Pazhassi Raja: The Lion of Kerala

Pazhassi Raja fought Mysore, then the East India Company, for more than thirty years. He is remembered as the Lion of Kerala.

His weapon was the forest. His men struck from the hills of Wayanad and vanished again.

1Who was Pazhassi Raja?

He was a prince of the royal house of Kottayam.

• His real name was Kerala Varma.
• He was born on 3 January 1753.
• He got the name Pazhassi because he was a native of Pazhassi, near Mattannur.
• Early Company papers wrote his name as “Pychy Rajah”.
• They called the kingdom “Cotiote”, the English form of Kottayam.
• He was the de facto head of Kottayam from 1774 until 1805.
• Kottayam lay in north Malabar, in present-day Kerala.
• His kingdom took in Thalassery taluk and the Wayanad area.
• He earned the title Kerala Simham, the Lion of Kerala.

2How did he fight Mysore?

He fought Mysore before he ever fought the British.

• Hyder Ali of Mysore marched into Malabar in 1773.
• Many rajas fled to Travancore.
• The Raja of Kottayam also took refuge outside the kingdom.
• Pazhassi Raja stayed behind, aged 21, and took charge in 1774.
• He had neither guns nor troops enough for open battle.
• So he set up bases in the forested mountains of Puralimala and Wayanad.
• His troops came from many castes and tribes, including Nairs, Thiyyas and Kurichiyas.
• A treaty of 1786 ceded Wayanad to Tipu Sultan.
• His elder brother, Ravi Varma, had signed that treaty.
• The Raja refused to accept it.
• His guerrilla war in Wayanad went on until 1793.
• In 1790 he helped the Company against Mysore, with about 1,500 Nairs.

3What was the first revolt?

A tax dispute led to open conflict with the Company.

• The Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792 gave Malabar to the East India Company.
• The Company had signed a pact with him in 1790, promising to respect Kottayam’s independence.
• It broke that promise and put his uncle, Vira Varma, in charge.
• Vira Varma then taxed the peasants heavily.
• In 1793 Pazhassi Raja led the peasants in resistance.
• In 1796 a Company party seized his fortified house at Pazhassi.
• The Raja had left four days earlier.
• He moved to Wayanad and fought back with guerrilla tactics.
• In 1797 his forces ambushed a Company force at Periya Pass.
• Hidden troops waited in stockades on both sides of the narrow pass.
• Many Company officers were killed, including Major Cameron.
• After heavy losses, the Company sued for peace in 1797.
• One official noted that Company losses in 1797 exceeded those of the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
• The treaty pardoned him and promised an allowance of 8,000 rupees a year.

4What was the second revolt?

A new dispute over Wayanad ended the peace.

• Tipu Sultan fell in 1799, and Wayanad passed to the Company.
• The Company planned to join Wayanad to another district.
• The Raja saw this as an attack on his ancient land.
• His second revolt ran from 1800 to 1805.
• Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, led the Company’s forces in the region.
• By 1801 over 10,000 Company troops blocked the passes into Wayanad.
• The Raja had to wander the forests with a few aides.
• His commander, Edachena Kungan, led the capture of Panamaram Fort.
• Kurichiya bowmen fought alongside him.
• He also trained peasants for war, so ordinary villagers joined his army.
• In March 1803 rebels even raided the sub-jail at Calicut.
• Wellesley is said to have remarked that the Company was fighting “one man”.
• The Company offered a large reward for the Raja’s capture.

5How did he die?

His end came near the Karnataka border.

• The Company sent T. H. Baber, a civil servant, to hunt him down.
• An informer told Baber where the Raja had camped.
• On 30 November 1805 the Company troops surprised his camp.
• The place was Mavila Thodu, a stream near Pulpally.
• Six fighters died, and the Raja was among the first.
• Accounts differ on how exactly he died.
• Folklore says he swallowed a diamond ring.
• Baber credited a clerk, Canara Menon.
• His wife was taken prisoner, and the palace at Pazhassi was demolished.
• He is also remembered for helping peasants restart farming after the Mysore wars.
• He lent them money, seeds and cattle.

6What are the exam traps?

Dates and places are easy to mix up.

• He fought two revolts: 1793 to 1797 and 1800 to 1805.
• The first revolt was about tax and the control of Kottayam.
• The second revolt was about Wayanad.
• Periya Pass was in 1797. Mavila Thodu was in 1805.
• Pazhassi is a place name, not a personal title.
• He is not the same as the 1921 Malabar rebel Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji.
• Compare his forest war with Tirot Sing in the Khasi Hills.
• Both rose before 1857, like Kittur Chennamma.
• For another Kerala-region figure, see Accamma Cherian.