Polygar Wars: Difference between revisions

[[File:0088 View of Comery (1801).jpg|250px|thumb|right|Polygar Wars]]

The '''Polygar Wars''' or '''Palaiyakkarar Wars''' were wars fought between the [[Polygars]] (''[[Palaiyakkarar]]s'') of the former [[Tirunelveli]] Kingdom in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]] and the [[British East India Company]] forces between March 1799 to May 1802 or July 1805. The British finally won after carrying out gruelling protracted [[jungle]] campaigns against the Polygar armies. Many lives were lost on both sides and the victory over the Polygars brought large parts of the territories of Tamil Nadu under British control, enabling them to get a strong hold in Southern India.

The war between the British and [[Kattabomman]] Nayak of [[Panchalankurichi]] Palayam  in the then [[Tirunelveli]] region is often classified as the First Polygar war.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} In 1799, a brief meeting (over pending taxes) between Kattabomman and the British ended in a bloody encounter in which the British commander of the forces was slain by the former. A price was put on Kattabomman's head prompting many Polygars to an open rebellion.

After a series of battles in the [[Panchalankurichi Fort|Panchalankurichi fort]] with additional reinforcements from [[Tiruchirapalli]], Kattabomman was defeated, but he escaped to the jungles in [[Pudukottai]] country. He was captured by the British with the help of [[Ettappan]], [[Pudukottai]] Raja after his backroom agreement with the British. After a summary trial, Kattabomman was hanged in front of the public in order to intimidate them in [[Kayatharu]].

Subramania Pillai, a close associate of Kattabomman, was also publicly hanged and his head was fixed on a pike at Panchalankurichi for public view. Soundra Pandian, another rebel leader, was brutally killed by having his head smashed against a village wall. Kattabomman's brother [[Oomaidurai]] was imprisoned in [[Palayamkottai Central Prison|Palayamkottai prison]] while the fort was razed to the ground and wealth looted by the troops.

Despite the suppression of the First Polygar War in 1799, a rebellion broke out again in 1800. The Second Polygar War was more stealthy and covert in nature. The rebellion broke out when a band of Palayakkarar armies bombed the British barracks in [[Coimbatore]]. In the war that followed, [[Oomaithurai]] allied himself with [[Maruthu Pandiyar]] and was part of a grand alliance against the company which included [[Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja]] of Malabar.

 

 

The British finally won after a long expensive campaign that took more than a year. The Company forces led by Lt. Colonel Agnew laid siege to the [[Panchalankurichi]] fort and captured it in May 1801 after a prolonged siege and artillery bombardment. Oomaithurai escaped the fall of the fort and joined Maruthu brothers at their jungle fort at Kalayar Kovil. The Company forces pursued him there and eventually captured Kalayar Kovil in October 1801. Oomaithurai and the Maruthu brothers were hanged on 16 November 1801 at Tiruppathur (Sivagangai Dist.).{{sfn|Francis|1989|p=261}}{{sfn|Dirk|1988|pp=19–24}}

The suppression of the [[Polygar]] rebellions of 1799 and 1800-1805 resulted in the liquidation of the influence of the chieftains. Under the terms of the [[Carnatic Treaty]] (31 July 1801), the British assumed direct control over [[Tamil Nadu]]. The Polygar system which had flourished for two and a half centuries came to a violent end and the company introduced a [[Zamindari]] settlement in its place.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

 

In subsequent years, legend and folklore developed around Alagu muthu kone, Dheeran Chinnamalai, Kattabomman and Maruthu Pandiyar.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

 

==Notes==

* {{citation |first=Nicholas |last=Dirk |author-link=Nicholas Dirks |year=1988 |title=The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom |pages=19–24  |isbn=978-0-521-05372-3}}

* {{citation |last=Francis |first=W. |year=1989 |title=Gazetteer of South India |volume=1 |publisher=Mittal Publications |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vERnljM1uiEC&pg=PA261 261]}}

 

* N. Rajendran, National Movement in Tamil Nadu, 1905-1914 - Agitational Politics and State Coercion, Madras Oxford University Press.

* M.P. Manivel, 2003 - Viduthalaipporil Virupachi Gopal Naickar (Tamil Language), New Century Book House, Chennai

* Prof. K.Rajayyan M.A., M.Litt, A.M. Ph.D., A History of Freedom Struggle in India

* Prof. K.Rajayyan M.A., M.Litt, A.M. Ph.D., South Indian Rebellion - The First War of Independence (1800–1801)

* {{cite book |last=Welsh |first=James |author-link=James Welsh (East India Company officer)|year=1830 |chapter=Poligar War |title=Military Reminiscences: Extracted from a Journal of Nearly Forty Years' Active Service in the East Indies |volume=1 |edition=Two volume, 2nd |publisher=Smith, Elder, and Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/militaryreminisc01wels/page/81 81]–135 |url=https://archive.org/details/militaryreminisc01wels |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/militaryreminisc01wels#page/51/mode/1up}}

 

[[Category:History of Kerala]]

[[Category:Military history of the British East India Company]]

[[Category:18th century in India]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1799]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1800]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1801]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1802]]

[[Category:1799 in British India]]

[[Category:1802 in British India]]