swaroopam. When the chief of Kottarakara who was kept in solitary confinement in Thiruvananthapuram died in 1739, Marthanda Varma refused to recognise the claim of the senior female member to succession. The princess fled to Thekkumkur where the chief gave granted her asylum. At this juncture, the Dutch Governor of Ceylon Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff sensed an opportunity to involve further in the politics of Kerala.
  • In 1739, van Imhoff arrived in Kochi, took up the cause of the female ruler of Kottarakara and protested against the annexation of that chiefdom by Marthanda Varma in a meeting between the two. In 1741, the Dutch reinstated the female ruler of Kottarakara against the wishes of Marthanda Varma, who attacked the chiefdom and defeated the combined Kottarakkara - Dutch forces before finally fully annexing the chiefdom to Travancore while the female ruler fled to Kochi.

    Battle of Colachel (1741)

Travancore then launched a series of raids on the Dutch forts in the area and captured them all. In retaliation, a Dutch artillery force landed at Colachel from Ceylon and conquered up to Kottar. The Dutch forces then advanced against Kalkulam, Travancore's capital. Marthanda Varma, who was then in the north of his state promptly marched his forces to the south and arrived at Kalkulam just in time to prevent its fall to the Dutch.
In the following battle at Colachel, the Travancore forces won a resounding victory over the Dutch. More than twenty Dutch were taken as prisoners of war from Colachel. Among them was Eustachius de Lannoy, who attracted the king's special notice. Eustachius de Lannoy, commonly known in Travancore as the 'Valiya Kappittan' was entrusted with the organisation and drilling of a special regiment, which he did to the "entire satisfaction of the king". De Lannoy was raised to the rank of general in Travancore army and proved of considerable service to Marthanda Varma in subsequent battles.