Dheeran Chinnamalai: The Kongu Chieftain Who Refused to Bend

He learned gunnery from French officers. He fought beside Tipu Sultan. Then he turned those skills against the East India Company and held out for years.

This is Dheeran Chinnamalai, the chieftain of the Kongu country in western Tamil Nadu. His story is part of the Second Polygar War.

1Who was Dheeran Chinnamalai?

He was born on 17 April 1756 as Theerthagiri Sarkarai Manradiar. His family belonged to the Kongu Vellalar clan. Sources differ on the exact village. They place it near Kangeyam or Chennimalai.

The Kongu region lay between the Mysore kingdom and the Tamil plains. Mysore collected taxes there. Young Chinnamalai first opposed those tax collectors.

The name Chinnamalai is a title, not a birth name. Popular accounts link it to the hills of Sennimalai and Shivamalai, which he held.

• Born 17 April 1756 as Theerthagiri Sarkarai Manradiar.
• From a Kongu Vellalar clan of western Tamil Nadu.
• First opposed Mysore’s tax collection in the Kongu region.

2How did he fight beside Tipu Sultan?

Why did a Kongu chieftain side with Mysore? The answer is simple. Both wanted to stop the Company from taking over the south. An old quarrel over taxes mattered less than that.

Later he joined Tipu Sultan against the East India Company. The Company was the common enemy. Mysore itself was now fighting for survival.

Accounts say he raised a force of about one thousand men. They also say he learned European-style musket and cannon drill from French officers in Tipu’s service. Treat these details as tradition, since records are thin.

He fought in the Srirangapatna region, where Tipu’s capital stood. Tipu Sultan fell there in 1799. After that, the Kongu chieftain went home to Odanilai and built a fort.

• Allied with Tipu Sultan against the Company.
• Said to have trained under French officers.
• Tipu fell at Srirangapatna in 1799.
• Chinnamalai then built a fort at Odanilai.
• Read about Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan and the Anglo-Mysore Wars.

3How did he fight the Second Polygar War?

The Second Polygar War ran from 1801 to 1805. It began after the first Polygar rising was crushed. Veerapandiya Kattabomman had already been hanged in 1799.

Chinnamalai became one of its commanders in the west. He used ambush and surprise. Popular accounts say he won fights at the Cauvery in 1801, at Odanilai in 1802, and at Arachalur in 1804.

Later his army was beaten. He escaped from the Company forces and kept moving. Some accounts say he fought from hill country near Palani.

Traditions also link him to a wider southern alliance with Marudu Pandiyan of Sivaganga and Gopala Nayak. Historians still debate how organised that alliance was.

• The war lasted from 1801 to 1805.
• Said victories: Cauvery 1801, Odanilai 1802, Arachalur 1804.
• Switched to guerrilla warfare after losses.
• Read about Kattabomman and Puli Thevar.

4How did his resistance end?

Local tradition says he was betrayed by his own cook, Nallapan. It says the Company paid for the betrayal. It also says he was seized at a meal.

This story is told widely, but written proof is slim. Use it with care.

What is firmer is the ending. He was hanged at Sankagiri Fort in 1805, along with his two brothers. Some accounts add his commander Karuppan.

Sources differ on the day. Most give 31 July. Wikipedia gives 2 August in its text and 3 August in its heading line. Exam questions usually name only the year 1805.

• Tradition: betrayed by his cook Nallapan.
• Hanged at Sankagiri Fort in 1805.
• His two brothers were hanged with him.
• Death date: 31 July, 2 August or 3 August in different sources.

5How is he remembered?

Statues of him stand at Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Erode and Odanilai.

India Post issued a commemorative stamp on 31 July 2005. That marked two hundred years since his death.

Until 1997 the Tiruchirappalli division of the state bus corporation carried his name. The Erode district collectorate and the Erode Municipal Corporation are also named after him.

His story also shows how widely the resistance spread. The south did not rise only in 1857. Many chieftains fought long before that, each in their own region.

Today people in the Kongu country honour him as a local hero who refused to submit.

• Statues at Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Erode and Odanilai.
• Commemorative stamp on 31 July 2005.
• The Erode collectorate and corporation carry his name.

6What are the exam traps?

Three confusions come up often.

• The Second Polygar War (1801 to 1805) is not the first war of Kattabomman.
• Chinnamalai was a Kongu chieftain in the west, not a southern poligar like Puli Thevar.
• He is a title; the birth name was Theerthagiri.
• Do not rely on the exact date of death; know the year, 1805.