Pazhassi Raja
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja , also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, was the de facto head of the Kottayam Kingdom in the Malabar region of Kerala between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the British East India Company is known as the Cotiote War. Pazhassi's rebellion against the British is often touted as one of the earliest acts of freedom fight in India. He earned the epithet "Kerala Simham" on account of his martial exploits.
Pazhassi Raja was a member of the western branch of the Kottayam royal clan. When Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore occupied Malabar in 1773, the Raja of Kottayam found political asylum in Kallara near Vaikom in Kottayam district of Kerala. Pazhassi Raja, the fourth prince in line for succession to the throne during this period, became one of the de facto heads of state, surpassing several older royal contenders. He fought a war of resistance against the Mysorean army from 1774 to 1793. On account of his refusal to flee and due to his effective resistance to Mysoreans, he gained firm support of his subjects.
In 1792, after the Third Anglo-Mysore War, the East India Company imposed control in Kottayam in violation of an earlier agreement of 1790 which had recognised its independence. Vira Varma, to whom Raja was a nephew, was appointed by the East India Company authorities as the Raja of Kottayam. To meet revenue targets fixed by Company authorities, Vira Varma ordered an exorbitant tax to be collected from the peasantry and this move was met in 1793 by a mass resistance led by Pazhassi Raja, who had always been opposed to the company's rule. In 1796, the company made an attempt to arrest Pazhassi Raja, but he evaded capture and instead fought back using guerilla warfare. After a string of serious setbacks, the Company sued for peace in 1797. The conflict was renewed in 1800 over a dispute on Wayanad and after a five-year-long war of insurgency, Pazhassi Raja was killed on 30 November 1805 in a gunfight at Mavila Thodu, in the present-day Kerala-Karnataka border.
Kingdom
Pazhassi Raja was born as a Kshatriya Varma in the Royal Padinjare Kovilakam of Purannattukara Swarupam, the royal lineage of Kottayam. This branch was located at Pazhassi which lay south west of Mattannur. Kerala Varma got the name Pazhassi Raja as he was a native of Pazhassi. The early British East India Company documents wrote Pazhassi Raja as Pychy Rajah, while the name Cotiote Raja comes from the anglicizing of Kottayam to Cotiote. Kottayam covers what is today the Thalassery taluk of the Kannur District and Wayanad district, along with the Gudalur taluk of Nilgiris district.As a royal clan, Purannattukara Swarupam had three branches: a western branch at Pazhassi, near Mattannur, an eastern branch at Manatana, near Peravoor, and a southern branch at Kottayampoil, near Koothuparamba.
Resistance to Mysore occupation (1773–1793)
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 1773 to 1782 during which time, the Mysore ruler was Hyder Ali. The second phase extended from 1784 to 1793 and during this phase he fought the troops of Tipu Sultan, son and successor of Hyder Ali.Resistance to Hyder Ali (1773–1782)
In 1773, Hyder Ali marched into Malabar for the second time, for non-payment of tributes from the Rajas of Malabar as agreed after the war in 1768. Most of the Rajas of Malabar, along with many Naduvazhis or vassals fled to Travancore. Yet numerous princes and younger noblemen refused to flee and organized partisan bands who waged guerrilla warfare on the Mysore army from the forests and mountains that covered much of Malabar. Pazhassi Raja was one among them.In 1774, at the 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 in Kottayam, where he gathered a force and began guerrilla battles against the troops of Mysore as he had neither guns nor 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 on the Mysore army in Kottayam as well as in Wayanad. Pazhassi Raja's troops were recruited from several castes and tribes- that includes Nair forces Nambiars, Thiyyas, Kurichiyas and Mullukurumas
Once the true Raja of Kottayam had fled, three royals rose to power in Kottayam. The nephew of the escaped Raja named Vira Varma and his nephews, Ravi Varma and Pazhassi Raja now took over the reins of government. Vira Varma was 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 the most powerful figure in Kottayam, much to the chagrin of his uncle Vira Varma. Hence Vira Varma played a series of power games aiming to check the growing clout of his nephew. So the relation between Vira Varma and Pazhassi Raja was one of enmity right from the onset.
The military situation was grim for Pazhassi Raja and his troops – in 1774, Coorgs had joined hands with Hyder Ali on the promise of being gifted Wynad and a large Coorg army camped in Wynad to help Mysore troops. In 1776, Hyder Ali re-installed the Hindu Raja in Chirakkal and the latter joined Mysore war effort to crush Pazhassi Raja. This triple alliance which lasted till 1780 reached nowhere near defeating the Kottayam army.
During his long war with the Mysore and then the 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 the east. Also, Pazhassi Raja and his men frequently raided the domains of neighbouring Rajas in northern Malabar and Coorg to harass the enemy regiments posted there and he was often supported by local population of those territories. 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.
Siege of Thalasseri
or Tellicherry in the late 18th century was a harbour-fort which was held by the East India Company as a factory. The value of Tellicherry as a naval base meant that her capture could seriously impact the situation of the Bombay Marine on the west coast. Also rebels in North Malabar bought arms and ammunition from the East India Company in Tellicherry. So if Hyder could capture this fort, he could, at a stroke, cripple both the rebels in North Malabar as well as Company rule in India at a regional basis.So in 1778, Hyder's vassal, the Raja of Chirakkal, besieged Thalasseri and enforced an economic blockade under order from Hyder himself. The East India Company factories at Talassery armed Pazhassi Raja's men to enable them to recover Kottayam from the Mysorean occupation army. This move by the Company ensured that the Chirakkal army was now at risk of being struck in the rear by Pazhassi Raja's force. 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 overran 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 the Company and the Rajas, their factories at Talassery were instructed by the Governor not to upset the nominal peace with Hyder.
Thus the EIC decision not to exploit the victory at Thalasseri was exploited by Mysore. The Chirakkal army reinforced by a Mysorean contingent under Balwant Rao marched into Kottayam. Pazhassi's men, though secretly supplied with arms and ammunition by the company, could not hold or defeat this huge host and soon the Kottayam army was forced to disperse after a fight. Then the Mysore-Chirakkal army captured Kadathanad and installed a puppet Raja who joined hands with Mysore. In 1779, a huge Mysore-Chirakkal-Kadathanad army besieged Thalasseri. Pazhassi Raja sent a force of 2000 Nairs to aid the EIC defence of Thalassery, and this enabled the factories to hold on successfully.
By the end of 1779, Sardar Khan, the Mysorean general was sent to Thalasseri to bring the siege speedily to a successful conclusion. Sardar Khan came with a force of 10,000 troops and 30 heavy guns. Sardar Khan knew that it was Pazhassi Raja's help that enabled the East India Company to resist him and so he opened negotiations with Pazhassi – his offer was the restoration of Mysore occupied territories of Kottayam if Pazhassi would ally himself with Mysore and pay an immediate tribute of 500,000 rupees. 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 and 60,000 rupees was paid to the latter. But Khan was not satisfied and rejected Pazhassi's request that his possessions in Malabar be restored. This greedy and tactless approach of Sardar Khan's made sure that there was little chance for Mysore to capture Thalasseri. The Kottayam army became far stronger with their major victory in 1779 at Kalpetta where the whole Coorg army of 2,000 was surrounded and decimated by Pazhassi Raja's troops. The destruction of the Coorg army in Wynad enabled Raja to throw a whole new army into the contest at Thalasseri.
In 1780, Pazhassi Raja proposed a plan to the East India Company to break the Mysorean siege of Thalassery: he and his men would strike the enemy in the rear from the east as the EIC 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 1781 that the Company 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. What followed was a rebellion in Kottayam by the Nair militia led by Pazhassi Raja. Soon, the Mysoreans were ousted.