MASSACRE OF THE BRITISH AT ATTINGAL,1721

The Biggest Massacre of Britishers in Kerala

 Umayamma Rani gave permission to the English East India Company to fortify the trade settlement at Anchuthengu,in 1694,not because she wanted it,but because she had gone back on her promise to grant permission to fortify the Vizhinjam Factory,after, she and some barons, having received a huge amount.She was thus forced to grant the right to establish the Factory and Fort at Anchuthengu,but it became operational only in 1696,because of the opposition of the Dutch and the Pillai s.The Pillai s of Attingal,Kudamon and Vanchimuttam were traditional rivals,and Vanchimuttam,secretly helped the English.After giving permission,the Queen,who became fearful of the English design,had sent an Army of Nairs and Muslims to attack the Fort,but the attempt was foiled by the advance information from Vanchimuttam.The Queen of Attingal was also the Head of the confederacy consisting of the principalities of Travancore,Nedumangad,Kottarakkara,Kollam,Karunagappally and Kayamkulam.

Anchuthengu Fort from the Light House

The Queen needed lot of resources to fund the action against the internal strife,she was facing,and the English request came in handy.The union jack was hoisted at Anchuthengu,on April 27,1694.The peace treaty of 1679,between Britain,France,Scotland,Ireland and Netherlands agreed to accept the colonial monopoly of any of these countries,once they raise their flag to establish a Fort.Located between Vamanapuram river to the East and Arabian sea to the west,it was built with 70,000 stones,at a cost of 7000 pounds,completed in 1699.It could trigger 60 cannons at a time.400 persons could stay at a time.Records show that the Queen got gifts worth Rs 300 from Commander Thomas Mitchell,first Head there,for the first consignment of pepper,and the next Commander,John Brabourne gave 250 coins(1 coin=21 panam)and velvet.Brabourne returned to London in 1707 and Simon Cowse who followed him remained Head,till 1712.John Kyffin who took over in 1712,was dismissed for over enthusiasm in private trade,and William Gyfford,greedy to the core,used even his beautiful wife,Catherine Cooke,for private trade.He made a fortune by sending additional pepper to Europe,in a brigantine,Thomas,owned by his wife's brother,Thomas Cooke.

Attingal Palace

There was one William Gyfford , a puppet of the Governor of the Company in London,Josaiah Child,who appointed him Agent of the Madras Factory in 1681,after removing,Strynsham Master on allegations of private trade.  Gyfford had become a Factor in 1657,became a member of the Council at Fort St George in 1662 and became second President of the newly formed Madras Presidency in 1685, after Elihu Yale.

Gyfford was instrumental in signing a treaty with Lingappa,Naik of Poonamallee,for protecting the Factory from criminals and private trade,by paying him,7000 pagodas.A firman was signed by Lingappa,on behalf of the Sultan of Golconda,providing new cowle,for the district of Madraspatnam at the rate of 1200 pagodas/annum,on November 12,1683.Gyfford started the Madras Bank,at Child's suggestion to get more income to the Company.In 1686,he was removed as President of Madras,after a public rebellion against stringent tax.

I don't know whether Gyfford of Anjengo was related to the President Gyfford.The Gyfford appointed at Anjengo in June,1717 was 34 then,whereas the Presidne Gyfford would have been more than 80,at that time.The Anjengo Gyfford had come to India in 1705 as a Writer in the Company,at 17.When he was 25,he married the twice widowed,Catherine,whose life was tragic and adventurous.When Catherine and her first husband,John Harvey,who was Chief of the Karwar Fort,were living in Bombay,Gyfford was in charge of the Bombay market.It was after a stint as Super Cargo,in a vessel,Catherine, Gyfford was appointed at Anchuthengu.They reached after the monsoon. 

Simon Cowse,who was Head,remained second in Command after Gyfford took over Anchuthengu Factory.

Attingal was in great political crisis,in total anarchy, pulling on,without a Queen,when Gyfford took over.Nothing in the country could be moved,because of the rivalry of the two ministers,Kudamon and Vanchimuttam Pillai s.Kudamon Pillai died in 1721,and when his energetic nephew succeeded,Gyfford bribed Vanchimuttam,who supported the Queen of Kallada,Ammu Thampuran,sister of Kollam King Unni Kerala Varma,for the post of the Queen of Attingal,as a loyalist of the King.An agreement was worked out between Vanchimuttam and the new Kudamon Pillai and the Queen was consecrated. 

Gyfford,by nature,was sarcastic,making fun of others,and enjoying doing practical jokes.Unfortunately,when the practical jokes became religious,Hindus and Muslims formed an axis,against him.He insulted a Brahmin,forcing him to shave the beard of an untouchable slave,which made the Brahmin an outcast,by tradition,and his community was up in arms.The Linguist at the Factory,the Portuguese,Ignatio Malheiro, encouraged young boys to pelt rotten eggs at Muslim traders.Gyfford and wife poured impure water on Muslims.Malheiro,bought by force,the Kottathali grove owned by Sarkkara temple,giving one lakh panam.A large sea coast bought by Gyfford,made Kudamon Pillai angry,because he  was trying to raise funds for buying it,selling pepper.Three Hindu merchants on Shrove Wednesday,were insulted;a concubine of Malheiro rubbed ash on the fore head on one Muslim merchant,and he attacked and injured her.When a delegation of Nair merchants was ill treated by Gyfford on February 26,1721,Kudamon Pillai set fire to a British ship.

While the situation was tense,Gyfford was invited to meet the new Queen,with the arrears of the lease amount.

Elihu Yale

On April14,1721,a party of 12o British merchants and 30 slaves,led by Gyfford,Burton Fleming and Malheiro sailed by sea to the palace,6 kilometers away,with 17000 panam as tribute,and Vishukkazhcha.Since old Vanchimuttam was inebriated,the party was received by the young Kudamon.Cowse became suspicious when the talk on the gifts to the Pillai s was extended;he alerted Gyfford,but was rebuffed.The party had left the guns in the ship,where as,the Nairs were,as usual armed.Gyfford and the team was asked to spent the night,on the premises of the palace,in small batches.Gyfford also became suspicious and sent a messenger to Robert Sewell,store keeper/Adjutant/Captain.In the night,the combined Attingal forces,led by Kudamon Pillai,fell upon the Britishers,and butchered them.The party had left only the women,children,pensioners and only 4 males  to hold the Fort.Gyfford,Malhiero and Fleming were cut to pieces.The tongues of Gyfford and Malheiro were pulled out,the tongue of Gyfford cut to pieces and thrown into Vamanapuram river.His body was nailed on a log,thrown into the river,to float.Cowse,who tried to escape in Malayali dress,was caught by a Muslim who owed him money,and was killed.A total of 133 were butchered.

Gyfford signature

Three days later,Attingal forces laid siege to the Fort.Among the four males,Robert Sewell,Lieutenant Peter Lapthorne and Ensign Thomas Davis were useless.Sewell and Lapthorne were drunk with a Portuguese called Rodriguez and busy plundering the Factory.Samuel Ince,Gunner ,with volleys of cannon,repulsed them.Women and children were sent away in a ship,Prosperous,to Ceylon,without food and water,though,the Kollam King had invited the refugees to his country.It was not accepted because his loyalties were with the Dutch.There were intermittent attacks on the Fort for 6 months.The Kollam King went to Attingal and stayed with her few days.She sent a delegation including 100 Brahmins,to the Chief at Thalassery,to no avail.She fled to Kollam and never returned.The sister of Rama Varma,King of Travancore was coronated as the new Queen.The tradition of appointing wretched Britishers at Anchuthengu ended and a surgeon in the company,Dr Alexander Orme took over.His son,Robert Orme,born in Anchthengu,and who lived there for two years,became an authority on India and a reputed historian.

Robert Orme

Alexander Orme was the brother in law of the Thalassery Chief,Adams.On August 15,1723,the just 17 year old Marthanda Varma,Prince of Neyyattinkara,sent a letter to Ormes,saying,Adams was  very friendly with the Kolathiri family of Malabar,and as a Kolathiri family member,he too expects Ormes to be friendly with him.Marthanda Varma was the son of a princess from the Kolathiri family,adopted to Attingal family. 

Battle of Plassey was in 1757,killing,only 29 English men,36 years later! 

Reference:
1.English East India Company and the Local Rulers/Leena More
2.The Honourable Company/John Keay
3.Tamil Nadu Archives Letter to Brabourne,1696 May
4. Early Resistance to the English/T P Sankarankutty Nair
5.Venadinte Parinamam/K Sivasankaran Nair
6.A History of British Settlements in India/Talboys Wheeler
7.William Kyffin's letter to the President,Madras,11 January,1718
8.Pirates of Malabar and an English Woman in India/John Biddulph

See my Post,CATHERINE COOKE AT ANCHUTHENGU

VELUTHAMPI, MACAULAY AND PEPPER

Conflict of interest in trade made them enemies

Though Thiruvananthapuram was the Capital of Venad, in Kerala, South India, the Dewans, Raja Kesavadas and Velu Thampi, stayed at Alapuzha, away from the very weak Kings, Dharma Raja, and his successor, Balarama Varma. When Colin Macaulay became a Resident in 1800, Velu Thampi, his close confidante for seven years, shifted from Alappuzha to Kollam, where he built the Residency for Macaulay. The stay of both the Dewans, far from the administrative capital, was not so innocent, though historians belonging to the Dewans' community have put in all kinds of efforts to make them heroes. British records give ample proof to the effect that, both the Dewans sacrificed public interest for private trade interests, amassing wealth, and finally ending in their own destruction.

Anchuthengu (Anjengo) Fort

The Dewans were more interested in the Anchuthengu (Anjengo) trade settlement and the Alapuzha port, the hubs of trade, did their private trade with the Commercial Resident, overlooking the private interests of the Political Resident. The Commercial Resident of the East India Company was stationed at Anchuthengu, who often was at loggerheads with the Political Resident, especially during, 1760-1810.

Before Anchuthengu, the Company got a foothold in Thalassery in 1682. It was Regent Umayamma Rani, who granted the right to the Company to build a Fort and Factory at Anchuthengu in 1695, where the first trade settlement in Kerala came up. Anchthengu, a coastal town, lies 30 Kilometers North of Thiruvananthapuram, near Varkala. It was the first signalling post in India for ships from England, and the first permanent post on the Malabar Coast, a port of call for East Indian men, playing a vital role in the Anglo-Mysore wars of the 18th century. Anchuthengu was an old Portuguese settlement.

Anjengo, 1790s

Alapuzha port was built and opened by Raja Kesavadas in 1762, and Dharmaraja shifted the administrative Capital of Venad from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram, in 1795, the year in which the Raja signed the treaty with the Governor of Bombay, John Duncan.

The treaty of 1795 is known as the East India Company-Travancore Subsidiary Alliance Treaty, for perpetual friendship and alliance. Travancore thus accepted Company's supremacy. The treaty didn't specifically stipulate the aid of the British forces in suppressing the internal commotion in Travancore, but the march of three British Battalions, after the treaty, restored tranquillity.

Velu Thampi enters

When Velu Thampi took over in 1802, one measure of the economy was the scrapping of the field allowances paid to troops at times of peace, leading to a revolt of troops. The insurgency was crushed by native troops alone, but the Company was disturbed. The Madras Government, insisted on a modification of the treaty so that British troops can aid the Raja to quell the internal commotion, as well. Thus a new treaty was signed in July 1805.

The Mysore invasion of Malabar provided further opportunity for the British to expand, and the Travancore Raja was asked by the Company to meet the entire expense of the 3rd Anglo-Mysore War, on the plea that it was undertaken solely for the defence of Travancore. By the treaty of 1795, the Raja was forced to entertain a Subsidiary Force, far beyond his capacity to subsidize. The Company claimed a monopoly over the pepper trade in Travancore, and the country was dragged into the vortex of financial crisis. Raja was forced to raise loans from bankers and merchants, as well as Britishers inside Travancore, including the Commercial Resident at Anchthengu.

Attingal Palace

As we saw, Umayamma Rani of Attingal, gave the Company rights to establish the Anchuthengu Factory. During her time, the Attingal principality had semi-independence, and she administered over Anchuthengu, which system seems to have continued even after her death, in 1698. London Governor of the East India Company, John Child, had initially given the task to export 1500 tonnes of pepper. Thomas Mitchell, John Brabourne and Simone Cowse were the first Heads at Anchthengu, and the next, John Kyffin was dismissed in 1719, for private trade, and William Gyfford took over. 

On 15 April 1721, 133 factors at Anchuthengu, including Gyfford, were murdered by Kodumon Pillai and some noblemen of the new Queen, sister of Kollam King Unni Kerala Varma, in the premises of the Attingal Palace and the Fort besieged. There was no Attingal Queen for 8 years, from 1713, and the Kollam King had just made his sister, who was Queen of Kallada, the Queen of Attingal, with the help of the Pillais of Attingal. The Factory had refused to pay the lease amount, after 1713. The party led by Gyfford had come with presents and arrears of the lease amount to the Queen. Midford, who followed Gyfford was also corrupt and was replaced by Dr Alexander Orme, loyal to Travancore. On being informed, the King of Travancore, Rama Varma, uncle and predecessor of Marthanda Varma, wrote to Dr  Orme, Head of Anjengo Factory, on 15 August 1723: "Owing to the loss sustained by the Honorable Company,i.e, the capture of Attingal and then money and the artillery which the enemies robbed in our country, the Honorable Company have resolved, despite money expenses, to put down the enemies there in the best manner you may desire, regarding which we affirm to do without fail, and wish to know when we must come with our army".

It should be noted that this letter was not to the Queen of Attingal, who had fled to Kollam. Earlier in the same year, Prince Marthanda Varma, just 17, on behalf of Rama Varma, had entered into a treaty with the Company, on erecting a Fort at Colachel, by the Company. The farms of Palattadi and Kotutali were secured by the Company on 10 January 1731 by way of compensation for the excesses of 1721-the Company took two documents, one from the King, and another from the Queen. On 5 April 1729, the Queen of Attingal, Pururuttathi Thirunal (Marthanda Varma's mother; her sister was issueless), entered into an agreement with the Company, in which she stated: "All pepper that (I) may have in my country, I will cause to be transported to the Fort of Anjengo, free of any embarrassment, whatever in these territories. And the Company must not give to any other person but to me, the customs for pepper of my country".

This means that the Attingal Queen, not the Travancore Raja, was getting the trade benefit from Anchuthengu. So, Marthanda Varma prevailed upon her about 1736-37, to renounce all the rights she had been exercising over that principality, and the Attingal family was shifted to Sreepadam Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.

Marthanda Varma delayed fulfilling the terms of the pepper contract originally entered into by the Company, with the Queen of Attingal, and the Company ran a tirade against him, for divesting the Queen of all authority. John Spencer, Chief of Anjengo, informed the Select Committee of Madras, that the country is in the absolute power of Marthanda Varma. Spencer met Surgeon Edward Ives, who wrote, Ives Travels, on his ship off the coast, and in his book(page 192), Ives said: "At a distance of half a mile from the river is a temple, where the Queen lives. Till of late, the town and country of Attinga were quite independent, but now subject to Travancore."The story gets repeated in James Forbes, Forbe's Oriental Memoirs,1773. Forbes was Chief at Anchuthengu, till 1772. The picture was somewhat different from what the Britishers tried to paint; the Queen was accommodated honourably.

Abercrombie

Pepper contract

In his Desultory Notes, Colin Campbell Macaulay, who was Political Resident during 1800-1810, referred to the contract for pepper in January 1793, with the King of Travancore, by General Robert Abercrombie, Governor of Bombay, while criticizing the conduct of the Commercial Resident at Anchthengu, Augustus William Handley. In that contract for 10 years, the Raja bound himself to deliver annually, 3000 candies (1 candy=746 kilos), at Rs 117/Candy, under a penalty of Rs 57.50 for each Candy deficient. From the date of this contract, Macaulay says, Handley, the Commercial Resident had no duty or function in respect of pepper, but to receive it from the Raja and ship it for England. He was an Officer of custody solely, receiving a rate of commission. Macaulay, then adds: A Dewan of Travancore could never be a purchaser of pepper from the Commercial Resident.

It means Velu Thampi had a trade relationship with Handley. While the contract was in force, the supply of pepper by the King, except for two years, fell short of the contract. On its expiry, Handley claimed some penalties and complained to the Madras Council that Macaulay was not allowing him to communicate directly with the Raja and his ministers. For us, this is a sufficient hint for the fact that a trade rivalry existed between Macaulay, Handley and Velu Thampi. Handley (1764-1808) was the son of Thomas Handley and was married to Anatolia De la Martiliere. He died at Kollam on July 1, 1808, survived by children, Charles Antolius Handley(born 1801) and Augustus Bernard Handley(1803-1877).

Handley

Macaulay, on the expiry of Abercrombie's contract in 1803, signed a new contract with the King for five years, which said the King would supply 3000 Candies of pepper at Rs 127/Candy, with a penalty at Rs 84 .75/ each Candy short delivered.

Macaulay has asserted in his Notes, that Velu Thampi had private trade relations with the Commercial Resident John Smee, and there was an application in April 1809, to settle accounts of Thampi and Smee, of course, after the suicide of Thampi, in March. On February 10, 1810, Macaulay found an earlier letter from Smee to Thampi, for a supply of the best coir at a very low price. A letter from Smee to Snow, on September 8, 1809, showed Smee had made arrangements with Thampi for liquidation of a claim at Rs 3000/men sem. There was always a favour price for Smee. Smee had received once 300 Candies of pepper, not for the Company. When once questioned, Macaulay says, Thampi had admitted matters of favour with Smee. There was evidence for Thampi's trade of pepper with Smee at much a lower rate, exposing a kickback scandal. Macaulay had complained that Smee had conducted clandestine correspondence with Thampi. The Linguist at Anchuthengu Fort, S D Fernandez also had engaged in 'treacherable' intrigues with Thampi; Macaulay had enclosed a letter by Fernandez to Thampi, without signature.

Corruption at Anchuthengu

Duncan

Anchuthengu was known for corruption before Macaulay, particularly, when John Hutchinson was the Commercial Resident from 1782-1787. Walter Ewer, Company Director, after his visit had written in 1796, that though the salary of Hutchinson was only Rs 200, he had made a fortune. His assistant, Dune was getting only Rs 140, after seven years of service, and Snow, another assistant, Rs 90. After making a lot of money, Hutchinson lends it to the Travancore King, Dharma Raja.

After his death, Hutchinson's brother Bury approached the Select Committee in London, in 1832, to get back the arrears from the King. Macaulay gave evidence to the Committee. Hutchinson had lent money to Dharmaraja, who died in 1797. Hutchinson too died in the same year. Seeing rampant corruption, by the Act 37 of George III, loans by East India Company Officials to royal families etc was, prohibited. 

The trial of Warren Hastings proved that he had lent loans to the Nawab of Arcot. The case was, Hutchinson lent money before the Act came into force. In 1795, John Duncan, Governor of Bombay examined the case and made a part payment from the money Travancore had paid the Company, to Hutchinson Estate. George Parry, the successor of Hutchinson, had written on March 13,1800, that out of Rs 4,89,735 Dharma Raja owed to Hutchinson, as principal with an interest of 16%, 2,80,000 has been paid. Governors, Wellesley, Barlowe and Minto, all had examined the affair. Hutchinson gave the unsettled state of his pecuniary transactions with the King as a reason for declining to accept a seat in the Madras Council. It was also found that Thomas Baber, Collector at Thalassery was helping the Travancore royal family in the case; they visited him in 1818. He had fallen out with the Governor of Madras, Stephen Lushington, who took over after Thomas Munro. On Baber's return journey to India in 1833 February, his letters to the King of Travancore were intercepted by the British.

Macaulay was getting Rs 19,000 annually, according to British records. The records also show that he was allowed to sell to "Ram Raja", certain houses and grounds in the vicinities of Anjengo.

Destruction of Cochin

A book by Anne Bulley, The Bombay Country Ships, 1790-1838, records the destruction of Cochin by Macaulay, who was a Resident of Cochin too, staying at Bolgatty Palace. On the resumption of the French war in 1803, afraid that the French would take advantage, Colin Macaulay blew up the greater part of Cochin and demolished fortifications, barracks, arsenals and even quays along the harbour. The only building left was the church and tower of the Dutch Company's offices-formerly, the tower of the Portuguese Cathedral. 

Two years later, Sakthan Thampuran died and the Nair revolt assured complete destruction. In 1809, Travancoreans attacked and destroyed the Customs House at Mattancherry, after the revolt of Velu Thampi. On February 28, 1809, the cruiser, Lively, from Bombay, which had come for help, succeeded in grounding opposite the Palace and the officer commanding, Lieutenant Gilmore had her blown up, in case, she fell to the enemy. The book records, Cochin would have been a viable alternative to Bombay to build ships, if its history was not turbulent(But the reference in the book, Mattancherry palace was blown up, taken from Francis Day's 1863 book, The Land of Perumals Or Cochin, is baseless. Repeated references are there in Day's book on the Nair Brigade's attack on the Dutch Governor's house. It is the Bolgatty Palace, built in 1744.

It is felt by historians that the King was put into dire straits by insistence on the arrears of the tribute by Residents like Macaulay. He admits he asked for 15 lakhs once and got 10. He calculates that the King had a revenue of Rs 25 lakhs, and comments: But it was hoarded inside vaults, inside temples. Once placed there, the difficulty of extracting it for secular purposes was great.

It is interesting to read the letters Macaulay wrote to the Chief Secretary, Madras, from the ship in the sea, after the attack on his Residency, Bolgatty Palace, on 28 December 1808. The Desultory Notes ends, spewing venom on the dead Velu Thampi:

Had this man been brought to me alive, it was my determination to have him arraigned and tried before a drum-head court martial. For the atrocious murder of a party of the 12th Regiment, consisting of 33 non-committed officers and privates, driven by the stress of weather to seek shelter on the coast, and ordered by him, to be put to death, after undergoing, by his express commands, (the proof of which was in my possession), a series of lingering cruelties and torments, exceeding anything, perhaps, which the annals of savage ferocity and barbarity record. And then, as a just example, to have him hanged on a gibbet erected in the centre of the 12th Regiment, formed in a square....these my intentions were formally made known to Lieutenant Colonel Pickton, commanding His Majesty's 12th Regiment and to Colonel Chalmers, the Officer in Command of that Division of the forces of which the 12th Regiment formed a part...but that man, anticipating in all probability his fate, committed suicide."

Velu Thampi

Macaulay says a notification was made public within Anchuthengu, under the authority (of Velu Thampi), which stated the Company disapproved and condemned the conduct of Colonel Macaulay, for having changed the mode of weighing pepper. "I made efforts from time to time, to save him, from the precipice, on the brink of which he placed himself, but in vain", Macaulay laments and adds: "but he found himself, as it would appear, so far committed to the cold-blooded and congenially wicked wretch of a Raja (BalaramaVarma), whom he served, as to make it more difficult for him to wade on".

Reference:

1. Essays on Travancore/Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer
2. Desultory Notes/Colin Macaulay
3. Proceedings on the Travancore claim since the report of the Select Committee
4. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australia, 1834, Vol 13
5. India Office Records on Macaulay
6. The Bombay Country Ships 1790-1838/Anne Bulley

© Ramachandran

See my Post, CHEMPIL ARAYAN'S ATTACK ON MACAULAY





 

 

 

CHEMPIL ARAYAN'S ATTACK ON MACAULAY

Chempil Arayan was Admiral of the Fleet in Travancore

The joint adventure of the Dewan of Travancore,Velu Thampi, and the Chief Minister of Cochin,Paliyath Achan,Govinda Menon, against the Resident of Travancore and Cochin,Colin Campbell Macaulay(1760-1836)and their attempt to kill him,in 1808,also saw the Chempil Arayan leading the attack.He was Admiral of the fleet of the Travancore King,Balarama Varma,who had fallen out with the Resident.Both the King and the Dewan thought that the British rule was coming to an end,and killing the Resident would herald freedom.The King of Cochin,in whose territory,the attempt was made,was a silent witness.Macaulay was residing at the Bolgatty Palace,the Residency.

Bolgatty Palace,Macaulay's Residency

Though the name of Arayan has been masked by most of the Kerala historians,the British biographical sketches of Macaulay,do mention,the attempt was by Chempil Anantha Padmanabhan Valiya Arayan Kankumaran.His ancestral home is close to the house of popular Malayalam actor,Mammootty,and the actor's ancestral family was Arayan's tenants,once.Arayan was the first to respond to the Kundara Proclamation of Velu Thampi.

Colin Macaulay,son of a priest,Rev.John Macaulay,minister of the Church of Scotland,was one among 12 children.His grand father,Rev.Aulay was also a Presbyterian minister.Both were involved in the attempt to turn the fugitive,Charles Edward Stewart,over to the authorities,in 1746.Zachary Macaulay,colonial Governor and abolitionist,was Colin's brother,and Thomas Babington Macaulay,the great historian and Whig politician,known as Lord Macaulay,was Zachary's elder son.Indians know Lord Macaulay,Colin's nephew,better,as the first Law member of the Governor General's Supreme Council,who called Sanskrit history trash,in his A Minute on Indian Education,1835.

Thalakkulam Valiya Veedu,Velu Thampi's Home,Thucklay

Colin entered the Indian army of East India Company, was captured by Hyder Ali in 1830 and imprisoned for 4 years,withMajor General David Baird,who later oversaw the siege of Srirangapattana.Colin lived in squalor and barbarity in Prison.In 1799,he was Secretary to Political and Diplomatic Mission,headed by Arthur Wellesley,which accompanied General Harris,on invasion of Mysore.Colin was present at the capture of Srirangapattana.Colin was involved in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of George Vaughan Hart,Commissary of grain to the army of Mysore,for alleged peculation,or misappropriation of public fund,and later sought to vindicate his conduct,in,Two Letters to Lord Harris(1816).Arthur Wellesley's brother,Lord Richard Wellesley,Governor General of Bengal,appointed Colin,Resident of Travancore and Cochin,in 1800,the first Resident,after the treaty of 1795.He was a Major in rank.He proved a failure within a year,as Commander in Palayamkottai,when Veerapandya Kattabomman and other revolutionaries,escaped from the near by prison,while he was having dinner in his Bungalow.Those who escaped,went to Panchalamkurichi,rebuilt the Fort within no time,and the attack on them by Macaulay's forces on March 30,1801 became futile.Macaulay was 'allowed' to resign the command and proceed to Bengal,but Wellesly protected him.The Command was given to Colonel Agnew and Macaulay returned to Thiruvananthapuram.He had his knuckles wrapped 4 years later for making,'unguarded','imperfect' statement of a transaction concerning tobacco.Henry Powney,Resident at Colombo, complained against Colin,in 1804,and asked for compensation,for sustaining losses,when he was forbidden  to import tobacco to Travancore.The Government of Madras took grave exception at Colin's action,but,Governor General Wellesley was anxious to protect his brother's friend, Colin,pardoning the indiscretion,and he continued,till,1810,when he went back to London citing, 'health' reasons.

Veluthampi was very cordial with Macaulay,for 7 years,in his tenure of 10 years in Travancore.The King Balarama Varma hated Macaulay from the beginning onwards,because,Macaulay expressed his displeasure in the absence of the Dewan,in the first meeting.The King,asked the Samprathi(Head,Finance),in Malayalam:Iyalkku Dewan Undenkil Mathrame Nakku Pongukayullo?(his tongue will wag,only if Dewan is there,is it?).The King even didn't like the friend ship between Macaulay and Velu Thampi,who had buit a Residency at Kollam,for Macaulay,shifting himself to Kollam,from Alapuzha.Kollam became the administrative capital.The King was involved only in religious activities.Using his influence on Macaulay,Velu Thampi reinstated Paliath Achan in Cochin,where,Sakthan Thampuran had removed the powerful Komi Achan from minister ship,in 1779.The King who succeeded Sakthan,Rama Varma X,was weak.The Achan,Govindan Valiyachan, was also new,the one whom Sakthan considered his enemy,had died.Velu Thampi,visited the King in Tripunithura Palace,to realize his plan.Achan took over the reins,and Velu Thampi sent a detachment of Travancore troops to guard the King at the Tripunithura palace,thus making him a hostage.

Govindan Valiyachan,Paliyam,the plotter

Things went on as usual between Macaulay and Velu Thampi,for two years,even after the treaty of 1805.The King had written to the Governor General,Cornwallis, to remove Macaulay.Thampi fell out with Macaulay on the question of paying  extra tribute,as per the new treaty.Balarama Varma had paid the entire tribute of 42,914 pounds,from 1798,till,1805.In the 1805 treaty,the tribute was enhanced by 4 lakhs,which remained unpaid,due to the King's resentment.Velu Thampi found himself between Scylla and Charybdis,between the King and the Resident.In 1807 February,Macaulay became aggressive on the unpaid extra tribute,writing a strong letter to the King's representative in the Residency,Subbayyan,who was playing games against Velu Thampi.In the letter,Macaulay threatened to throw the Dewan , into the sea,at Valiyathura,and to remove the King from the throne.

Sword of Velu Thampi

When Velu Thampi got information on Subbayyan's intrigues from his wife's house of Arumana,he called Subbayyan to Alapuzha.He was killed by the King sending mercenaries,and,news was spread that Subbayyan died of,'snake bite'.Ramalinga Muthaliyar,Secretary,Commerce,who had encouraged the fearful Subbayyan to go to Alapuzha,fled to Cochin,from Thiruvananthapuram.

Velu Thampi wrote to the Governor General,Lord Minto,against Macaulay,in June,1808,his first letter to him.In the reply,he was advised to write through the Resident .The shocked Velu Thampi,wrote a letter of apology to Macaulay,saying,he was acting only on the instructions of the King.He sent coins worth 60,ooo with the letter,and then Dr Kenneth Macaulay,Macaulay's brother's son,on October 30,met the King for arrears.He insisted the tribute should be paid at once,a demand the King rejected.Velu Thampi met Dr Kenneth at Kollam, and guaranteed payment by March.Maybe it was a ploy,because Velu Thampi had devised a plan to send back the Subsidiary troop stationed at Kollam,immediately.He began training the Nairs,under Kizhakkumukham Secretary,Krishnan Chempaka Raman.The Crown prince,Kerala Varma,en rout to Kumaranallur,to take part in the Karthika festival,got down at Kollam,and held a strategy session with Velu Thampi,his brother,Chempaka Raman Thampi and Commerce Secretary,Vaikam Padmanabha Pillai.Krishnan Chempaka Raman and Padinjarumukham Secretary,Mathevan Chempaka Raman Pillai were called to Alapuzha and asked to implement the King's instruction to call back the troops from Kollam.Mathevan Pillai was asked to block the British Force at Cochin from entering Travancore.Thekkumukham Secretary,Kumaran Chempaka Raman was instructed to keep the Kollam troops from going beyond,Aralvaimozhi.

Kollam Residency

Macaulay got information of the movement, on 5 December,from Anchuthengu (Anjengo) Fort.20,000 people,including 6000 Nairs from Kulachal, were trained on weaponry,and cannons were being manufactured at Udayagiri Fort,with iron ore from Aralvaimozhi.The terminated soldiers were called back to service.Macaulay alerted Kollam Commander,Colonel Chamers,sought permission of the Madras Council,to arrest Velu Thampi and  requested the Council to sent,troops from the East and North.The Council voted to sent troops from Kozhikode and Tiruchirappally,at the call of Macaulay.He was given permission to take all necessary steps.

Three Armenians who had been in Thiruvanthapuram in November,briefed the King that Russia and France would attack India in January,and the Marathas and the French will move against the East India Company immediately.Both the King and Thampi believed in the theory,unaware of the International political dynamics.Only the Paliath Achan of Cochin, and Chempil Arayan,stood by Velu Thampi,in the hour of crisis.

Thomas Macaulay

The ambitious Paliath Achan  saw a threat to his machinations,in the Cochin Financial Secretary,Nadavarambu Kunjikrishna Menon,and cooked up false cases against him.The Cochin King,fearing an attempt on the life of Menon by Achan,requested Macaulay,to protect him,and Menon began staying in the Bolgatty palace with Macaulay.Achan sought Velu Thampi's help in choking Menon,out of Residency.Thampi,thinking a war could be avoided if Macaulay was killed,agreed to sent troops from Travancore.A plan to attack the Residency on the night of December 28,was chalked out,and the mission was assigned to a section of the Travancore troops,under,Secretary,Commerce,Vaikam Padmanabha Pillai,and a 3000/4000 strong force of Achan.Arayan's fleet was called to join by Padmanabha Pillai,who was from the same area.

Zachary

Macaulay badge

Meanwhile,on 24th,Velu Thampi  met Macaulay with mediator,Head of Carnatic Brigade,Major Dali,and conveyed his decision to resign,if no waiver was given.Macaulay refused amends,but guaranteed pension and asylum,to Thampi,if he resigned.Thampi wrote a letter, agreeing to resign,on 27th ,but dated 28th(since Macauly will be assassinated on 28th!),to Macaulay,and thanked Ramalinga Muthaliyar for rescuing him,by putting in, his word.He asked for a palanquin to be sent,to take him to Malabar,and a cash of Rs 2000.Major Dali delivered Macaulay's reply,same day at Alapuzha,to Velu Thampi,with soldiers to accompany,Velu Thampi to Malabar.Thampi asked Padmanabha Pillai,to prepare the resignation letter.He told Dali,he will leave on 29 night,meaning,he would wait for the result of the Residency attack of 28th.Dali realized,he was cheated,when he met Thampi,on the evening of 29th.Thampi described the war preparations,and said,Macaulay was a fool."The head of Macaulay will be rolling on the Cochin roads now",Thampi boasted.Dali had entrusted Rs 12000 with Thampi,which he feared,has been lost.But when he reached his place,the voucher was there.

Paliyam Kovilakam

Macaulay's head was intact.Chempil Arayan's fleet reached Bolgatty after midnight on 28 December,1808,in Odi boats.600 men commanded by Achan and two officers of Thampi surrounded the palace and opened fire.They over powered the guard,entered and pillaged the building,and destroyed public records.They could not find Macaulay or Menon.The Resident concealed himself,in a recess in the lower chamber,and in the morning,escaped in the British ship,Peacemont,which was just embarking,with reinforcements from Malabar.Menon,who had gone to Mattancherry, joined Macaulay in the morning,and they together shifted to the ship,Snow,in the outer sea.They returned to Cochin,after  a fortnight,when information came that the rebellion has been crushed.There is copy of a letter dated January 10,Macaulay has written,From the Sea,in his Desultory Notes.

There is a story of the massacre of Dr Hume and 33 British soldiers,next day,December 29,in the Pallathuruthy river.It is said,they were captured,at Purakkad,on their journey from Kollam to Alapuzha,and Velu Thampi ordered  the massacre.British records have a testimony of the Writer of Veluthampi,Kochu Sankara Pillai,saying he took down the order.The story spread,as an eyewitness account  of the servant,Ramalingam,who was with the team.It got repeated by V  Nagam Aiya and T K Velu Pillai,who wrote the State Manuals,taking the description by James Grant,who wrote,History of India,to be true.Some historians argue,it is possible that they were captured,but there is no evidence of a massacre.Historian Sangunni Menon says,the team consisted of one lady,Dr Hume,12 Britishers and 34 native soldiers.The lady was,the wife of Colonel Chlamers,Commander of the Division,which included the 12th Regiment,and there is proof that the sick Lady Chalmers was sent from Kollam to Cochin,with full protection,at the order of Velu Thampi.Major Dali,who was with Velu Thampi,till late evening on 29th,has not mentioned the 'massacre',in his report to Macaulay.There is also a letter, which Colonel Chalmers sent to  Velu Thampi,asking him to set free the captured,including Dr Hume.

In his reply to Chalmers,Thampi criticized  the firing by the British troops against women and children,at Azheekkal.There is no chance for such a correspondence,after a terrible massacre,historians who reject the massacre theory,point out.Dewan Munro had collected statements,in 1816,from all the officials in the service, during the administration of Thampi.There is no mention of a massacre,though,both the killing of Subbayyan and,the attack against Macaulay find mention.But,Letter From Court of Dirctors,29 September,1809,On Political State of the Travancore Territory,in,Parliamentary Papers,(East India Company),Fourth Part,Volume X,(page 130),which I have seen,records:the design of Dalawa,in 1806 , Col Macaulay to have poisoned,was a prelude to the murder in cold blood,which he afterwards ordered of Dr Hume and 33 soldiers of His Majesty's 12th Regiment....If it was Dr John Robert Hume,who joined the British Army in 1800,he was in the service,till 1826,and was Surgeon of the Duke of Wellington,Arthur Wellesley,whom Colin Macaulay knew very well.But,Macaulay,in his Desultory notes(page 30),confirms the massacre.

Arayan's descendants claim,it was Arayan's fleet that captured Dr Hume and his team.If true,he raced through  the back waters,to Kollam after the failed attack on Macaulay.It is also said,his house was searched,he was held,but freed on a ransom.Even after it,he had vowed to present Macaulay's head to the King.

The Madras council's permission to arrest Thampi had been withdrawn,3 days before the Bolgatty attack,on December 25.Governor General Lord Minto informed London in a confidential report,on December 29,that the Company has lost confidence in Macaulay.But the Kundara proclamation, of 12 January,1809,by Thampi,was a blunder,giving the British ample grounds to arrest him.Thampi played wrong politics,by owning up the rebellion against the British,exonerating the equally responsible,or irresponsible,King.The British had feared a public upsurge,if they had moved against the King.So,the British declared war,removed Macaulay and transferred the Resident of Thanjavur,Blackburn to Travancore.Blackburn was in charge of the peaceful negotiations,with Thampi.Travancore forces got defeated on 19 January.Blackburn left for thanjavur,and Macaulay was reinstated.Paliath Achan surrendered to the British on 10,February.Thampi met the King on February 19,and resigned.

There is a folklore on Thampi's final days:Thampi had a magician friend called Kadayatt Unnithan.When Macaulay asked for the arrears of the tribute,Thampi offered to pay in gold,took Unnithan with him to Macaulay,carrying a box.Unnithan opened the box before the eyes of Macaulay;he was amazed to find glittering gold inside the box and was satisfied.Hours later,he could find only stones inside the box-Unnithan had just performed a magic!

After resigning,Thampi went in seatrch of Unnithan on a horse back.As he approached the house,he saw Unnithan's house in flames-he had committed self immolation.

Thampi had the habit of eating the meals,on two tender banana leaves,one upon other.After resignation he fled to Mavelikara,where a friend denied him asylum.From there he went to Vallikkod in Pathanamthitta,wher on the banks of Achankovil river,he found asylum in a home.Two policemen who were taking bath in the river saw two tender banana leaves on the river on an after noon and began a search.Thampi escaped to Mannadi. 

When he committed suicide,on 21 March,cutting his neck himself,when his brother refused to do it,he was a free man.Kerala historians aver,the new Dewan,Ummini Thampi,avowed enemy of Thampi,insulted even the dead body,by an order to hang it.But,India Office,London,records,which I referred(IOR/F/4/338/7687),show that,Colin Macaulay was asked by authorities to explain,why he ordered to expose the corpse of Thampi,on a gibbet,and why he publicly degraded the officers of the Carnatic Brigade.The place where Thampi's corpse was hanged,near Ullur,is known now, as,Dhalavakunnu.I had been there few times,to meet Dr K N Raj and I S Gulati,economists,who had built their houses,there.

There were protests against the British,on the day of the Kundara proclamation,and Chempil Arayan was one among the firsts,to respond.He was killed, survived by a son,Thanu Arayan.His traditional Ettukettu(eight halled with two court yards) house and 20,000 acres of forest land in Erumeli,Edakkunnam and Ranni villages, under his possession,were attached  by the Alapuzha District Court,on January 31,1928.

Paliath Achan was deported to Madras,and kept prisoner at Fort St George for 12 years.He was then taken to Bombay,remained there for 13 years,and died at Benares.

Colin Macaulay went back to London,after his tenure in Travancore,met his nephew and brother in law,Thomas Babington in Leicester shire,bought a property there,but spent much of his time,at Calpham.Babington was a child prodigy.Colin recorded in January,1811:"If I could support sitting at night,I will become a member of the House of Commons,but I must relinquish all thoughts of this,during winter".He did become an MP from Saltash in 1826,seldom attended the Parliament,and never made a speech.He as a devotee of Lord Wellesley,now Duke of Wellington,accompanied him to several places.In 1827,he gave evidence before the Select Committee of Parliament,inquiring into the claims of John Hutchinson,who was Commercial Resident at Anchuthengu(Anjengo),for payment of balance of a debt due to his Estate from the Raja of Travancore.He published his testimony,in,Desultory Notes.

According to Hanna More,English religious writer,poet and playwright,"he was a first rate man with great manners",who brought home,"after all his hair breadth escapades,an ample fortune and a sober mind."

Yes,his brother's son,Dr Kenneth Macaulay,was staying at Kollam,extorting money,as I wrote in my post,The Rise and Fall of Thachil Mathu Tharakan.Colin Macaulay died in Clifton,on February 20, 1836,after a visit to Italy.He directed his Estate be sold and Thomas be paid 10,000 pounds and residue to Zachary.His personality was sworn,under 8000 pounds.India Office records,London, reveal,he owed the Company,a debt of 361 pagodas,on account of allowances overdrawn by him.

Reference:

1.Veluthampi Dalava/V R Parameswaran Pillai
2.Cochin State Manual/C Achyutha Menon
3.Kerala History/A Sreedhara Menon
4.Marthanda Varma Muthal Munro Vare/K Sivasankaran Nair
5.Sakthan Thampuran/Puthezhathu Raman Menon
6.Dewan Velu Thampi and the British/Dr B Sobhanan
7.A Fresh look at Velu Thampi/Dr B Sobhanan 
8.India Office records
9.Parliamentary Papers
10.Desultory Notes/Colin Macaulay 
11.A Political and General History of the District of Tirunelveli/Bishop Caldwell

See my Post,THE RISE AND FALL OF THACHIL MATHU THARAKAN

THE MURDER OF RAJA KESAVADAS

The Cause of his Death was Arsenic Poisoning

Raja Kesavadas(1745-1799) was the first individual in Travancore to be raised to the position of Dewan, showing an amazing ability in different spheres, as varied as finance, commerce, infrastructure and military. Enjoying complete freedom under Dharmaraja, appointing his relatives to key posts in the palace, he virtually reigned supreme and the British gave him the title, Raja. The death of the King pushed him into misery, losing all his assets, and eventually, the coterie around the new King, poisoned him to death, making him a tragic figure in the history of Travancore.

Accounts of his life indicate that Kesavan was an illegitimate son of a woman called Kaliamma Pillai, of Kunnathur in Vilavamkode. His father is said to be a Chief in the army, who allowed the destitute Kaliamma to stay in his home when she sought a job in the palace. Everything about his father seems to be fiction: he doesn't have a name, and the biographers of Kesavadas escape midway through the story saying his father left his job and became a Sannyasin. Later, she lived with a Thriprayar-born priest of the Munchira Madam temple and had four more children: Kumaran Thampi, Thathi Pillai, Chempakakutty Pillai and Neelamma Pillai. Police Commissioner K Padmanabhan Thampi and Dr K Raman Thampi were from the Thathi Pillai family branch. 

After becoming Dewan, Kesava Das built homes for each of his sisters, at Kunnathur, Kakkurichi and Thevikode, and his mother lived with the younger sister at Kunnathur. Kaliamma had a brother, Raman, whom the historian P Sangunni Menon mistook as the father of Kesavadas, thereby referring to him, as Raman Kesavan, or, the historian just gave a name for the father.

Kesavadas Statue, 2013

Acute poverty drove the uneducated Kesavan at age 12 to win daily bread for the family and he joined as an apprentice accountant of a Chettiar at Puthukkadai. The Chettiar was also a kind of secretary to the influential trader, who owned a fleet of ships, Poovar Pokku Moosa Marikkar, with a large warehouse at Thengapattinam. Kesavan joined Marikkar at Thengapattinam, picked up a few languages from workers of the ships, and the knowledge of Hindi helped him to land a job at the palace when he accompanied Marikkar to see Dharmaraja. The King, on holiday, was miserably trying to prepare a reply in Hindi, to a letter from the Carnatic Nawab. Kesavan was assigned the job to write the palace orders and became Rayasam (Head, Commerce) in 1765 and Samprathi (Head, Finance)  in 1768. 

Palino da San Bartolomeo, the Carmelite missionary who came to India towards the end of July 1776,  in his book,  A Voyage to the East Indies, mentions meeting Kesavadas as Samprathi. Samprathi was an important job in the palace. Paulinus has described a meeting with Dharmaraja from which we understand that the missionary had learnt Amarakosam! Paulinus met the King again in 1784, with Portuguese grammar. He interfered in the conflicts Christian laymen had with the priests, on behalf of the King, in which Kesavadas helped him. He also records, Kesavadas spoke to him about Hindu scriptures.

He was in the position of Samprathi for 20 years, when the attack of Tipu Sultan became imminent. Hyder Ali, after Cochin agreed to give him, two lakhs and eight elephants as tribute,  pressurized Travancore, for 15 lakhs and 30 elephants. Since the state had the support of the English East India Company and Carnatic Nawab, the King rejected the demand. In 1788, when, Krishnan Chempaka Raman was promoted as Dalava, Kesavadas replaced him as Sarvadhikaryakkar, or, Chief Secretary. Dharmaraja retired to Aluva, performed a Yaga and went to Mavelikkara. Krishnan Chempaka Raman passed away, and on 22 September 1789, Kesavadas was made Dalava, but he preferred the title, Dewan, and changed his name to Kesavadas, from Kesava Pillai.

War with Tipu

 

He brought pepper and cardamom under state monopoly, raising funds for war efforts. He bought the Kodungallur, Azhikotta (Ayikotta) Forts from the Dutch on 21 July 1789, for 3 lakhs, blocking the entry of Tipu to Cochin and Travancore. The angry Tipu decided to seize the Forts, started the march from Coimbatore, and entered Cochin in November. He sent a letter to Dharmaraja with three demands. (1) All the Malabar royal family members who have sought asylum should be sent back. (2) The forces from Kodungallur and Azhikotta should be withdrawn since the agreement with the Dutch is invalid. (3) Since Mysore has suzerainty over Cochin, Travancore should demolish the Nedunkotta that it has built in Cochin.

Dharmaraja

Dharmaraja refused to accede to the demands, replying he is related to Malabar; he himself was the son of an adopted Kolathiri Princess. Another threat fell upon Travancore when Governor John Holland declared Travancore buying the Forts, invalid. Raja appointed Kesavadas the Military Chief to devise the war strategy.

Tipu reached Thrissur on 14 December and breached the Fort on the morning of the 29th. They were defeated by the Travancore forces on 1 January 1790. Tipu, who got injured, falling in the trench, became lame for life. His palanquin, crest, rings and the ornaments on his body were confiscated by Travancore. The casualty on the Travancore side was 200;2000 on Tipu's side, if the history written by Dewan T Madhava Rao, could be believed. From Tipu's side, Jeevanna Rao, Buttaiya, one Rajput and five Europeans were taken prisoners. The Europeans were imprisoned at Udayagiri Fort and the others in Padmanabhapuram. Records show all of them were given, rice and ghee. Mohibul Hassan, the historian, has accepted the letter written by Tipu to Governor John Holland, which portrays the war as just a border dispute. Tipu's force was 15,000 strong. One doesn't need such a huge force to negotiate a border dispute.

Paulinus

The furious Tipu came again in April with reinforcements. Nedunkotta, which was built taking 13 years, was demolished within 6 days. The Travancore force retreated to Kodungallur, and the Travancore force under Captain Flory in Kodungalur Fort, fled from the scene. The army of Tipu under M Laly, on 8 May, razed the Fort to the ground. Tipu reached Aluva. Kesavadas returned to Thiruvananthapuram and wrote a letter to the Governor General Cornwallis in Kolkata, against the Holland brothers, John and Edward, who were Governors of Madras from 1789 February to 1790 February,  complaining about the English Force remaining neutral. Edward Holland was Governor for only 7 days. The rampage of the victorious Tipu has been described by Paulinus, who was staying at Varapuzha. There was an exodus of refugees. The Hollands, known for bribes, had been removed, and William Medows had taken over. 

The British declared war against Tipu.

The retreated Kesavadas was asked to go back to the North by the Raja. Tipu, making Aluva his camp, unleashed cruelties in Alangad, Paravur and Kunnathunad.For the fortunate Kesavadas, nature interfered, and monsoon rained early in May. The gunpowder of Tipu became damp. The movement was made impossible by the floods in the Periyar River. When the news came that the English planned to attack Srirangapattana, Tipu returned on May 24. He never came back. Kesavadas went and stayed at Srirangapattana, to help the British in the war. A letter he is supposed to have written from there, requesting more funds, is there in the history written by Sangunni Menon-it has a lot of Islamic words. But the important thing in the letter is the reference to Samprathi Kunjuneelan Pillai, in the last line. It says the letter should be read by Pillai and then, he should brief the Raja. Kunjuneelan Pillai became the central character in the murder of Kesavadas, later.

Wellesley

Travancore paid 14 lakhs as war expenses and was asked to pay 10 lakhs every year, for protection. On his return from Srirangapattana, Kesavadas was briefed on the debt, and by his efforts, Governor General Cornwallis waived further payment. Kesavadas concentrated on the rehabilitation of the royal family members from Malabar. Surprisingly, the Zamorin, who was then 70 plus, wished to stay in Travancore again, and the Crown Prince, Krishna Raja was sent to Kozhikode, instead. The continued stay of the Zamorin affected the life of Kesavadas directly, because the Jayanthan brothers of Uthiyeri, Malabar, who plotted against him, had come with the Zamorin, though there is no record to show the Zamorin wished to be adopted to the Venad family!

In the peaceful atmosphere that followed, Kesavadas built the Alapuzha port and stayed there. He built a house for the Chettiar, who gave him his first job. Most of the families of Travancore began naming their male child, Kesavan. He took the initiative in signing the treaty of April 26, 1798, with the British, after Lord Wellesley became Governor General, in May. Wellesley, in appreciation, gave him the title Raja.

Napoleon

Fortunes dwindle

The fortunes of Kesavadas began to dwindle, after the death of Dharmaraja on 17 February 1798. He lived only a year more, poisoned to death on 21 April 1799.

The successor of Dharmaraja, Balarama Varma (1798-1810) was just 16, with no administrative experience because, till that time, Kesavadas was only informing the King, after taking decisions himself. The prince was never part of the administration. Dharmaraja had become a puppet of Kesavadas and the British. The suzerainty of Carnatic Nawab over Travancore was transferred to the British by the treaty of 1798, by Kesavadas. He would have continued to be powerful, had he been successful in improving the financial mess. 

Kesavadas continued to be the Dewan for the next year, till the new King finished observing the obsequies of the dead uncle. The Sraddha, after a year, was celebrated with an extravaganza by Kesavadas, trying to get into the good books of the new King. Dharmaraja had four consorts; the young Balarama Varma also had four women from those four families. The Thampis from those houses advised him, in the absence of Kesavadas, who was stationed at Alapuzha. The distance between them became huge, and Balarama Varma took the reins after the Sraddha. All the key positions were held by the relatives of Kesavadas: his brother-in-law, Padmanabhan Chempaka Raman was, Kizhakumukham Sarvadhikaryakkar. His nephew, Irayimman Thampi(not the poet), was in Thekkumukam, with the title, Peshkar. The army was divided into two, making his brother, Kumaran Thampi, a General and the Chief of one Division. His loyal official Kunjuneelan Pillai was Samprathi. The British, made, Major John Alexander Bannerman, an old friend of Kesavadas, who was the Commander of the Subsidiary Force, a Resident of Travancore and Cochin. Since Bannerman(1759-1819), who captured and hanged, Veerapandya Kattabomman, was staying in Cochin, the friendship with Kesavadas grew since, Alapuzha was, close.

Guanxu

In these circumstances, it was difficult to remove Kesavadas. But Balarama Varma, who depended on the Jaynthan Nambudiri brothers from Uthiyeri (Udayagiri), avoided every encounter, with Kesavadas. The brothers, Jayanthan Sankaran, Jayanthan Jayanthan and Jayanthan Subramanyan had entered the palace service through the good offices of, Zamorin, who had sought asylum in Thiruvananthapuram. Jayanthan Sankaran influenced the King to cede the area known as Karappuram(Cherthala), to Cochin, and the messenger, Thottappaya Nambudiri, with the order was intercepted by Kesavadas at Paravur, Kollam, en route to Cochin, and the order was torn into pieces. When Jayanthan was carried, in a procession, on a palanquin, used by Dharmaraja, Kesavadas admonished him, saying it was seditious. The palanquin after the death of the King had to be abandoned, at the Pallakkupura, at Pondar Street, Sreekanteswaram, because the dead body was carried in the palanquin, to the burial ground. Kesavadas was suspended immediately, and put under house arrest.

Kesavadas

Kesavadas died on the arattu day at Sreevaraham, Thiruvananthapuram, 21 April 1799, in front of a relative's house, after returning from a dinner at the Palace. The French doctor Seytres, who was appointed the Commission to inquire into the death, reported to Resident Colin Campbell Macaulay (1759-1836), who took over in January 1800, that Kesavadas, after dinner, had complained of stomach pain and numbness of the tongue. Though the King was against the inquiry, the Resident ordered the arrest of the accused, Kunjuneelan Pillai. The King vouched for his innocence and even the relatives of Kesavadas didn't accuse him. The doctor's diagnosis was that Kesavadas died of food poisoning. The charge sheet accused Kunjuneelan Pillai of paying Rs 2000 for mixing the poison in the food.

When Macaulay went on military duty to Palayamkottai, all the relatives of Rajakesavadas were murdered, including General Kumaran Thampi, the only brother of Kesavadas and nephew Peshkar Irayimman Thampi. Kunjuneelan Pillai was held responsible for killing both. Though Pillai may have been responsible for killing Kumaran and Irayimman, who were ambitious, the role of Kunjuneelan in the murder of Kesavadas is disputed, because, he was loyal to Kesavadas, was personally recruited by him, and he was not in the good books of the  Dewan Velu Thampi. While Velu Thampi was once loyal to Macaulay, Kunjuneelan was steadfast in his loyalty to Travancore. Kunjuneelan was selected Samprathi by Kesavadas when he left that job for the position of Dewan. Kunjuneelan was removed from that post after the murder of Kesavadas and Jayanthan Subramanyan was appointed instead. If he had poisoned Kesavadas, he would have been in the post, if not promoted.

Veluthampi

The public suspected that the sorcerer Palanattu Nambudiri, married to the sister of the Jayanthan brothers, was behind the murder. He was put on trial for practising black magic and was deported from the state. Kunjuneelan was on very good terms with Balarama Varma, hence, hated by Macaulay. Not only the King, the brother-in-law of Kesavadas, Parassala Padmanabha Pillai, had also exonerated, Kunjuneelan. The four people, who had testified against Kunjuneelan had detracted later. But the Chief of Army, Marthandan Cempaka Raman and Chief Secretary, Krishnan Chempakaraman had held Kunjuneelan guilty, in the murder of Kumaran and Irayimman. 

When the Chief, Marthandan Chempaka Raman had only the position of Colonel, Kumaran Thampi was appointed creating the senior post of General. Likewise, Kesavadas had created the new post of Peshkar to accommodate his nephew. Kumaran Thampi had sent letters of protest to the British when Ayyappan Chempakaraman was made Dewan after Jayanthan Sankaran and when his own brother-in-law Parassala Padmanabha Pillai was appointed Dewan. Kumaran and Irayimman were killed when Kumaran continued to send letters after Velu Thampi became Dewan. The suspicion that Kunjuneelan was behind the King's order to kill Velu Thampi also seems baseless. The jobless Kunjuneelan was called to Thiruvananthapuram, from Padmanabhapuram, by the King, sending a messenger, and reinstated.

Simon Bolivar

In reverse diagnosis by famous Neurologist Dr K Rajasekharan Nair, the cause of the death of Kesavadas has been ascertained as arsenic poisoning,based on the symptoms. He is not in bad company-Napoleon Bonaparte died of arsenic poisoning, 22 years after him, in 1821. The cause of death was found by examining the preserved hair, from his dead body. Simon Bolivar and second to the last emperor of China, Guangxu were also the victims of arsenic, mixed in food. Chempaka Raman Pillai, Foreign Minister in the INA provisional government was, poisoned to death by Hitler. It was a slow death from food poisoning.

There is no evidence, but the death of King Balarama Varma (1782-1810), when he was just 28, is suspected to be a murder. Coronated on 18 February 1798, he ruled for 12 years, a country in turmoil, seeing the rebellion and suicide of Velu Thampi, in February 1809. The King died in mysterious circumstances, on November 7, 1810.

Reference:
1. Raja Kesavadas/V R Parameswaran Pillai
2. Marthandavarma Muthal Munro Vare/K Sivasankaran Nair
3. Tragic End of Raja Kesavadas and his Family/Dr B Sobhanan
4. A Voyage to the East Indies/Paulinus

See my Post,MURDER OF KOTTAYAM KERALA VARMA