RR
28th October 2007, 10:10 PM
By Jaybee in Agathiyar group
This is in memorium of the Marudhu Servaikkaarars
on their Memorial Day.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
The next segment of Lateral Thinking takes us to KALaiArKOyil
in Sivagangai district.
I think I will give a short synopsis about KKOyil.
It was, in the ancient days known as 'KAnappEr'.
During the Sanggam Era, there was an impregnable
fort called 'KaanappEr eyil'. But then, there is a saying that
'any fort can be captured; provided that you follow the
the appropriate strategy'.
Well, that 'appropriate startegy' may be not always be
seige or seige-craft or power of arms. It could be bribe,
treachery, or plain hoodwinking like the 'Trojan Horse'.
You know, the Trojan Horse is not actually a Trojan
Horse. It is in fact, a Greek Horse.
The Greeks made it; there were Greek soldiers hiding
inside the horse. It was left as a gift to the Trojans. And they
sailed away......just beyond the horizon. And waiting for nightfall.
The Trojans pulled the horse inside and celebrated
victory.
The rest is history.
Many people thought that it was mythology. Until the day that
Heinrich Schliemen came along.
There is a saying. 'Beware of a Greek bearing a gift'.
I'll come back to KaaLaiyaar KOyil.
KAnappER was one of the important forts guarding the territory
called 'KAna nAdu'. There is a town in ChettinAdu known as
'KAnAdu KAththAn'.
During the Sanggam Era, there was a warrior called
'VEnggai MArban'. He was finally defeated and the conquering
PAndyan king plucked his teeth and embedded them on the doors
of the fort. <We ain't no angels, either, Baby!>
Capturing the fort must have been something of an achievement.
Because, an arrow would not reach the top of the wall. The walls were
lofty. Seige-machines etc., were already known at that time. We find that
Yavana mercenaries and engineers were employed by the Tamil monarchs.
Territorially, this KAnanAdu was part and parcel of PAndya nADu.
It is bordering on the vicinities of Madurai. Just like VEL PAri's
PaRambu nAdu.
Sometimes, for some reasons or other, the 'MudiyuDai VEndhar' -
the Crowned Kings who possessed all the regalia and insignia of full
royalty -
had to wage war against the feudatories who were under their suzerainty.
During the post Sangam Era, it was ravaged by a tsunami and got
depopulated. It was repopulated after 10 generations by the PAndyan king.
Times had changed.
KAnaPEr was still a centre of warriors and a strategic place for
the PAndya Country.
The Sivan Temple has three shrines - dedicated to
KALIsvarar, SOmEsvarar, and SundarEsvarar.
KALIsvarar is the sUkshma lingam. SOmEsvarar is the
sthUla lingam. And SundarEsvarar is kAma.
The oldest is dedicated to KALIsvarar. He is the One Who
was sung by Sundarar and Sambandhar.
During medieval history, KALaiyArkOyil played crucial strategic
roles.
Various types of araN, or fortificatons further strengthened the
fort. The old town was situated within the fort. It was like the ancient
Madurai town which was situated within a fort - Madurai kOttai.
This has already been dealt with, in the Agathiyar list. Archives will
yield quite a substantial amount of material.
Needless to say, the fort would have contained all types of
weapons. The walls were high. This was the 'madhil araN'. There was
a moat surrounding the fort. This was the 'nIr araN' - water fortification.
Beyond this was the 'kAval kAdu' - 'kAttaraN' - the forest fortification.
We know only of these fortifications. Tracks and traces of the moat
and wall can be seen if looked for carefully. The dense forest was
totally destroyed by the East India Company and Arcot Nawab forces
when they wanted to storm the fort in 1801. The fort was also pulled
down.
The main fort was surrounded by lesser forts. There are no
more forts now. You see only the names. Sometimes, there may be
a small village bearing names like 'uRudhi kOttai'. But you don't see
any fort. More often, you will see a punjai tract of land which may
be called as 'sOlandhi kOttai'. If you have already made a research -
original research of course - you will know that there was an ancient
fort/town called 'sOlza pAndiya kOttai'
Thus you will know that there *were* forts around. You see,
these people knew how to really fortify and protect a territory - and
hide when necessary.
You see, we had to hide when necessary. If every Tamil had
gone around showing his bare breast to an oncoming Turkish or
Vaduga enemy spear, then *we* would not be around.
Or we would have decimated ourselves by ourselves and would
have disappeared - PAndya vs ChOlza; ChOlza vs Pallava;
PAndya vs ChEra and so on and so on and so on.
It is one of the places where very fierce fighting took
place during the PAndyan civil war that took place sometime in
1168 - 1176.
ParAkrama PAndya was ruling in Madurai. His pangALi,
KulasEkara was ruling in ThirunelvEli. During the medieval times,
there were five PAndyas ruling at different parts of the PAndya
country at any one time. They were either brothers or immediate
paternal uncles of the ruling king at Madurai.
There is an old Forumhub posting in which I have explained
the mechanism of succession in these five collateral lines.
KulasEkara invaded Madurai. ParAkrama asked for help
from the Singhalese king ParAkrabAhu II with whom he had marital
ties.
ParAkramabAhu sent ten thousand elite troops with the
latest armaments under a very able commander - LankApura DhaNdanayaka.
Before he had arrived, KulasEkara had captured Madurai and
murdered ParAkrama PAndya and his sons.
LankApura led a few successful campaigns and laid waste the
country. KulasEkara took flight. LankApura sought out VIra PAndya,
the only remaining son of ParAkra Pandya and installed him on the
Madurai throne. Whatever oppsition that was there, was ruthlessly put
down. He defeated powerful warlords like NishadhaRajan of Ponnamaravathi
and VanggAra Muththaiyan and cut off their heads. He nailed the heads on
to the gates on Madurai kOttai and displayed them.
He caused a great amount of Singhalese influence to be established
in the PAndya country. One step was the substituting of the Singhala KAha
PaNa
in place of the PAndya gold currency.
KulasEkara obtained the help for the ChOlza emperor RajAdhiRaja.
There was a swinging war where the two parties were roving all over
the territory in between the Palk Strait and Madurai. Many battles too
place
That is the territory of KAna nAdu.
Finally Lankapura asked for reinforcements and P.BAhu sent
another ten thousand elite troops under another general,
Jagathvijaya DhaNdanAyaka.
Lankapura took an audacious step of sending a shock troop
blitz krieg within the ChOlza territory and razed a band of land extending
to twenty kAvathams - sixty miles.
The alarmed RAjAdhiRAja sought the help of a mystic who fortold
the danger and performed a Sahasra ChaNdi YAga which lasted for
twenty eight days to KALi and Mangala ChaNdika of PattIsvaram.
At the same time, he sent his best army under his own supreme
commander ANNan PallavaRAyan.
The combined armies of KulasEkara PAndya, the PAndyan warlords
and feudatories, and the ChOLza Emperor waged another series of battles
with the combined armies of LankApura, Jagadhvijaya, VIra PAndya and his
own loyal feudatories and war-lords.
After sveral battles with swingging successes, LankApura was
defeated.
ANNan PalavarAyan installed KulasEkara PAndya on Madurai throne.
He cut the heds of LankApura and Jagadhvjya and nailed them onto the gates
of Madurai.
But the story does not end there.
It went on for a few more years.
In all these battles, skirmishes, and wars, KAnappEr or KALaiyArkOyil
played a very important pivotal road.
Thats what the Singhaleses chronicle MahAvamsa also says.
KALaiyArkOyil was one of the places that were ravaged by Malik Kafur
and Khusrau Khan when they invaded the PAndya country. It happened to be in
their way to RamEsvaram and KAyal(KilziKarai) and the other rich ports.
To a certain extent, it saw some rebuilding during the rule of the
Vijayanagar and Nayakkar rulers because it was an important fort. But its
time
came during the times of the SEthupathis of SEthu nAdu (RAmanAthapuram).
Kilzavan SEthupathi made it very strong.
During the time of Raghunatha Sethupathi, the kingdom of
Ramanathapuram was divided into two. Two fifths of the country was given as
Sridhanam to his daughter who married NAlukOttai SasivarNa ThEvar.
Thus was created the kingdom of Sivaganggai Siimai. Its capital
Sivaganggai was a newly built town. But the old fort and stronghold
happened
to be KALaiyArkOyil together with others like ThiruppathUr, PirAnmalai,
Sathru SanggArakOttai, Thirumayam, and others.
During the beginning of the second quarter of the 18th century,
there was chaos in TamilnAdu. The NAyak kingdom of Madurai was brought
to an ignoble end by the lying scoundral ChandA SAhib - the nephew of
the Arcot NaWAb. There was power-mongering by innumerable groups.
Marathas, Mughals, Endlish, French and other parties were vying against
each other for control and exploitation of Tamilnadu.
The English won against the French.
The British East India Company became a patron to the Nawab of Arcot
who was nominally under the Nizam of Hyderabad who was nominally under the
Mughal Padsha in Delhi. Tanjavur was under the Marathas.
During the third quarter of the 17th century, some of the
PALayakArars
rebelled against the nawab. The British and Nawab Mohammed Ali were
fighting
for their very existance in Tamilnadu.
They combined their armies together and got help from the ThoNdaiman
of PudukOttai, and the Marathas of Tanjavur. Some of the PALayakArars
joined
them. Among them, the Vaduga PALayams under the leadership of PollA PAndya
Kattabommu, the PALayakkArar of PAnchAlangurichchi helped the British/Arcot
team.
The combined armies were led by a very able but terrible
commander in chief - Commandant Khan Shahib.
He was Mohammed Yusuf alias Yusuf Khan alias
Commandant Khan Shahib.
Among the common people, his name was uttered with terror as
'KummandhAn' - The Commandant.
He won victory after victory and subdued all of the PALayakkaarars.
But Raja Vaduganatha ThEvar of Sivaganggai was resisting.
But they were fighting against odds. The combined might of the
Commandant and Colonel Heron of the British forces was too much to bear.
He made a last stand in the fort of KALaiyArkOyil with his two wives -
VElu NAchchiyAr and VeLLachchi NAchchiyAr. His favourite kAriyakarththas
VeLLai Marudhu alias Periya Marudhu and Marudhu PAndiyan alias
Chinna Marudhu were at his side.
A well-aimed cannon shot hit the RAja who died a hero's death
on the ramparts of the fort.
Periya Marudhu carried VElu NAchchiyar off to safety. Protected
by Chinna Marudhu, they made their way through the dense forests and
enemy territory to Dindigal. There, they were received by Hyder Ali, the
ruler
of Mysore. They were kept under his protection and strived to receive aid
from him and the French. VElu NAchchiyar made a trip to Paris for this
purpose.
VeLLachci NAchchiyAr commited sati upon the funeral pyre
of her husband. She is still worshipped as a family deity by a number
of families who were descended from her relatives
After a few years, with sufficient new armaments, the Marudhus
mounted an offensive.
They captured the fort of Madurai, and thereafter went to
Sivagangggai where the Arcot/Company representative had arrears of more
than five lakhs of uncollected taxes. (The capture of Madurai is portrayed
vividly in the Sivaganggai Siimai Kummi and ammAnai. There is a nice thread
on that in Agathiyar. Search the archives.
The British thought it wise to come to a compromise with the
Marudhus. Periya Marudhu borrowed five lakhs of rupees from a chettiyar and
paid the tax arrears with interest in full.
Thus VElu NAchchiyAr became the queen and Periya Marudhu became
the ruler. Chinna Marudhu was the de facto ruler and took over the entire
administration.
The Marudhus started rebuilding Sivaganggai Siimai.
108 temples were taken under the direct custody of the kingdom and
were looked after very well. Many were repaired and refurbished.
The most important beneficiary was KunRakudi Temple, dedicated
to Murugan and the KALaiyArkOyil Temple .
There is a strange story behind it. It has already been written in
Agathiyar. Search the archives.
A Saiva Matam had emigrated from ThiruvaNNAmalai due to
disturbances and had set up a matam in PirAnmalai. The Marudhus relocated
the ThiruvaNNAmalai Matam in KunRakudi and placed five major temples of
the region under the ThiruvaNNAmalai Matam. Three of them were
ThEvara Sthalams and one more was a 'Vaippu Sthalam' - it is mentioned
by name in one of the ThEvAram hymns. KunRakudi, itself has a rock-cut
temple dedicated to Siva. It was built during the time of the Middle
PAndyas.
Hence contemporaneous with ThirupputhUr, PirAnmalai, and others which
have received ThEvAram hymns. It is known as 'ThiruKunRakudi' in the
inscriptions. Although there is no ThEvAram hymns to its name, yet it is
addressed by the epithet 'Thiru'. Only those three thousand verses of
ThEvAram were found by nambiyANdAr nambi and rAja rAja ChOlza.
But several thouand more had actually been sung. What we have is a very
small fraction. Thus were created the ThiruvaNNAmalai AdhInam at KunRakudi
and the 'Aindhu KOyil DhEvasthAnam'. And the ThiruvaNNAmalai
AdhInakarththar
came to be called the 'KunRakudi adigaLAr'.
Other temples belonging to the various communities in the kingdom
also received aid. One of them was the ArOkiya MAdha Church in SaRukaNi.
It received a silver chariot from the Marudhus. There is also a story
behind
this. Several PaLLivAsals were also beneficiaries.
All the towns were refurbished.
Sivaganggai was beautified.
Chinna Marudhu reorganised the army.
He built for himself, a splendid new town which served as his sub-
capital -
araNmanai siRuvayal. Colonel Welsh, in his book 'Military Reminiscences'
has
mentioned about this well-planned, clean, and orderly town. He has praised
Chinna Marudhu and has specially mentioned that he was approachable even
by the humblest citizen of their kingdom.
Chinna Marudhu had seen well into the future.
They were on very good terms with the Company who were very pleased
by the Marudhu's hospitality and the readiness with which taxes were paid.
They
even adopted the youngst son of Chinna Marudhu as the 'Child of the
Company'.
Hence he was renamed as 'DuraisAmy' in honour of the British 'durai's.
But still...Chinna Marudhu was very much aware of what was going to
take place.
He brought in many communities from the adjacent TanjavUr kingdom.
These communities were expert agriculturists.
He gave them special previleges and settled them in a very unfertile
piece of land. The udaiyArs made good the expectations and made semi-
deserts
into rice-fields and productive agricultural lands.
All the tanks were repaired and new ones built. Many tanks had
fallen
into disrepair because of the frequent wars and anarchy.
He also made a fleet of boats which could carry supplies from
YAlzppANam - and also soldiers.
He had caused thousands of pieces of arms and weapons to be
collected
and kept. After the downfall o the Marudhus, some eighty thousand pieces of
assorted weapons were seized from Sivaganggai. But that was only a
fraction.
There is still a lot, lying around.
He also repaired and made many forts stronger. A large number of
secret passages, paths and hide-outs were created
The Marudhus wanted very much to bring back the golden glorious
times of the ancient PAndyas. So they patronised Tamil scholars and poets.
The court of Marudhu boasted of twenty eight such pulavars.
When Marudhu had completed the rebuilding of the KunRakudi Temple,
his chief pulavar - ChAndhu Pulavar composed the 'MayUra Giri KOvai' within
the space of a day and dedicated it to Lord Murugan of KunRakudi.
MayUraGiri
is another name of KunRakudi.
Thus the Marudhus ruled until the fateful year 1801 AD.
The late Raja VadugaNatha ThEvar did not have any male child.
So he had adopted a child from a collateral line of the nAlukOttai family.
He was Gauri Vallabha Periya udaiyA ThEvar.
But when the Marudhus took over, they made VElu nAchchiyAr
as the queen. When she died, her daughter VeLLachchi nAchchiyAr was made
the queen. She was married to Venggam Periya udayaNa ThEvar who also
belonged to the nAlukOttai family. Gauri was denied of his heritage.
Gauri and his relatives made an appeal to the East India Company
about this.
The Company did not take any serious action.
In 1799, PAnchAlangurichchi was captured. Its PALaiyakkArar,
VIra Pandiya Kattabommu was hanged. His younger brother Umai Thurai
was imprisoned. But he escaped. Within a space of two weeks, he mustered
twenty thousand people and rebuilt the fort of PAnchAlangurichchi. It was
even stronger than before. Even the eighteen-pounders that the British
brought to bear upon the fort, just exploded.
But the fort fell.
Umaiyan became a fugitive. At length, he came to Sivaganggai.
The Marudhus had not given any help to Kattabommu in 1799.
In fact, he was captured in the forests near the borders of PudukkOttai
and Sivaganggai. He was also imprisoned for a day in the
SingampuNari SEvugaMUrthi Temple which falls within the jurisdiction
of The Marudhus.
Without the knowledge of Periya Marudhu, Chinna Marudhu
gave refuge to Umaiyan.
This angered the Anglo-Nawab alliance. They also came to
know the secret pacts and negotiations that were going on between the
Marudhus and the various PALaiyakAarars and Tipu Sultan of Mysore.
There was also the French connection.
Gauri Vallabha was pressurisng.
So the British asked the Marudhus to show cause as to their
rights to the kingdom.
The Marudhus also refused to hand over Umaiyan to the British.
The British also got alarmed about the speed with which
Marudhu was acting to create powerful alliances. Some of the messengers
and envoys were caught.
Marudhu had other ulterior motives.
He had nurtured an intense desire to bring about the greatness
of Tamilnadu - under its own native rulers..
I told you before that the Madurai NAyak kingdom came to an
end because of the treacherous lie and deceit of Chanda Shahib.
The last of the great Nayaks was RANi ManggammA of Madurai
Kingdom.
She was a princess of ThanjAvUr who became the wife of
ChockanAtha NAyakar who was the grandson of Thirumalai NAyakar.
ChockanAthar made his kingdom very weak by his unnecessary wars and
the treachery of his own brother.
When he died, his son was young. So his wife ManggammaA
became the regent.
But the son also died when he was young. His wife MuthammA
was fully pregnant at the time of his demise. She gave birth and commited
an indirect act of suicide.
The rule of RANi ManggammA is one of the golden leaves in
the history of Madurai nAdu.
Tamilnaadu still has the famous 'ManggammA Chaththiram's in
many parts. Never has Madurai seen such a benevolent humanist as its
ruler in the preceding few centuries. Especially so, when we consider
that fact that she is a scion from the militarist NAyaks of
Madurai/ThanjavUr.
ManggammA took charge of the new-born grandson, VijayaRanga
Chockanatha and ruled on his behalf.
When he came of age, Vijayarangga kept his grand-mother under
house arrest and starved her to death.
But VijayaRangga was a very weak ruler who was steeped in
superstition and inactivity.
Madurai became very poor and very very weak.
All the PALayakArars became quasi-independant and the
ThoNdaimAns and SEthupathis became independant and more powerful than
their one-time 'naam-ke-vaasthE' suzerain.
VijayaRangga died in 1730.
He did not have any off-spring.
So his wife MInAtchi became the ruler. She had adopted a child
called Vijaya Thirumalai on whose behalf, she ruled.
At that time, Tamilnadu was full of strife and chaos. The French,
British, Arcot Nawab, Hyderabad Nizam, Mughals, Maraththas, and Mysore
were involved in a power struggle. The PALayakArars were also arrayed in
parties and struggling for dominence.
The people were afraid to till their land and grow crops. Somebody
would come and collect a part of the grains as tax. Another day somebody
else would come to collect some more. Later on still another would come.
There was lawlessness, atrocities, famine, fear and terror,
natural calamities, epidemics, wars, rebellions, robberies, etc. The land
was ravaged by bands of robbers called brigands. Wild animals were
roaming around in the villages.
This was a time where people were selling themselves into slavery
to have some food to eat with protection.
Thw Arcot nawab was trying to bring everything under his control.
His son-in-law was Chanda Shahib. He was harbouring an intense desire
to become the Nawab himself, against Mohamed Ali, the son of the Nawab.
He took his arms into Madurai country.
At that time, Thiruchi was the capital of the Madurai Naadu.
RANi MInAtchi tried to bribe and pay taxes to the invading armies
to maintain her country. The country was getting drained of its vital
resources,
riches, and strength.
In 1736, Chanda Shahib came again to capture the country.
RANi MInAtchi offered to pay four crores(forty million) of silver
rupees. But in return, Chanda Shahib must take an oath upon the Holy Quran,
never to invade Madurai country again.
On the appointed day, Chanda Shahib laid his hand upon a gold plate
which was covered with a silk cloth over something that looked like a book.
He took the oath.
He received his millions.
And went out.
And then he attacked.
RANi MInAtchi removed the silk cloth and found a brick on the plate.
No Quran book.
Realising that she had been cheated, she set fire to herself and
commited self-immolation.
Thus the Madurai NAyakdom came to an end.
It had out-lasted the Vijayanagar Empire of which it was a part,
by two centuries.
The child, Vijaya Thirumalai escaped to Sivaganggai where
he was protected by its ruler, in a place called VeLLi Kurichchi.
There he was for another forty years until Marudhu took over
his protection.
The Company-Nawab-Raja of PudukkOttai-TanjavUr-PALaiyakkArar
alliance waged war on the Marudhus.
Chinna Marudhu proclaimed that Vijaya Thirumalai Nayakkar will be
the rightful king of Tamilnadu and that all the PalayakArars and people
should
support, accept and acklowledge him as their own king, without any caste,
creed, or religious bar.
The Marudhus put up an effective and valient struggle.
They waged many battles and skirmishes in various areas of
Sivaganggai
kingdom. They made PirAnmalai as a strategic centre and conducted guerilla
warfare. But it was captured.
The onslaught of the British alliance was very powerful.
The British now came up with a ploy.
They crowned Gauri Vallabha as the king of Sivaganggai.
They also questioned the legitimacy of the Marudhus who happened
to be AgamudaiyAr while the country belonged to a MaRavar king.
This caused a very dangerous split in the kingdom. Suddenly, the
MaRavar
suport was depleted.
With hatvere strength that they had, the Marudhus continued their
struggle in various places.
AraNmaNai SiRuvayal, the head-quarters of Chinna Marudhu was
surrounded early in the morning by Colonel Agnew, the Commander-in-chief
of the campaign.
He swore that he would only take his afternoon tea in the ruins of
the
beautiful town.
By evening it was captured and destroyed.
Colonel Agnew ordered his tea-table to be laid upon the ruins
and gloating over his newest victory, he chewed his biscuits and sipped
his tea.
Finally the Marudhus went inside the unasailable and impregnable
fort of KALaiyArkOyil and took a last stand there.
The Anglo-Nawab alliance could not find the way to the fort
through the dense forest that was surrounding it. So they started cutting
down the trees.
They had made a lot of headway when somebody betrayed the
secret passages through the dense forest.
The huge army approached the fort.
Initial attacks did not succeed because the Marudhus had
made it so very strong.
It was going to be a very long seige. Which the Birtish could not
afford. They had to have reinforcements and the logistics were immense.
Especially when the Marudhus sent their men to make hit and run tactics
and wage a war of attrition.
Finally Colonel Agnew hit upon an idea.
He built ramparts and platforms ouside the fort.
Upon these, he poised his large and powerful cannons.
They were aimed at the majestic and magnificient gOpram of
KALaiyAr KOyil.
The gopuram which had given birth to a very beautiful ballad -
a beautiful kummi, eulogising Marudhu as,
"saandhu pottu thaLathaLangga sandhana pottu gumugumungga
"marudhai koburam therindhida cheydha marudhu vaaradhaip paarunggadi" -
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ÁÕ¨¾ì §¸¡ÒÃõ ¦¾Ã¢ó¾¢¼î ¦ºö¾ ÁÕРšè¾ô À¡Õí¸Ê"
The Gopura which immortalised Marudhu.
Colonel Agnew issued an ultimatum to Marudhu.
That "Marudhu should come out and surrender.
Otherwise, within a specific dead-line, the cannons will open
fire upon the grand gOpuram of KALaiyArkoyil!"
Marudhu could not bear this.
The gOpuram was the apple of his eye.
So he and his supporters vacated the fort in the darkness of
the night and made their escape through a yet undiscovered route in
the forest.
But they could only escape into a hostile jungle which was being
destroyed by the people who were ordered to cut the trees from every
direction.
The Marudhus became separated when during th course of their
escape.
Food became scarce.
Overcome with exhaustion, hunger, and thirst, Periya Marudhu
was shot in the thigh by his own body-guard KaruththAn who was like son
to Marudhu.
Chinna Marudhu had died and his body was encaged in a
kiLikkUNdu - body cage and hung for display.
Periya Marudhu and all the relatives, sons and grandsons of both
the Marudhus were hung from a common gibbet in the south western
rampart of ThirupputhUr fort.
There is a detailed exchange in the archives of Agathiyar about
the way that the Marudhus were caught and executed.
Marudhu's youngest son Durai Samy SErvai and seventy one
other rebels were banished to the penitentiary colony of the
Prince of Wales Island - Penang.
After Periya Marudhu's death, his head was cut off.
The headless body was buried in a wilderness outside ThirupputhUr.
The head was buried at KALaiyArkOyil.
Just in front of the Temple of KALaiyArkOyil.
The face turned towards the grand gOpuram that Marudhu had built.
In a deathless gaze upon the magnificent edifice that had made
him immortal.
Before Periya Marudhu was hanged, he dictated his last will
and testament and asked Colonel Agnew to give his word of honour
to uphold the will by crossing his sword.
Agnew put his sword on the ground stepped over it, and took
an oath and swore to do as Marudhu had dictated in his will.
After that Periya Marudhu uttered a fierce curse invoking
Lord SivaPeruman and put the curse upon whomsoever had brought
about his downfall and tried to wrest the country which now rightfully
belonged to him. He was innocent of any sins. With those words, he
placed the hangman's noose around his neck. And then met his end.
During the life-time of Marudhu Brothers, they had done many
big and small charitable acts.
May be it would be appropriate to tell a few things here.
During the early parts of Marudhu's tenure, there seem to have
been frequent troubles. Because, more than once, we hear of Marudhu
fleeing for his life, being chased by his enemies. When Marudhu attacked
and captured Madurai fort and later on Sivaganggai itself, he would have
been at logger heads with the British and Arcot Nawab.
Then the rival claimant was also there. Gauri Vallabha's people
would certainly have put up some fight. Even after Marudhu had gained
full control of the country, Gauri's men would have always stalked him,
in order to get rid of him.
That is why we come across so many instances of Marudhu in
flight.
On one occasion, Marudhu was pursued by his enemies. He was
overcome with hunger and fatigue. He saw a humble hut. He knocked on
the door which was opened by a frail old woman. She welcomed him
inside and gave him food and water. She also sheltered him. During the
night, the area was rife with noises of people searching for Marudhu.
When anyone asked her for Marudhu, she denied having seen him.
In the morning, Marudhu took his leave. Just before he left,
he plucked a palmyra leaf from the thatched roof of the hut. He broke
off a small splinter of karuvEla thorn. Then with the thorn, he scribbled
out a donation on the leaf for the old women and gave it to her, asking
her to show it at the palace and receive her reward.
We know of hundred's of Marudhu's charities. But it certainly
would have run into thousands of such deeds. Some were big, like the
silver chariot of ArOkiya Matha Church of SarugaNi.
In his deed, Marudhu had specifically mentioned that whatever
he has donated - incised on stones or scratched with thorns or said
with word-by-mouth (kallAl vettiyadhum, muLLAl kIRiyadhum,
sollAl sonnadhum) - all these should be upheld. Nothing should be
retaken or abrogated.
Well, the British never kept their words. They went back upon
everything. Except the charities. They did not give the country back
to the descendants of Marudhu. They gave it to Gauri Vallabha.
Gauri Vallabha was around for a few years. He did not have
any royal issues. Sivaganggai was proclaimed as zamin. The king of
Sivagangai was relegated to the level of a zamindaar.
Sivaganggai passed into the hands of Gauri's relatives. Again
and again, we find zamindaars dying without any waris. Again and again
the zamin went to the hands of the relatives.
Then there were litigations between rival claimants for the zamin.
Sometime during the third quarter of the 19th century, about
sixty years after Marudhu had died, the descendants of Marudhu sued
for the zamin.
This litigation went on for sixty years. Finally, in the 1920's, it
went to the Privy Council of the British Empire. Once and for all, the
descendants of Periya Marudhu lost the case.
But the charities that the Marudhus performed lived on.
The 1801 Rebellion or Polygar Rebellion was ruthlessly put down.
Thousands were killed.
There were many who were flogged publicly.
They were taken from town to town. They would be tied in the
central sadhukkam or sandhi. Then they would be flogged. Some of them
received one hundred lashes at each time. Then they would be taken to
another town. It was repeated until the rebel died.
There was a stretch of jungle which extended from the Eastern
Ghats right up to the shores of the Palk Strait. All the jungles of
KALaiyArkOyil, KIlzanellikOttai, SiRuvayal, PirAnmalai, ThirukkuLambUr,
PAganEri, SOlzapuram, etc., were parts of this huge jungle complex.
They were cut down totally.
Sivaganggai and parts of Ramanathapuram were once thickly
wooded. They were thus denuded of such lush forests. They became
the arid semi-desert that we know today.
With the loss of flora, the fauna also died out.
Marudhu used to do tiger-hunting in those surrounding jungles.
He is known to have strangled a tiger with his bare hands. He had
smashed the head of a wild boar with a brass pot full of water.
He was that strong. He would place an Arcot Rupee on his fore-finger
and middle finger and with his thumb, he would bend it.
An Arcot Rupee is made of solid silver. It is 6 millimeters thick.
Looking at Sivaganggai, can you imagine that tigers, wild boars,
and wild buffalos were roaming around just a mere two hundred years ago?
All the fortresses were pulled down.
Madurai, ThirupputhUr, KALaiyArkOyil, and many others were
totally destroyed. I have counted 12 forts within a small radius of 14
miles.
These are what I was able discover. But what about those that I or anyone
else did not discover? If that be so, how many would have been the
real number?
All fire-arms and swords, pikes, spears, javelins, etc., were
confiscated.
Agricultural and cooking utilities were spared. Knives less than
6 inches were allowed. But if you know that area about forty years ago,
murders, gang fights, and vendettas were very common. All with the
humble and harmless agricultural and cooking utilities. Many communities
were ordered to come and sleep in specified guarded places. They had
to get permission to sleep with their wives.
Thus the British put down a once proud and valient people.
What Kannadasan sang in 'Sivaganggai Siimai' about this place is true.
I left one episode till the last......
The British killed all the male descendants of Periya Marudhu
and Chinna Marudhu together with their male relatives. Those who
survived were the descendants of the daughters of Periya Marudhu.
I said 'all male descendants', did I?
Well, all.......but one.
The youngest son of Chinna Marudhu who was adopted by
the British Company - he who was named after the Durais of the
Company - Duraisamy SErvai.
He was only 15 years old at that time.
He and 71 other rebels including pALayakArars and community
leaders were exiled.
They were put in a ship and sent to the 'Prince of Wales Island'.
This was an island that was off-shore to the coast of the Kedah Sultanate
(Ancient KadAram) of the Malay Peninsula. It was known as Pulau Pinang
(present day Penang). The British East India Company had aquired it
from the Sultan in return for protection against the powerful Kingdom
of Thailand.
The British built a fort which was named after Lord Cornwallis
who surrendered the American Colonies to George Washington.
They also enlarged and renamed a town there and called it
Georgetown after their King George III. At that time, they gave that
name to three places in three different parts of the globe - Penang,
Madras, and British Guiana.
Penang was already having its own commerce and a small
amount of pepper and betel nut trade. The British made it into a
pententiary colony. It served as such until Singapore was acquired.
Later on, the Andaman Islands took their places.
During the voyage, one-third of the rebels died. The remaining
were disembarked at Penang and left to their fate.
Colonel Welsh used to be a very friendly officer to the
Marudhus. He has written about the 1801 rebellion in his book called
'Military Reminiscences'.
He married the daughter of General Bannerman who was
involved in the PAnchAlankurichi campaign. Later on, General Bannerman
became the governor of the British Possessions in South East Asia.
His head quarters was at Penang for sometime. Colonel Welsh went
on a visit to his father-in-law's place.
In Penang, he met Duraisamy. Duraisamy was prematurely old
and was a broken down man. He asked Colonel Welsh to take a letter
home to his relatives. But Welsh refused on legal grounds.
And that, is the last we hear of Duraisamy SErvai.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[tscii:7cb0db3ae5][/tscii:7cb0db3ae5]
This is in memorium of the Marudhu Servaikkaarars
on their Memorial Day.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
The next segment of Lateral Thinking takes us to KALaiArKOyil
in Sivagangai district.
I think I will give a short synopsis about KKOyil.
It was, in the ancient days known as 'KAnappEr'.
During the Sanggam Era, there was an impregnable
fort called 'KaanappEr eyil'. But then, there is a saying that
'any fort can be captured; provided that you follow the
the appropriate strategy'.
Well, that 'appropriate startegy' may be not always be
seige or seige-craft or power of arms. It could be bribe,
treachery, or plain hoodwinking like the 'Trojan Horse'.
You know, the Trojan Horse is not actually a Trojan
Horse. It is in fact, a Greek Horse.
The Greeks made it; there were Greek soldiers hiding
inside the horse. It was left as a gift to the Trojans. And they
sailed away......just beyond the horizon. And waiting for nightfall.
The Trojans pulled the horse inside and celebrated
victory.
The rest is history.
Many people thought that it was mythology. Until the day that
Heinrich Schliemen came along.
There is a saying. 'Beware of a Greek bearing a gift'.
I'll come back to KaaLaiyaar KOyil.
KAnappER was one of the important forts guarding the territory
called 'KAna nAdu'. There is a town in ChettinAdu known as
'KAnAdu KAththAn'.
During the Sanggam Era, there was a warrior called
'VEnggai MArban'. He was finally defeated and the conquering
PAndyan king plucked his teeth and embedded them on the doors
of the fort. <We ain't no angels, either, Baby!>
Capturing the fort must have been something of an achievement.
Because, an arrow would not reach the top of the wall. The walls were
lofty. Seige-machines etc., were already known at that time. We find that
Yavana mercenaries and engineers were employed by the Tamil monarchs.
Territorially, this KAnanAdu was part and parcel of PAndya nADu.
It is bordering on the vicinities of Madurai. Just like VEL PAri's
PaRambu nAdu.
Sometimes, for some reasons or other, the 'MudiyuDai VEndhar' -
the Crowned Kings who possessed all the regalia and insignia of full
royalty -
had to wage war against the feudatories who were under their suzerainty.
During the post Sangam Era, it was ravaged by a tsunami and got
depopulated. It was repopulated after 10 generations by the PAndyan king.
Times had changed.
KAnaPEr was still a centre of warriors and a strategic place for
the PAndya Country.
The Sivan Temple has three shrines - dedicated to
KALIsvarar, SOmEsvarar, and SundarEsvarar.
KALIsvarar is the sUkshma lingam. SOmEsvarar is the
sthUla lingam. And SundarEsvarar is kAma.
The oldest is dedicated to KALIsvarar. He is the One Who
was sung by Sundarar and Sambandhar.
During medieval history, KALaiyArkOyil played crucial strategic
roles.
Various types of araN, or fortificatons further strengthened the
fort. The old town was situated within the fort. It was like the ancient
Madurai town which was situated within a fort - Madurai kOttai.
This has already been dealt with, in the Agathiyar list. Archives will
yield quite a substantial amount of material.
Needless to say, the fort would have contained all types of
weapons. The walls were high. This was the 'madhil araN'. There was
a moat surrounding the fort. This was the 'nIr araN' - water fortification.
Beyond this was the 'kAval kAdu' - 'kAttaraN' - the forest fortification.
We know only of these fortifications. Tracks and traces of the moat
and wall can be seen if looked for carefully. The dense forest was
totally destroyed by the East India Company and Arcot Nawab forces
when they wanted to storm the fort in 1801. The fort was also pulled
down.
The main fort was surrounded by lesser forts. There are no
more forts now. You see only the names. Sometimes, there may be
a small village bearing names like 'uRudhi kOttai'. But you don't see
any fort. More often, you will see a punjai tract of land which may
be called as 'sOlandhi kOttai'. If you have already made a research -
original research of course - you will know that there was an ancient
fort/town called 'sOlza pAndiya kOttai'
Thus you will know that there *were* forts around. You see,
these people knew how to really fortify and protect a territory - and
hide when necessary.
You see, we had to hide when necessary. If every Tamil had
gone around showing his bare breast to an oncoming Turkish or
Vaduga enemy spear, then *we* would not be around.
Or we would have decimated ourselves by ourselves and would
have disappeared - PAndya vs ChOlza; ChOlza vs Pallava;
PAndya vs ChEra and so on and so on and so on.
It is one of the places where very fierce fighting took
place during the PAndyan civil war that took place sometime in
1168 - 1176.
ParAkrama PAndya was ruling in Madurai. His pangALi,
KulasEkara was ruling in ThirunelvEli. During the medieval times,
there were five PAndyas ruling at different parts of the PAndya
country at any one time. They were either brothers or immediate
paternal uncles of the ruling king at Madurai.
There is an old Forumhub posting in which I have explained
the mechanism of succession in these five collateral lines.
KulasEkara invaded Madurai. ParAkrama asked for help
from the Singhalese king ParAkrabAhu II with whom he had marital
ties.
ParAkramabAhu sent ten thousand elite troops with the
latest armaments under a very able commander - LankApura DhaNdanayaka.
Before he had arrived, KulasEkara had captured Madurai and
murdered ParAkrama PAndya and his sons.
LankApura led a few successful campaigns and laid waste the
country. KulasEkara took flight. LankApura sought out VIra PAndya,
the only remaining son of ParAkra Pandya and installed him on the
Madurai throne. Whatever oppsition that was there, was ruthlessly put
down. He defeated powerful warlords like NishadhaRajan of Ponnamaravathi
and VanggAra Muththaiyan and cut off their heads. He nailed the heads on
to the gates on Madurai kOttai and displayed them.
He caused a great amount of Singhalese influence to be established
in the PAndya country. One step was the substituting of the Singhala KAha
PaNa
in place of the PAndya gold currency.
KulasEkara obtained the help for the ChOlza emperor RajAdhiRaja.
There was a swinging war where the two parties were roving all over
the territory in between the Palk Strait and Madurai. Many battles too
place
That is the territory of KAna nAdu.
Finally Lankapura asked for reinforcements and P.BAhu sent
another ten thousand elite troops under another general,
Jagathvijaya DhaNdanAyaka.
Lankapura took an audacious step of sending a shock troop
blitz krieg within the ChOlza territory and razed a band of land extending
to twenty kAvathams - sixty miles.
The alarmed RAjAdhiRAja sought the help of a mystic who fortold
the danger and performed a Sahasra ChaNdi YAga which lasted for
twenty eight days to KALi and Mangala ChaNdika of PattIsvaram.
At the same time, he sent his best army under his own supreme
commander ANNan PallavaRAyan.
The combined armies of KulasEkara PAndya, the PAndyan warlords
and feudatories, and the ChOLza Emperor waged another series of battles
with the combined armies of LankApura, Jagadhvijaya, VIra PAndya and his
own loyal feudatories and war-lords.
After sveral battles with swingging successes, LankApura was
defeated.
ANNan PalavarAyan installed KulasEkara PAndya on Madurai throne.
He cut the heds of LankApura and Jagadhvjya and nailed them onto the gates
of Madurai.
But the story does not end there.
It went on for a few more years.
In all these battles, skirmishes, and wars, KAnappEr or KALaiyArkOyil
played a very important pivotal road.
Thats what the Singhaleses chronicle MahAvamsa also says.
KALaiyArkOyil was one of the places that were ravaged by Malik Kafur
and Khusrau Khan when they invaded the PAndya country. It happened to be in
their way to RamEsvaram and KAyal(KilziKarai) and the other rich ports.
To a certain extent, it saw some rebuilding during the rule of the
Vijayanagar and Nayakkar rulers because it was an important fort. But its
time
came during the times of the SEthupathis of SEthu nAdu (RAmanAthapuram).
Kilzavan SEthupathi made it very strong.
During the time of Raghunatha Sethupathi, the kingdom of
Ramanathapuram was divided into two. Two fifths of the country was given as
Sridhanam to his daughter who married NAlukOttai SasivarNa ThEvar.
Thus was created the kingdom of Sivaganggai Siimai. Its capital
Sivaganggai was a newly built town. But the old fort and stronghold
happened
to be KALaiyArkOyil together with others like ThiruppathUr, PirAnmalai,
Sathru SanggArakOttai, Thirumayam, and others.
During the beginning of the second quarter of the 18th century,
there was chaos in TamilnAdu. The NAyak kingdom of Madurai was brought
to an ignoble end by the lying scoundral ChandA SAhib - the nephew of
the Arcot NaWAb. There was power-mongering by innumerable groups.
Marathas, Mughals, Endlish, French and other parties were vying against
each other for control and exploitation of Tamilnadu.
The English won against the French.
The British East India Company became a patron to the Nawab of Arcot
who was nominally under the Nizam of Hyderabad who was nominally under the
Mughal Padsha in Delhi. Tanjavur was under the Marathas.
During the third quarter of the 17th century, some of the
PALayakArars
rebelled against the nawab. The British and Nawab Mohammed Ali were
fighting
for their very existance in Tamilnadu.
They combined their armies together and got help from the ThoNdaiman
of PudukOttai, and the Marathas of Tanjavur. Some of the PALayakArars
joined
them. Among them, the Vaduga PALayams under the leadership of PollA PAndya
Kattabommu, the PALayakkArar of PAnchAlangurichchi helped the British/Arcot
team.
The combined armies were led by a very able but terrible
commander in chief - Commandant Khan Shahib.
He was Mohammed Yusuf alias Yusuf Khan alias
Commandant Khan Shahib.
Among the common people, his name was uttered with terror as
'KummandhAn' - The Commandant.
He won victory after victory and subdued all of the PALayakkaarars.
But Raja Vaduganatha ThEvar of Sivaganggai was resisting.
But they were fighting against odds. The combined might of the
Commandant and Colonel Heron of the British forces was too much to bear.
He made a last stand in the fort of KALaiyArkOyil with his two wives -
VElu NAchchiyAr and VeLLachchi NAchchiyAr. His favourite kAriyakarththas
VeLLai Marudhu alias Periya Marudhu and Marudhu PAndiyan alias
Chinna Marudhu were at his side.
A well-aimed cannon shot hit the RAja who died a hero's death
on the ramparts of the fort.
Periya Marudhu carried VElu NAchchiyar off to safety. Protected
by Chinna Marudhu, they made their way through the dense forests and
enemy territory to Dindigal. There, they were received by Hyder Ali, the
ruler
of Mysore. They were kept under his protection and strived to receive aid
from him and the French. VElu NAchchiyar made a trip to Paris for this
purpose.
VeLLachci NAchchiyAr commited sati upon the funeral pyre
of her husband. She is still worshipped as a family deity by a number
of families who were descended from her relatives
After a few years, with sufficient new armaments, the Marudhus
mounted an offensive.
They captured the fort of Madurai, and thereafter went to
Sivagangggai where the Arcot/Company representative had arrears of more
than five lakhs of uncollected taxes. (The capture of Madurai is portrayed
vividly in the Sivaganggai Siimai Kummi and ammAnai. There is a nice thread
on that in Agathiyar. Search the archives.
The British thought it wise to come to a compromise with the
Marudhus. Periya Marudhu borrowed five lakhs of rupees from a chettiyar and
paid the tax arrears with interest in full.
Thus VElu NAchchiyAr became the queen and Periya Marudhu became
the ruler. Chinna Marudhu was the de facto ruler and took over the entire
administration.
The Marudhus started rebuilding Sivaganggai Siimai.
108 temples were taken under the direct custody of the kingdom and
were looked after very well. Many were repaired and refurbished.
The most important beneficiary was KunRakudi Temple, dedicated
to Murugan and the KALaiyArkOyil Temple .
There is a strange story behind it. It has already been written in
Agathiyar. Search the archives.
A Saiva Matam had emigrated from ThiruvaNNAmalai due to
disturbances and had set up a matam in PirAnmalai. The Marudhus relocated
the ThiruvaNNAmalai Matam in KunRakudi and placed five major temples of
the region under the ThiruvaNNAmalai Matam. Three of them were
ThEvara Sthalams and one more was a 'Vaippu Sthalam' - it is mentioned
by name in one of the ThEvAram hymns. KunRakudi, itself has a rock-cut
temple dedicated to Siva. It was built during the time of the Middle
PAndyas.
Hence contemporaneous with ThirupputhUr, PirAnmalai, and others which
have received ThEvAram hymns. It is known as 'ThiruKunRakudi' in the
inscriptions. Although there is no ThEvAram hymns to its name, yet it is
addressed by the epithet 'Thiru'. Only those three thousand verses of
ThEvAram were found by nambiyANdAr nambi and rAja rAja ChOlza.
But several thouand more had actually been sung. What we have is a very
small fraction. Thus were created the ThiruvaNNAmalai AdhInam at KunRakudi
and the 'Aindhu KOyil DhEvasthAnam'. And the ThiruvaNNAmalai
AdhInakarththar
came to be called the 'KunRakudi adigaLAr'.
Other temples belonging to the various communities in the kingdom
also received aid. One of them was the ArOkiya MAdha Church in SaRukaNi.
It received a silver chariot from the Marudhus. There is also a story
behind
this. Several PaLLivAsals were also beneficiaries.
All the towns were refurbished.
Sivaganggai was beautified.
Chinna Marudhu reorganised the army.
He built for himself, a splendid new town which served as his sub-
capital -
araNmanai siRuvayal. Colonel Welsh, in his book 'Military Reminiscences'
has
mentioned about this well-planned, clean, and orderly town. He has praised
Chinna Marudhu and has specially mentioned that he was approachable even
by the humblest citizen of their kingdom.
Chinna Marudhu had seen well into the future.
They were on very good terms with the Company who were very pleased
by the Marudhu's hospitality and the readiness with which taxes were paid.
They
even adopted the youngst son of Chinna Marudhu as the 'Child of the
Company'.
Hence he was renamed as 'DuraisAmy' in honour of the British 'durai's.
But still...Chinna Marudhu was very much aware of what was going to
take place.
He brought in many communities from the adjacent TanjavUr kingdom.
These communities were expert agriculturists.
He gave them special previleges and settled them in a very unfertile
piece of land. The udaiyArs made good the expectations and made semi-
deserts
into rice-fields and productive agricultural lands.
All the tanks were repaired and new ones built. Many tanks had
fallen
into disrepair because of the frequent wars and anarchy.
He also made a fleet of boats which could carry supplies from
YAlzppANam - and also soldiers.
He had caused thousands of pieces of arms and weapons to be
collected
and kept. After the downfall o the Marudhus, some eighty thousand pieces of
assorted weapons were seized from Sivaganggai. But that was only a
fraction.
There is still a lot, lying around.
He also repaired and made many forts stronger. A large number of
secret passages, paths and hide-outs were created
The Marudhus wanted very much to bring back the golden glorious
times of the ancient PAndyas. So they patronised Tamil scholars and poets.
The court of Marudhu boasted of twenty eight such pulavars.
When Marudhu had completed the rebuilding of the KunRakudi Temple,
his chief pulavar - ChAndhu Pulavar composed the 'MayUra Giri KOvai' within
the space of a day and dedicated it to Lord Murugan of KunRakudi.
MayUraGiri
is another name of KunRakudi.
Thus the Marudhus ruled until the fateful year 1801 AD.
The late Raja VadugaNatha ThEvar did not have any male child.
So he had adopted a child from a collateral line of the nAlukOttai family.
He was Gauri Vallabha Periya udaiyA ThEvar.
But when the Marudhus took over, they made VElu nAchchiyAr
as the queen. When she died, her daughter VeLLachchi nAchchiyAr was made
the queen. She was married to Venggam Periya udayaNa ThEvar who also
belonged to the nAlukOttai family. Gauri was denied of his heritage.
Gauri and his relatives made an appeal to the East India Company
about this.
The Company did not take any serious action.
In 1799, PAnchAlangurichchi was captured. Its PALaiyakkArar,
VIra Pandiya Kattabommu was hanged. His younger brother Umai Thurai
was imprisoned. But he escaped. Within a space of two weeks, he mustered
twenty thousand people and rebuilt the fort of PAnchAlangurichchi. It was
even stronger than before. Even the eighteen-pounders that the British
brought to bear upon the fort, just exploded.
But the fort fell.
Umaiyan became a fugitive. At length, he came to Sivaganggai.
The Marudhus had not given any help to Kattabommu in 1799.
In fact, he was captured in the forests near the borders of PudukkOttai
and Sivaganggai. He was also imprisoned for a day in the
SingampuNari SEvugaMUrthi Temple which falls within the jurisdiction
of The Marudhus.
Without the knowledge of Periya Marudhu, Chinna Marudhu
gave refuge to Umaiyan.
This angered the Anglo-Nawab alliance. They also came to
know the secret pacts and negotiations that were going on between the
Marudhus and the various PALaiyakAarars and Tipu Sultan of Mysore.
There was also the French connection.
Gauri Vallabha was pressurisng.
So the British asked the Marudhus to show cause as to their
rights to the kingdom.
The Marudhus also refused to hand over Umaiyan to the British.
The British also got alarmed about the speed with which
Marudhu was acting to create powerful alliances. Some of the messengers
and envoys were caught.
Marudhu had other ulterior motives.
He had nurtured an intense desire to bring about the greatness
of Tamilnadu - under its own native rulers..
I told you before that the Madurai NAyak kingdom came to an
end because of the treacherous lie and deceit of Chanda Shahib.
The last of the great Nayaks was RANi ManggammA of Madurai
Kingdom.
She was a princess of ThanjAvUr who became the wife of
ChockanAtha NAyakar who was the grandson of Thirumalai NAyakar.
ChockanAthar made his kingdom very weak by his unnecessary wars and
the treachery of his own brother.
When he died, his son was young. So his wife ManggammaA
became the regent.
But the son also died when he was young. His wife MuthammA
was fully pregnant at the time of his demise. She gave birth and commited
an indirect act of suicide.
The rule of RANi ManggammA is one of the golden leaves in
the history of Madurai nAdu.
Tamilnaadu still has the famous 'ManggammA Chaththiram's in
many parts. Never has Madurai seen such a benevolent humanist as its
ruler in the preceding few centuries. Especially so, when we consider
that fact that she is a scion from the militarist NAyaks of
Madurai/ThanjavUr.
ManggammA took charge of the new-born grandson, VijayaRanga
Chockanatha and ruled on his behalf.
When he came of age, Vijayarangga kept his grand-mother under
house arrest and starved her to death.
But VijayaRangga was a very weak ruler who was steeped in
superstition and inactivity.
Madurai became very poor and very very weak.
All the PALayakArars became quasi-independant and the
ThoNdaimAns and SEthupathis became independant and more powerful than
their one-time 'naam-ke-vaasthE' suzerain.
VijayaRangga died in 1730.
He did not have any off-spring.
So his wife MInAtchi became the ruler. She had adopted a child
called Vijaya Thirumalai on whose behalf, she ruled.
At that time, Tamilnadu was full of strife and chaos. The French,
British, Arcot Nawab, Hyderabad Nizam, Mughals, Maraththas, and Mysore
were involved in a power struggle. The PALayakArars were also arrayed in
parties and struggling for dominence.
The people were afraid to till their land and grow crops. Somebody
would come and collect a part of the grains as tax. Another day somebody
else would come to collect some more. Later on still another would come.
There was lawlessness, atrocities, famine, fear and terror,
natural calamities, epidemics, wars, rebellions, robberies, etc. The land
was ravaged by bands of robbers called brigands. Wild animals were
roaming around in the villages.
This was a time where people were selling themselves into slavery
to have some food to eat with protection.
Thw Arcot nawab was trying to bring everything under his control.
His son-in-law was Chanda Shahib. He was harbouring an intense desire
to become the Nawab himself, against Mohamed Ali, the son of the Nawab.
He took his arms into Madurai country.
At that time, Thiruchi was the capital of the Madurai Naadu.
RANi MInAtchi tried to bribe and pay taxes to the invading armies
to maintain her country. The country was getting drained of its vital
resources,
riches, and strength.
In 1736, Chanda Shahib came again to capture the country.
RANi MInAtchi offered to pay four crores(forty million) of silver
rupees. But in return, Chanda Shahib must take an oath upon the Holy Quran,
never to invade Madurai country again.
On the appointed day, Chanda Shahib laid his hand upon a gold plate
which was covered with a silk cloth over something that looked like a book.
He took the oath.
He received his millions.
And went out.
And then he attacked.
RANi MInAtchi removed the silk cloth and found a brick on the plate.
No Quran book.
Realising that she had been cheated, she set fire to herself and
commited self-immolation.
Thus the Madurai NAyakdom came to an end.
It had out-lasted the Vijayanagar Empire of which it was a part,
by two centuries.
The child, Vijaya Thirumalai escaped to Sivaganggai where
he was protected by its ruler, in a place called VeLLi Kurichchi.
There he was for another forty years until Marudhu took over
his protection.
The Company-Nawab-Raja of PudukkOttai-TanjavUr-PALaiyakkArar
alliance waged war on the Marudhus.
Chinna Marudhu proclaimed that Vijaya Thirumalai Nayakkar will be
the rightful king of Tamilnadu and that all the PalayakArars and people
should
support, accept and acklowledge him as their own king, without any caste,
creed, or religious bar.
The Marudhus put up an effective and valient struggle.
They waged many battles and skirmishes in various areas of
Sivaganggai
kingdom. They made PirAnmalai as a strategic centre and conducted guerilla
warfare. But it was captured.
The onslaught of the British alliance was very powerful.
The British now came up with a ploy.
They crowned Gauri Vallabha as the king of Sivaganggai.
They also questioned the legitimacy of the Marudhus who happened
to be AgamudaiyAr while the country belonged to a MaRavar king.
This caused a very dangerous split in the kingdom. Suddenly, the
MaRavar
suport was depleted.
With hatvere strength that they had, the Marudhus continued their
struggle in various places.
AraNmaNai SiRuvayal, the head-quarters of Chinna Marudhu was
surrounded early in the morning by Colonel Agnew, the Commander-in-chief
of the campaign.
He swore that he would only take his afternoon tea in the ruins of
the
beautiful town.
By evening it was captured and destroyed.
Colonel Agnew ordered his tea-table to be laid upon the ruins
and gloating over his newest victory, he chewed his biscuits and sipped
his tea.
Finally the Marudhus went inside the unasailable and impregnable
fort of KALaiyArkOyil and took a last stand there.
The Anglo-Nawab alliance could not find the way to the fort
through the dense forest that was surrounding it. So they started cutting
down the trees.
They had made a lot of headway when somebody betrayed the
secret passages through the dense forest.
The huge army approached the fort.
Initial attacks did not succeed because the Marudhus had
made it so very strong.
It was going to be a very long seige. Which the Birtish could not
afford. They had to have reinforcements and the logistics were immense.
Especially when the Marudhus sent their men to make hit and run tactics
and wage a war of attrition.
Finally Colonel Agnew hit upon an idea.
He built ramparts and platforms ouside the fort.
Upon these, he poised his large and powerful cannons.
They were aimed at the majestic and magnificient gOpram of
KALaiyAr KOyil.
The gopuram which had given birth to a very beautiful ballad -
a beautiful kummi, eulogising Marudhu as,
"saandhu pottu thaLathaLangga sandhana pottu gumugumungga
"marudhai koburam therindhida cheydha marudhu vaaradhaip paarunggadi" -
º¡óÐô ¦À¡ðÎ ¾Ç¾Çí¸ ºó¾Éô¦À¡ðÎ ÌÓÌÓí¸
ÁÕ¨¾ì §¸¡ÒÃõ ¦¾Ã¢ó¾¢¼î ¦ºö¾ ÁÕРšè¾ô À¡Õí¸Ê"
The Gopura which immortalised Marudhu.
Colonel Agnew issued an ultimatum to Marudhu.
That "Marudhu should come out and surrender.
Otherwise, within a specific dead-line, the cannons will open
fire upon the grand gOpuram of KALaiyArkoyil!"
Marudhu could not bear this.
The gOpuram was the apple of his eye.
So he and his supporters vacated the fort in the darkness of
the night and made their escape through a yet undiscovered route in
the forest.
But they could only escape into a hostile jungle which was being
destroyed by the people who were ordered to cut the trees from every
direction.
The Marudhus became separated when during th course of their
escape.
Food became scarce.
Overcome with exhaustion, hunger, and thirst, Periya Marudhu
was shot in the thigh by his own body-guard KaruththAn who was like son
to Marudhu.
Chinna Marudhu had died and his body was encaged in a
kiLikkUNdu - body cage and hung for display.
Periya Marudhu and all the relatives, sons and grandsons of both
the Marudhus were hung from a common gibbet in the south western
rampart of ThirupputhUr fort.
There is a detailed exchange in the archives of Agathiyar about
the way that the Marudhus were caught and executed.
Marudhu's youngest son Durai Samy SErvai and seventy one
other rebels were banished to the penitentiary colony of the
Prince of Wales Island - Penang.
After Periya Marudhu's death, his head was cut off.
The headless body was buried in a wilderness outside ThirupputhUr.
The head was buried at KALaiyArkOyil.
Just in front of the Temple of KALaiyArkOyil.
The face turned towards the grand gOpuram that Marudhu had built.
In a deathless gaze upon the magnificent edifice that had made
him immortal.
Before Periya Marudhu was hanged, he dictated his last will
and testament and asked Colonel Agnew to give his word of honour
to uphold the will by crossing his sword.
Agnew put his sword on the ground stepped over it, and took
an oath and swore to do as Marudhu had dictated in his will.
After that Periya Marudhu uttered a fierce curse invoking
Lord SivaPeruman and put the curse upon whomsoever had brought
about his downfall and tried to wrest the country which now rightfully
belonged to him. He was innocent of any sins. With those words, he
placed the hangman's noose around his neck. And then met his end.
During the life-time of Marudhu Brothers, they had done many
big and small charitable acts.
May be it would be appropriate to tell a few things here.
During the early parts of Marudhu's tenure, there seem to have
been frequent troubles. Because, more than once, we hear of Marudhu
fleeing for his life, being chased by his enemies. When Marudhu attacked
and captured Madurai fort and later on Sivaganggai itself, he would have
been at logger heads with the British and Arcot Nawab.
Then the rival claimant was also there. Gauri Vallabha's people
would certainly have put up some fight. Even after Marudhu had gained
full control of the country, Gauri's men would have always stalked him,
in order to get rid of him.
That is why we come across so many instances of Marudhu in
flight.
On one occasion, Marudhu was pursued by his enemies. He was
overcome with hunger and fatigue. He saw a humble hut. He knocked on
the door which was opened by a frail old woman. She welcomed him
inside and gave him food and water. She also sheltered him. During the
night, the area was rife with noises of people searching for Marudhu.
When anyone asked her for Marudhu, she denied having seen him.
In the morning, Marudhu took his leave. Just before he left,
he plucked a palmyra leaf from the thatched roof of the hut. He broke
off a small splinter of karuvEla thorn. Then with the thorn, he scribbled
out a donation on the leaf for the old women and gave it to her, asking
her to show it at the palace and receive her reward.
We know of hundred's of Marudhu's charities. But it certainly
would have run into thousands of such deeds. Some were big, like the
silver chariot of ArOkiya Matha Church of SarugaNi.
In his deed, Marudhu had specifically mentioned that whatever
he has donated - incised on stones or scratched with thorns or said
with word-by-mouth (kallAl vettiyadhum, muLLAl kIRiyadhum,
sollAl sonnadhum) - all these should be upheld. Nothing should be
retaken or abrogated.
Well, the British never kept their words. They went back upon
everything. Except the charities. They did not give the country back
to the descendants of Marudhu. They gave it to Gauri Vallabha.
Gauri Vallabha was around for a few years. He did not have
any royal issues. Sivaganggai was proclaimed as zamin. The king of
Sivagangai was relegated to the level of a zamindaar.
Sivaganggai passed into the hands of Gauri's relatives. Again
and again, we find zamindaars dying without any waris. Again and again
the zamin went to the hands of the relatives.
Then there were litigations between rival claimants for the zamin.
Sometime during the third quarter of the 19th century, about
sixty years after Marudhu had died, the descendants of Marudhu sued
for the zamin.
This litigation went on for sixty years. Finally, in the 1920's, it
went to the Privy Council of the British Empire. Once and for all, the
descendants of Periya Marudhu lost the case.
But the charities that the Marudhus performed lived on.
The 1801 Rebellion or Polygar Rebellion was ruthlessly put down.
Thousands were killed.
There were many who were flogged publicly.
They were taken from town to town. They would be tied in the
central sadhukkam or sandhi. Then they would be flogged. Some of them
received one hundred lashes at each time. Then they would be taken to
another town. It was repeated until the rebel died.
There was a stretch of jungle which extended from the Eastern
Ghats right up to the shores of the Palk Strait. All the jungles of
KALaiyArkOyil, KIlzanellikOttai, SiRuvayal, PirAnmalai, ThirukkuLambUr,
PAganEri, SOlzapuram, etc., were parts of this huge jungle complex.
They were cut down totally.
Sivaganggai and parts of Ramanathapuram were once thickly
wooded. They were thus denuded of such lush forests. They became
the arid semi-desert that we know today.
With the loss of flora, the fauna also died out.
Marudhu used to do tiger-hunting in those surrounding jungles.
He is known to have strangled a tiger with his bare hands. He had
smashed the head of a wild boar with a brass pot full of water.
He was that strong. He would place an Arcot Rupee on his fore-finger
and middle finger and with his thumb, he would bend it.
An Arcot Rupee is made of solid silver. It is 6 millimeters thick.
Looking at Sivaganggai, can you imagine that tigers, wild boars,
and wild buffalos were roaming around just a mere two hundred years ago?
All the fortresses were pulled down.
Madurai, ThirupputhUr, KALaiyArkOyil, and many others were
totally destroyed. I have counted 12 forts within a small radius of 14
miles.
These are what I was able discover. But what about those that I or anyone
else did not discover? If that be so, how many would have been the
real number?
All fire-arms and swords, pikes, spears, javelins, etc., were
confiscated.
Agricultural and cooking utilities were spared. Knives less than
6 inches were allowed. But if you know that area about forty years ago,
murders, gang fights, and vendettas were very common. All with the
humble and harmless agricultural and cooking utilities. Many communities
were ordered to come and sleep in specified guarded places. They had
to get permission to sleep with their wives.
Thus the British put down a once proud and valient people.
What Kannadasan sang in 'Sivaganggai Siimai' about this place is true.
I left one episode till the last......
The British killed all the male descendants of Periya Marudhu
and Chinna Marudhu together with their male relatives. Those who
survived were the descendants of the daughters of Periya Marudhu.
I said 'all male descendants', did I?
Well, all.......but one.
The youngest son of Chinna Marudhu who was adopted by
the British Company - he who was named after the Durais of the
Company - Duraisamy SErvai.
He was only 15 years old at that time.
He and 71 other rebels including pALayakArars and community
leaders were exiled.
They were put in a ship and sent to the 'Prince of Wales Island'.
This was an island that was off-shore to the coast of the Kedah Sultanate
(Ancient KadAram) of the Malay Peninsula. It was known as Pulau Pinang
(present day Penang). The British East India Company had aquired it
from the Sultan in return for protection against the powerful Kingdom
of Thailand.
The British built a fort which was named after Lord Cornwallis
who surrendered the American Colonies to George Washington.
They also enlarged and renamed a town there and called it
Georgetown after their King George III. At that time, they gave that
name to three places in three different parts of the globe - Penang,
Madras, and British Guiana.
Penang was already having its own commerce and a small
amount of pepper and betel nut trade. The British made it into a
pententiary colony. It served as such until Singapore was acquired.
Later on, the Andaman Islands took their places.
During the voyage, one-third of the rebels died. The remaining
were disembarked at Penang and left to their fate.
Colonel Welsh used to be a very friendly officer to the
Marudhus. He has written about the 1801 rebellion in his book called
'Military Reminiscences'.
He married the daughter of General Bannerman who was
involved in the PAnchAlankurichi campaign. Later on, General Bannerman
became the governor of the British Possessions in South East Asia.
His head quarters was at Penang for sometime. Colonel Welsh went
on a visit to his father-in-law's place.
In Penang, he met Duraisamy. Duraisamy was prematurely old
and was a broken down man. He asked Colonel Welsh to take a letter
home to his relatives. But Welsh refused on legal grounds.
And that, is the last we hear of Duraisamy SErvai.
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