222.166.91.63: /* Panamaram fort massacre */

2021-10-27T13:07:20Z

Panamaram fort massacre

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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
'''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.

==Career==
Chanthu began his career under Edachena Kunkan, who later promoted him to the rank of general.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} Pazhassi Raja and his other generals and troops saw Chanthu as their ablest war leader.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

==Panamaram fort massacre==
The British [[East India Company]] fixed a high revenue tax on agricultural produce of Wyanad farmers causing widespread dissent.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} One of the Company peons was killed by [[Edachena Kunkan]] when the peon demanded paddy from a Kuruchiya man.<ref name=Chandu/> This prompted the entire Kuruchiya tribe to join hands with Edachana Kunkan who was carrying on a fight against the British on behalf of Pazhassi Raja.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} The rebellion on 11 October 1802 by a group of tribal soldiers (comprising 175 Kurichya archers), led by Thalakkal Chandu and Edachena Kunkan, captured the British fort at [[Panamaram]] which was defended by the [[101st Grenadiers|I battalion]] of [[4th Bombay Grenadiers|4th Bombay infantry]].<ref name=Chandu>{{cite book|last=Logan|first=William|title=Malabar Manual, Volume I|year=1989|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788120604469|pages=539, 540|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mR2QXrVEJIC&q=Panorta|edition=[Facsim. ed.].}}</ref> Commanding officer Capt. Dickinson and Lt. Maxwell were killed in action along with entire detachment of 70 soldiers which was guarding the fort.<ref name=Chandu/>

The British forces launched a retaliatory attack and trapped Chanthu on 15 November 1805.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} He was executed under a Koly tree. Edachana Kunkan committed suicide when he was surrounded at Panniyil later (now called Pannichal, Kerala).<ref>{{cite news | title = Demand for memorial to tribal warriors | date =15 November 2008 | url =http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/15/stories/2008111550740200.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20101130142627/http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/15/stories/2008111550740200.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =30 November 2010 | newspaper = [[The Hindu]] |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

==Memorial==
The Kerala State Government installed a memorial to Chanthu on 22 September 2012, near Panamaram Fort on the banks of the [[Kabini]] river.<ref name=memorial>{{cite news|title=Monument to honour Chandu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/monument-to-honour-chandu/article3925228.ece|access-date=22 October 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|date=22 September 2012}}</ref> In the form of a museum, the memorial displays weapon models used by Chanthu and his tribesmen, the Kurichiya archers and the tribe's traditional agricultural implements.<ref name=memorial/>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanthu, Thalakkal}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1805 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel]]
[[Category:Indian male archers]]
[[Category:Cotiote War]]
[[Category:People from Wayanad district]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Archers from Kerala]]
[[Category:19th-century sportsmen]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian people]]

Thalakkal Chanthu - Revision history

222.166.91.63: /* Panamaram fort massacre */