Lesser known  Tamil Martyrs who fought the British

                                During East India Company Rule

                             Prof  Dr colonel  K Prabhakar Rao    Retd            

     Polygor system in Tamilnadu in south India was the administration echelon established during the rule of Vijayn agar empire. They were subordinates to Madhura naiks who were vassals to the Vijaynagar emperor who was stationed at Hampi till the battle of tallikota in 1565. Later, the capital was shifted to Penukonda and subsequently to Chandragiri / vellore  presently in Chithoor dist in Andhra Pradesh. Sri Ranga III was a titular head of the empire and the Madhura naiks over a period became important. Over a period, the polygors  literally became  independent. They had forts, palaces, army, held Durbars,  maintained law and order and dispensed justice. The revenue was collected by them and they kept  1/4 of the revenue and sent the balance to the Madhura Naik. After the  power of Nayaks weaned away, the east India company  became the  supreme power and most of the polygors submitted to the company.      

                Veerara Pandya kattabomman was the most important polygor in Tamil nadu .He revolted against the East India Company  over the policies and  the company rule  . He fought  the first Polygor war or  panchalakurichhi war with company forces and  he retreated to forests and carried on guerilla war. The fort at Panchala kurichhi was destroyed by the revengeful  English men .  He was  later however betrayed by some of his men . After a very brief trial ,he was publicly hanged in 1799 along with his brother and some  followers . A memorial  fort like structure and a museum  stands at the site in his memory and honour.

 

1 Marudhu Brothers

222 Theo In the   another revolt against the British broken     out                                                                                                           In the  later years, another revolt against the British broke out in Sivagangai, in present  l  day Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu. It was led by two brothers, Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu, popularly known as the Marudhu brothers took place. The brothers too defied the British attempt to collect taxes from Sivagangai and offered refuge to many of Kattabomman’s followers.

·      They launched a covert war against the British, with the help of Pazhassi Raja of nearby Wayanad in present-day Kerala. This came to be known as the Second Polygar War. The Marudhu brothers were also defeated and hanged in 1801. The British were wary of the Polygars and forced them to disband their armies, transforming them into  powerless and mere rent-seeking zamindars or landlordsEOS

·      LIVING HISTORY

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 2.       Velu Nachiyar,

                     The little-known queen from Tamil Nadu, was the first Indian ruler to fight and triumph against the powerful British. She did this in 1780, 77 years before the First War of Independence  fought in  1857 . Popularly known as ‘veeramangai’ (brave woman), she also devised the first recorded suicide bombing in history, with her Dalit woman commander-in-chief Kuyili.

                   Born in 1730 to Raja Chellamuthu Vijaya ragunatha Sethupathy and                           Rani Sakandimuthal, she was an only child. The royal couple thus raised her as they would have raised a male heir. She was trained in horse-riding, archery, and martial arts such as wielding sword,  valari (throwing sickle) and silambam (fighting with a stick). She was also well-versed in several languages, including English, French, and Urdu.

When she was 16, Velu Nachiyar was married to Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar, the prince of Sivagangai. They had a daughter together called Vellachi, and ruled over the kingdom for over two decades – from 1750 to 1772, until the year that Mathuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar was killed by the British

‘Veeramangai’ Velu Nachiyar.  : 

After the British invaded Sivagangai with the son of the Nawab of Arcot and killed Velu Nachiyar’s husband in what is known as the ‘Kalaiyar Koil War’, she was forced to flee her kingdom with   Gopala Nayaker.

                     During her stay in Dindigul, Velu Nachiyar met Haider Ali, the Sultan and the then ruler of Mysore. She conversed with him in Urdu and highly impressed him with her courage and perseverance. This led to her garnering unwavering support not just from Gopala Nayaker, but also from Haider Ali, who pledged to be her ally in her fight against the British. He even built a temple inside his palace as a sign of their friendship  . She found safe haven at Virupachi in Dindigul, and lived there for eight years under the sanctuary.

 

During this period, she formed an army     with the help of  Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British, whom she did successfully fought in 1780. When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the British stored their ammunition, she arranged a suicide attack successfully. Nachiyar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom, and ruled it for ten more years  In 1790, the throne was inherited by her daughter Vellacci

 

3Dheeran chinnamalai

 

Mamannar Dheeran Chinnamalai was born on 17 April 1756 in Melapalayam, Kangeyam near Erode, Tamil Nadu. His birth name was Theerthagiri Gounder.

 Mamannar Dheeran Chinnamalai was one of the main commanders in the Polygar Wars, notably during the Second Polygar War that took place in 1801–1802. He was trained by French military in modern warfare alongside Tipu Sultan to fight against the British East India company and helped in victories against the British at Chitheswaram, Mazahavalli and Srirangapatna.After Kattabomman and Tipu Sultan's deaths, Chinnamalai sought the help of Marathas and Maruthu Pandiyar to attack the British at Coimbatore in 1800. British forces managed to stop the armies of the allies and hence Chinnamalai was forced to attack Coimbatore on his own. His army was defeated and he escaped from the British forces.  Chinnamalai engaged in guerrilla warfare and defeated the British in battles at Cauvery in 1801, Odanilai in 1802 and Arachalur in 1804

Mamannar Dheeran Chinnamalai was betrayed by his cook Nallapan and was captured by the British sepoys in 1805.  He was hanged at Sankagiri Fort along with his two brothers on 31 July 1805 on the day of Aadi Perukku.

 

4.PULI THEVAR

 

Puli Thevar was a poligar (or palayakarar) who ruled Nerkattumseval situated in the Sankarankoil taluk of Tamil Nadu. Puli Thevar who belongs to the warrior Maravar community was one of the earliest freedom fighters. He is one of the first Indian kings to have fought and defeated the British in India.

He is one of the earliest opponents of the British rule in South India. He was involved in a vendetta with the Nawab of Arcot who was supported by the British. Thevar’s prominent exploits were his confrontations with Marudhanayagam, who later rebelled against the British in the late 1750s and early 1760s.Puli thevar was captured   by the troops of Mohammed ali the arcot nawab and he was confined in the temple handcuffed. However as per legends the hand cuffs were broken with divine interference and Puli Thevar was not found any where later. People believe that the Lord Madeva took him with him. There are no reports of his death any where and remained a great mystery.

Nelkatumseval was the headquarters of Puli Thevar, the first chieftain in India to resist the British.The author of the Thirunelveli District Gazetteer, H.R. Pate, observes as follows:

Nelkatumseval is chiefly memorable as having been in the eighteenth Century stronghold of the redoubtable Puli Thevar, who figured for many years as the leader of the Marava Confederacy against the troops of the Nawab and the Company. He had a shrewd insight into the political situation of the time and was a veritable thorn against the side of the Nawab’s agents.

Pulithevar remains one of the illustrious figures in the chequered history of palayakarars. The vivacity of his character gave him an ascendancy over the western palayakarars, while his determined resistance to the Nawab’s overlordship made him a potential enemy of the Wallajahs. He was the principal architect of the coalition of the palayakkars organised against  the British  rule in India .

Conclusion..Polygors were the  provincial rulers in South India and   hated the British supremacy.   There were constant  rivalries with the British  and  they also had internal feuds between them  that aided the company administration. Betryals were common. Most of the rebel polygors were betrayed by their enmies to the British and thus were eliminated. However the spirit that they ignited  did not die.

 It continued right  into nineteenth century and finally resulted in the great 1857 war that resulted in taking over of the rule of India by queen Victoria and her successors till India was granted freedom in 1947.Although centuries have passed, the deeds of some  brave polygors are still remembered with pride in the country. Victor  writes  history always. The history books written during the rule of the British obviously  do not glorify these heroes and their achievements, There is a need to edit the Indian  history books to project realities  . 

 

Bibliography,

 

1.   Rajesh Govinda Rajulu, Polygors Heroes of Tamil Nadu, https://www.livehistoryindia.com/snapshort-histories/2019/05/05/the-polygar-heroes-of-tamil-nadu

2.    Veera Pandya kattabomman  Wikipedia

3.   Puli thevar ultimate rebel warrior, https://www.hinduhistory.info/puli-thevar-the-ultimate-rebel-warrior/