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Pallur Rayrappan was a supporter of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja of Kerala, India, who fought a guerrilla-type war against the British East India Company during first decade of the 19th century.
Pazahassi Raja was defeated in battle by British and took to the forests of Wynad along with his family. From there he conducted a guerrilla campaign against the British until his death in 1806. Pallur Rayrappan was one of his supporters and helped him to fight against British forces in the forests of Kerala. The British announced a prize of 300 pagodas for helping to arrest Rayrappan, whose younger brother, Pallur Eman, was also a part of Raja's guerilla force and had a prize of 1000 pagodas on his head.[ citation needed ]
Pallur Rayrappan was killed fighting the British in January 1806 [1] on a hill named Tirumalapad of Nilambur and before his capture, he critically wounded a British soldier.[ citation needed ]
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.
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The Kingdom of Travancore (/ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala, and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district, were British colonies and were part of the Malabar District until 30 June 1927, and Tirunelveli district from 1 July 1927 onwards. Travancore merged with the erstwhile princely state of Cochin to form Travancore-Cochin in 1950. The five Tamil-majority Taluks of Vilavancode, Kalkulam, Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, and Sengottai were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Madras State in 1956. The Malayalam-speaking regions of Travancore-Cochin merged with the Malabar District and the Kasaragod taluk of the South Canara district in Madras State to form the modern Malayalam-state of Kerala on 1 November 1956, according to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 passed by the Government of India.
Pazhassi Raja was known as Kerala Varma and was also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah. He was a warrior Hindu prince and de facto head of the kingdom of Kottayam, otherwise known as Cotiote, in Malabar, India, between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the British East India Company is known as the Cotiote War. He is popularly known as Kerala Simham on account of his martial exploits.
Thiruvangad Sree Ramaswami temple is an important temple located in the east part of Thalassery. The temple is generally known as the Brass Pagoda from the copper sheeting of its roof. A part of the temple was damaged by Tipu Sultan's troops in the 18th century, but the temple itself is believed to have been saved from destruction. It was one of the outposts of the Thalassery fort in the eighteenth century. In its precincts, were held many conferences between the officials of the East India Company and local leaders, at which political treaties and agreements were signed. The temple contains some interesting sculptures and lithic records. The annual festival of the temple commences on Vishu day in Medam (April–May) and lasts for seven days.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language period drama war film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a king who fought against the East India Company in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars Mammootty with Sarathkumar, Manoj K Jayan, Suresh Krishna, Suman, Kanika Subramaniam, Padmapriya, Thilakan and Jagathi Sreekumar in supporting roles. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty. The film received an overwhelming response and it has emerged as one of the top grossers in Kerala’s box office history.
Sirmur was an independent kingdom in India, founded in 1616, located in the region that is now the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The state was also known as Nahan, after its main city, Nahan. The state ranked predominant amongst the Punjab hill States. It had an area of 4,039 km2 and a revenue of 300,000 rupees in 1891.
Thalakkal Chanthu, also spelled Thalakkal Chandu, was an archer and commander-in-chief of the Kurichya soldiers of the Pazhassi Raja who fought British forces in the Wayanad jungles during first decade of the 19th century.
Edachena Kunkan was a Wayanad Nair noble from Tirunelli, Wayanad, Kerala, India who joined the war effort of Pazhassi Raja during the 1770s and became commander of the Raja's army. His younger brothers joined him as generals. Kunkan was a popular leader in Wayanad, gathering support from people of many classes for Raja's war against the East India Company.
Banasura Hill is one of the tallest mountains in the Western Ghats of the Wayanad district, Kerala, India. The hill is named after Banasura, a mythical character of Indian legends. It is one of the highest peaks exceeding 2,000m between Nilgiris and Himalayas after Chembra Peak.
The Travancore rebellion against the British East India Company was led by the prime ministers of the Indian states of Travancore and Cochin in 1808–09.
Pazhassi Raja is a 1964 Malayalam biographical film, directed and produced by Kunchako. It is written by well known playwright Thikkodiyan and is based on the life of warrior king Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. It stars Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair in the title role, with Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Satyapal, S. P. Pillai, Rajashree and Pankajavalli in other important roles.
The Mysorean invasion of Malabar was the military invasion of the Malabar region of the current Kerala state, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut, by the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Cochin south of Malabar became a tributary state of Mysore.
The British got Malabar from Tippu Sultan in 1792. But Malabar was a province that was plagued by refraction, unrest and insurgency as early as 1766—when Hyder Ali occupied whole of Malabar. Two decades of Mysore effort to subjugate this province ended up in chaos and confusion in Malabar with a part of her population either dead or migrated and once prosperous economy destroyed.
Pallūr Ēman Nāyar(Poligar Eman" "Pulior Eman" was a Nayar lord of southern Wayanad, north east Kerala, India. He was involved in the Cotiote War, a conflict between the Cotiote princely ruler Pazhassi and the British East India Company. In 1799, Eman fought with the British. In 1802, Eman became a double agent for Pazhassi, who was his overlord.
Ravi Varma Raja (1745–1793) was a Samantan Nair warrior prince of the Royal House of Zamorins from Calicut who fought a two-decade long revolt against the Mysore Sultanate under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan between 1766–1768 and 1774–1791, and later the British East India Company in 1793.
Arakkal Kingdom was a Muslim kingdom in Kannur town in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, South India. The king was called Ali Raja and the ruling queen was called Arakkal Beevi. Arakkal kingdom included little more than the Cannanore town and the southern Laccadive Islands, originally leased from the Kolattiri. The royal family is said to be originally a branch of the Kolattiri, descended from a princess of that family who converted to Islam. They owed allegiance to the Kolattiri rulers, whose ministers they had been at one time. The rulers followed the Marumakkathayam system of matrilineal inheritance, a system that is unique to a section of Hindus of Kerala. Under Marumakkathayam, the succession passes to the male offspring of its female members, in other words from a man to his sister's son and so forth. As the only Muslim rulers in Malabar, they saw the rise of Hyder Ali, de facto ruler of the Mysore Sultanate as the opportunity to increase their own power at the expense of Chirakkal, and invited him to invade Kerala.
The Cotiote War refers to a series of continuous struggles fought between the Cotiote king, Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma, and the East India Company across a span of thirteen years between 1793 and 1806. Pazhassi Raja aimed to preserve the independence and unity of his kingdom while the East India Company were determined to annex and dismember it. His own desire for independence and sense of betrayal by East India Company on their earlier promise to respect his country’s independence combined with constant exhortations of two of his noblemen, Kaitheri Ambu and Kannavath Sankaran, led to outbreak of Cotiote War. It is the longest war waged by East India Company during their military campaigns on the Indian subcontinent – much longer than Anglo-Mysore Wars, Anglo-Maratha Wars, Anglo-Sikh Wars and Polygar Wars. It was one of the bloodiest and hardest wars waged by East India Company in India – Presidency army regiments that operated suffered losses as high as eighty percent in 10 years of warfare. Cotiote army waged guerrilla warfare, chiefly centred in mountain forests of Aralam and Wynad, and larger zone of conflict extended from Mysore to the Arabian Sea, from Coorg to Coimbatore. Warfare peaked in early 1797, 1800 to 1801, and 1803 to 1804 and due to constant reverses, Bombay regiments were withdrawn and instead Madras regiments were deployed with an increase in number of troops - from 8,000 in 1803 to 14,000 in early 1804. Cotiote War ended within months of the death of Cotiote leader, Pazhassi Raja in a skirmish on 30 November 1805. Following this war, kingdom of Cotiote was annexed into district of Malabar in the Madras Presidency.
The Kingdom of Coorg was an independent kingdom that existed in India from the 16th century until 1834. It was ruled by a branch of the Ikkeri Nayaka. From 1780 to 1788, the kingdom was occupied by neighbouring Mysore but the Rajah of Coorg was restored by the British and became a protectorate of British India on 26 October 1790. In 1834, the then Raja of Coorg rebelled against British authority sparking the Coorg War. The rebellion was brutally quelled by the British who annexed the kingdom and made it a province of British India.
Thalassery was a trade hub where Chinese, Arab, and Jewish traders had considerable influence in the spice market before that the Greeks and Romans was in the trade. It was the European invasion that brought significant change as they enforced the trade with their military.