PAZHASSI RAJA THE LEGEND

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja was born on 3rd January 1753. He was a member of the western branch of the Kottayam royal family. The ancestral home of Pazhassi Raja, Padinjare Kovilakam, still exists in Mattannur, Kannur district of Kerala. He is also known as the Lion of Kerala, Cotiote Raja, and Pychy Raja.

Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore, attacked Malabar in 1773. During his invasion, most of the kings of the Malabar area fled to seek political asylum in Travancore.

Pazhassi Raja took charge as king in 1774 at the age of 21, succeeding his uncle who had sought refuge in Travancore. He resided in his kingdom at Kottayam but lacked both guns and sufficient soldiers to confront Hyder Ali's infantry.

He supported the British to halt Hyder Ali's invasion in the Malabar area. During the Second Anglo-Mysore War, Hyder Ali died. Soon after his death, his son, Tipu Sultan, became the ruler of Mysore.

Tipu Sultan was significantly different from the previous Muslim rulers of South India. He was very keen on learning lessons from the failures of others. Tipu understood the importance of economic strength as the foundation of military power.

He also established embassies in many foreign nations like France, Turkey, and Iran to develop trade relations. He planned a Tree of Liberty in Srirangapatnam, the capital of Mysore, and became a member of the Jacobin Club. The year 1790 was critical for both the East India Company and the local Malabar rulers.

Tipu Sultan introduced numerous new techniques in warfare. His army successfully executed rocket attacks for the first time in the world. During his invasion of Malabar, Tipu employed dirty tactics to win the war.

He used religion as a weapon, a common strategy in India since the arrival of Muslim rulers. His army received intelligence from the local Muslim Mappila community and killed hundreds of Hindus and Christians. Hindu women were gang-raped, and thousands of locals were forcefully converted to the Muslim community. Perhaps, this was his one and only mistake. Due to these actions, the local Hindu community turned against Tipu and started supporting Pazhassi Raja and the British.

Colonel Stuart captured Tipu's fort at Palakkad, and the Madras-based forces of the British East India Company mobilized towards Srirangapatnam, Tipu Sultan's capital. In February 1792, Tipu agreed to sign a treaty to save his capital Srirangapatnam.

Soon after the Tipu left, The British East India Company ignored Pazhassi Raja and gave the land to his uncle on lease.

British increased the tax amount in to double and this made the local population upset, Pazhassi challenged the British by stopping all tax collection and giving refuge to people. The troops of British East India Company under Lt. Gordon Tried reached Kottayam to arrest Pazhassi Raja in his palace, but he had already escaped and sought help from Mysore, showing that there are no permanent enemies or friends in war field.

Pazhassi Raja's army was very small comparing with the Army of East India Company but he adopt guerrilla type encounters. So many British soldiers were lost their life in the encounters and the British forced to withdraw their army. The lease with his uncle was canceled and Pazhassi Raja agreed to stop revolts against British. correct sentence

Tipu signed Srirangapattanm treaty with East India Company in 1799, As per the Sreerangapattanam treaty Tipu Sultan handed over Malabar region to the British East India Company. Tipu Sultan was killed in Fourth Anglo Mysore war by Lord Wellesly in the same year. East India Company decide to take over Wayanad, which Pazhassi Raja claimed as his own. They refused to hand over Wayanad to Pazhassi. The peace treaty was again broken and Pazhassi Raja decided to continue revolts from the mountains of Wayanad. He organised the Kurichiya tribes, they were very expert in archery and mountain warfare. They start guerrilla type encounters against British. The fighting started in June 1800 but the British strategy was to isolate Pazhassi from his supporters. They succeeded and Pazhassi was left roaming in the forests of Western Ghat with his wife and few supporters. British caught the supporters of Pazhassi Raja including Chuzhali Nambiar, Kannavathu Shankaran Nambiar and Peruvayal Nambiar and hanged. In 1802 Edachena Kangan Nair and Thalakkal Chanthu captured Panamaram Fort of British East India Company and killed 70 British soldiers.

Thomas Harvey Babar, a young and efficient officer of the British East India Company, was appointed as the new sub-collector of Thalassery in 1804. He was tasked with resolving the Pazhassi revolution.

Babar issued a proclamation stating that it was illegal for locals to aid the revolutionaries. He mandated that they should inform British authorities about the movements of the revolutionaries, and a reward was announced for the capture of Pazhassi Raja and his commanders.

On June 16, 1805, Thalakkal Chanthu, the leader of the Kurichya tribes, was captured. Babar took direct command of the operations, and on November 30, 1805, his troops, led by himself, surrounded and shot Pazhassi Raja. The body was cremated with full "guard of honor" by the British. With the death of Pazhassi Raja, the resistance movement in north Kerala came to an end.