Marthanda Varma, Dharma Raja, the Madura Nayaks, and the Arcot Nawabs.
There are only a few papers and articles specifically about
the incursions of the Madura Nayaks and Arcot Nawabs into the southern
districts of old Travancore, and the motives and timelines are not very clear.
I will try to fill in some gaps and provide a brief overview of the events
leading to the incursions and their aftermath. The fact is that even Marthanda
Varma, supported by a powerful, trained army, was always troubled by these
incursions and never emerged victorious. A main reason is that these invading
armies were almost always undisciplined and did not follow the traditional
rules of war set by the Malayala kings. These marauding ‘Pattani’ armies
usually pillaged and burned their way through until they achieved their goals.
We are now discussing a period when the regions to the west
of the Ghats and south up to Cape Comorin, or Kanyakumari, were loosely
considered part of Venad. This included areas such as Kalakkad and Panguidi, as
well as a zone extending thirty miles from Kalakkad to Cape Comorin. These were
important rice-growing regions for Marthanda Varma (MV), who was determined to
expand his territories by pushing south and southeast, as well as pushing the
northern borders northward to Cochin. Marthanda Varma had taken control of all
the southeastern possessions of Travancore on the Tinnevelly side, which he
claimed had been seized from his predecessors by the Pandyas (Vizhinjam attack
by Nedunjazhiyan). During this period, neither Trivandrum nor Padmanabhapuram
was the Trippapur Swaroopam capital; it was Thiruvithancode (also known as
Thiruvancode or Srivardhanapuri), located about a mile southwest of
Padmanabhapuram in Kalkulam.
There were many enemy incursions in 1634 and between 1697
and 1718, but we will not discuss those now. Due to persistent threats and
attacks, later generations moved the administrative capital north to
Trivandrum. Although Nanjilnadu, Kalakkad, Kudanadu, and Purattayadu were among
the territories governed by Travancore royals, not everyone agreed with their
claims of ownership, leading to numerous skirmishes and battles during
Marthanda Varma’s and Dharma Raja’s reign.
Rama Varma’s contacts with the Madura Nayaks began when
Marthanda Varma, his nephew, faced threats from his cousins and challenges from
the Ettuveetil Pillamar around 1726. At that time, Rama Varma had to go to
Trichy to seek assistance and support (I covered these details in the
Ettuveetil Pillamar article).
As Caldwell explains, He
entered into a treaty with the Madura Government and secured its support by
offering to renew the lapsed attachment to that crown, and to bind himself to
pay a certain sum of money annually. At the same time, a suitable force was
applied to punish and bring to their senses the Madampimar and other refractory
chiefs. After some discussion and preliminary enquiries, the sovereign was
successful in obtaining a force consisting of one thousand cavalry, under the
command of M. Vencatapathy Naiken, and two thousand Carnatic sepoys, headed by
Thripathy Naiken, and others, in charge of fifty sirdars, including Raghava
lyen and Subba lyen, &c. Upon their arrival, the Ilaya Thampi and their
forces fled. The late Rama Vurmah Rajah was compelled in 1726 to proceed to the
Pandyan (Nayaka) capital (Trichinopoly), and to enter into an agreement with
the Pandyan Government, by which he promised to pay an annual tribute of about
3,000 rupees and obtained from the Governor a force of 1,000 horse and 2,000
foot, for the purpose of overawing the turbulent chiefs and nobles.
The Travancore Raja apparently delayed paying these
mercenaries, who then responded by kidnapping Dewan Arumugham Pillay. Pillay
tried to pay the ransom by borrowing from Kottar merchants, but he was not
released. The king then instructed Kumarasamy Pillay and Thanu Pillay to form a
mercenary force of Maravas and to reinforce Aramboly, eventually securing
Arumugham Pillay’s release. MV then ordered the Tamil mercenary forces to
return to Trichy and demanded that the Nayak release him from their annual agreement.
At this point, the Thampi brothers, led by Pappu Thampi,
traveled to Trichy to seek support for their succession claims. The Nawab
assigned Alagappa Mudaliar from Tirunelveli to investigate their claim. As
previously mentioned, the first major skirmish occurred when the Thampi
brothers, with Alagappa Mudaliar's help, fought MV and his forces at Kalkulam.
To respond, MV sought assistance from neighboring chieftains. The ongoing
back-and-forth clashes irritated Mudaliar, who was later bribed by MV, leading
him to tell the Thampis and MV to settle their differences and cease asking for
his intervention. Later, MV executed the Ilaya Thampis, as described in the
earlier article. This explains why these regions, especially Kalakkad and
Kalkulam, were so important and meaningful to MV.
MV’s subsequent efforts to expand his kingdom moved
northward through battles led by Ramayya Dalawa, which we discussed in the
Lannoy article. He used his new Marava forces and additional sepoys supplied by
other Poligars from some southern districts of Travancore. In 1734, MV annexed
Shencottah, Kalakkad, Eerkudi, and Valliyoor on the Tinnevelly side. Things
looked promising in the south, but in Trichy, a crisis had developed with a
sort of coup and the arrival of a powerful Chanda Saheb from the north. He was
the son-in-law of the Nawab of Carnatic (Dost Ali Khan), under whom he served
as Dewan.
Historians disagree on the dates of the South Travancore
attacks. Dutch records and some historians (see references), based on Henk and
Danen's notes, state that the invasion by Chanda and Bada Sabeb occurred in
1739-40. However, Ramaswami’s chapter on Chanda Saheb and Nelson’s Madura
Manual mention that Chanda and his team went on a roaming trip from Madras to
Tanjavur in 1734, where they defeated Thukkoji. The Mughals then moved to
Kottar, defeated the Travancore army, and later traveled northeast to Arcot and
Trichy, where they met Thirumala and Meenakshi, who were offering large sums of
money for cooperation. Since Meenakshi committed suicide in 1736, the earlier
date is probably correct. Still, the Dutch records can’t be entirely wrong,
especially considering their last stand at Colachel in 1740. Does this mean
there were multiple attacks — one before Meenakshi’s death and one after?
That’s possible, as in May 1740, the Maratha attacked Trichy and defeated
Chanda Saheb, and KK Pillay’s Suchindram thesis, referencing Tellicherry
records, confirms the 1740 incursions.
Madhava Rao’s account of Travancore history, as repeated by
Shungoony Menon, states that it was indeed in February 1740 when Chanda Saheb
had to halt the attacks and rush back to Trichy due to the Maratha threat
there. However, it does seem that there was another attack in 1734, and Mark
Lannoy, in his fine book, mentions annual incursions by the Nawab's armies to
collect tribute money.
Anyway, let us see what these records say about the 1740
skirmishes and try to make sense of them. In this 1740 attack, the Dutch and
the English noted that over 500 horse and infantry belonging to Chanda Saheb
participated, and this force first besieged the Dutch factory at Cape Comorin
before attacking it. The Pattanis led by Chanda Saheb and Bada Saheb, it seems,
lost their leader and moved away to Kalkulam. Some Marava troops joined the
Nayak’s army, while a ship with soldiers from Ceylon hurried to help the
besieged Dutch. MV arrived at Suchindram afterward, to prepare the
fortifications for defense, but a month later, vigorous assaults by these
Muslim forces forced the Travancore army to retreat. The invaders sacked Kottar
and looted Suchindram, destroying the ceremonial chariot as well.
Negotiations for peace had begun, and we see that Captain
Hackert at Airoor received reports that Travancore had offered the Nawab around
120,000 Gold Panams and six elephants. The Nawab countered with a demand for 12
million Rix dollars and 12 elephants. Negotiations continued, and a settlement
was reached by March 15. It is clear that the Trichy Nawab's main goal was to
extort money, not to rule or establish administrative control over these
distant regions.
The situation became quite complicated in 1740 when the
Dutch chief Hackert was ordered to move from Tuticorin, where he had fled, to
Cape Comorin. At that time, MV had a stronger Dutch presence and the Nawab’s
forces in the South, while the Dutch and local rebel kings controlled the
North. He decided to focus on the north and had no choice but to buy out the
Muslim forces, who were more interested in money for themselves. Now, the
reader will see how these Muslim invaders operated, and decades later Hyder and
Tipu would do the same when pressuring the Zamorin at Calicut; the only
difference was that the Zamorin did not strengthen his own army or prepare for
war as cleverly as MV did. MV had a shrewd minister in Ramayyan Dalava, while
the Zamorin only had an unreliable Swaminatha Pattar, who was mainly interested
in filling his pockets. MV sent Ramayyan Dalava for negotiations, and he
reached a settlement. Meanwhile, Chanda Saheb was imprisoned at Satara by the
Marathas and remained there for 7 years.
Meanwhile, the Carnatic Sultanate experienced many changes,
and the aging Nawab Anwaruddin Khan was killed at the Battle of Ambur in 1749.
Chanda Saheb (Huseyn Dost Khan), son-in-law of Dost Ali Khan whom we discussed
earlier, became a rival to Anwaruddin’s sons. Muhammad Ali, who declared
himself Nawab after his brother Mahfuz Khan, the governor of Arcot, was
captured and imprisoned by Chanda Saheb. The French (supporting Chanda) and the
English (supporting Ali) took sides, and by 1751, Chanda Saheb also claimed the
title of Arcot Nawab, backed by Nizam Muzaffar Jung. Chanda appointed a Pathan
officer named Mohammed Mainach, also known as Moodemiah, to manage Valliyur,
Kalakkad, and other areas.
Between 1739 and 1752, MV was busy fighting the Dutch and
the northern region rajas, as discussed in the previous article. During this
time, Chanda Saheb, who was in control at Trichy, annexed the southern
districts, Kalakkad, and Tinnevelly. Muhammad Ali the Nawab fled from Ambur to
Trichinopoly. The story from here gets quite complicated, with involvement from
the Maratha, Mysore Sultan Hyder Ali, the English, Hari Singh (covered in a
previous article), and the French. Manaji, the Maratha tasked with escorting
Chanda Saheb, who surrendered after a tough battle in 1752, had him beheaded.
Muhammad Ali thus kept the Nawab title.
But the story didn't end there. The Nawab decided to appoint
Yusuf Khan (Maruthanayagam Pillai), who, along with Col Heron, retook Kalakkad
in 1756, and Yusuf Khan was then made governor of the southern districts. When
he traveled south, he found Mahfuz Khan in serious trouble, unable to pay his
troops, and he took control of Kalakkad in 1757. By 1758, Marthanda Varma and
Ramayyan Dalawa were no longer alive, and Rama Varma (Dharma Raja) had become
the Raja of Travancore.
Puli Thevar was apparently enjoying himself and accumulating
riches on his own, which led Dharma Raja and Yusuf Khan to team up to fight
Puli Thevar and the Vadakarai Poligar in 1759. When Puli Thevar and his allies
offered to surrender, Dharma Raja used convincing arguments to show Yusuf Khan
that it was better to give some southern territories to Venad, so Kalakkad
again came under Travancore. Travancore was to become an ally of the British
and the Nawab, against Puli Thevar. A battle with Puli Thevar’s forces did not
result in a clear victory, and eventually, as the proceeds from the capture and
tributes were meager, hostility arose between the Nawab and Yusuf Khan, who
decided to take on the Nawab. Meanwhile, Hyder Ali of Mysore, foiled by Yusuf
Khan, was becoming restless and wanted to teach Travancore a lesson. When
Travancore refused to join his forces against Madura, Yusuf Khan attacked
Travancore without permission from the Nawab.
Yusuf Khan attacked Dharma Raja’s troops; at first, the
Travancoreans nearly defeated Khan’s forces, but when French Marchand’s troops
arrived to support Yusuf Khan, they had to agree to a peace treaty.
The agreement read thus – "I... King of Travancore,
&c... do give the following agreement to Muhammad Yusuf, Khan Bahadur,
ruler of the Madura country. That if an enemy marches against you in Madura
country, I shall, in such case, regard your enemy as my own and send an army of
horse, sepoys, &c, with necessary ammunition relating to the same and
assist you in what I can. The charges of the troops which I may send shall be
defrayed by myself. I shall commit no hostilities in your districts nor give a
place to your enemy in my dominions. On the contrary, I shall act in perfect
union and friendship with you. Thus, I give this agreement to you."
Strangely, Yusuf Khan’s wife and son retreated to Travancore
under Dharmaraja’s protection. The Dutch account of Yusuf Khan's treaty with
the King states, ‘it will be remembered, that the King promised them his
protection’. Regarding Yusuf Khan's son, it is believed he joined Hyder Ali,
like many of Yusuf’s troops. During this period, the King of Travancore
occupied Kaļakkad, Shencotta, and the neighboring districts after Yusuf Khan
left to defend Madura against the combined forces of the Nawab and the English.
In these battles, Yusuf Khan, now seen as a rebel by the Nawab, was captured
and hanged from a mango tree after two tough battles at Madurai.
Muhammad Ali, the nawab, marched south with the English and
demanded that Travancore relinquish all territories it had occupied.
Ultimately, an arbitration was arranged with the English, after which Rama
Varma had to sign an agreement stating he would only be the renter of the
Shenkotta and Kanyakumari districts and pay an annual tribute. Kalakkad was
lost and became a revenue district of Tirunelveli under the British.
Joannes de Lannoy, the only son of Eustachius De Lannoy who
fought for Marthanda Varma and led his troops, was killed in a skirmish at
Kalakkad in 1765 at the age of twenty. I believe it was a battle against some
of the Naickers, related to the Shenkotta and Puliyara regions.
The Padmanabhapuram Division, which included the taluks of
Agastiswaram, Eraniel, Kalkulam, Thovalay, and Vilavancode, remained one of the
administrative regions of the princely state of Travancore. In 1956, all these
Tamil-speaking taluks were transferred to Madras State following the States
Reorganisation Act of 1956, which now constitutes the present-day Kanyakumari
district of Tamil Nadu.
References
Chanda Sahib’s invasion of Travancore – S Krishna Iyer
Travancore and the Carnatic in the xviii century: Fresh
Light Thrown by the Matilakam Records - A. P. Ibrahim Kunju
A triangular contest over Kalakkad in Tirunelveli in the 18th
century – R Kumaran
Press List of Ancient Dutch Records from 1657 to 1825 By
A.J.M. Heijligers
Yusuf Khan –Samuel Charles Hill
Travancore Tinnevelly relations, a retrospect – R
Santhakumar Journal of Kerala Studies - Volume 33
Rise of Travancore - AP Ibrahim Kunju
History of Tinnevelly – R Caldwell
Political history of the Carnatic under the Nawabs – NS
Ramaswami
Related articles
Ettuveetil
Pillamar – Historic alleys
Marthanada Varma – De
Lannoy -Maddy’s ramblings
Rama
Ayyan Dalawa – Historic Alleys
Abhirami’s
tale – Historic Alleys
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