THE Travancore State Manual BY V. NAGAM AIYA, B. A., F. R. Hist. S.. Dewan Peishcar, Travancore. The Tampi Insurrection. 905 m. e. (1730 a. d.). The lat^ Maharajah had left two sons known as Kunju Tampis alias Pappa Tampi and Baman Tampi. Taking advantage of the disorganised state of the country and at the instigation of the wicked insurgents, the EttO* vittil Pillamars or heads of eight houses, the Madampimars (petty chiefs) and the Yogakkars already referred to, the Tampis secretly repaired 1|Q Trichinopoly in 1729 a. d., with a view to secure the help of the Pandyan Governor there in order to defy the authority of the young Bajah. On- their arrival at Trichinopoly, they were welcomed by the Governor with all honours due to the sons of the Maharajah. They told him that tbp young King of Travancore was a usurper, that he had no respect for thf Pandyan Chief and that the dismissal of the contingent and non-payment of the tribute were only preliminaries to an invasion of the Pandyao Kingdom itself. They further told him that, as sons of the late Maharajah, they were according to the principles of natural justice the proper heirs to their fathers throne, and that the new tyrant besides dispossessing them of this right had even denied them the bare means of a decent living. The Governor who was already exasperated against the Maharajah for his having disbanded the Trichinopoly contingent, espoused their cause with avidity and deputed one of his officers, Alagappa Mudaliar by name Vl.] Modern History — Martanda Varma. dS5 with a small force to enquire into the claims of the rival parties and to install Pappn Tampi the elder son on his fathers throne. Pappu Tampi was much gratified and in return promised to bear all the expenses of the undertaking and to pay a large tribute when he was placed on the throne. For a time, everything seemed bright and prosperous to the Tampis dream. The army arrived at Udayagiri and encamped at Puliakurichi. The Mudaliar called upon the Maharajah to explain his conduct. Palace Bayasom Bama lyen and Narayana lyen were thereupon deputed to negoti- ate with the Mudaliar and acquaint him with the law of inheritance obtain- ing on this coast. They discussed the question as instructed and con- vinced the Mudaliar that in the Boyal family of Travancore succession was in the female line, that the nephews inherit the uncles property, that the kings marry from families inferior to themselves in point of caste, that the sons begotten of such union have therefore no title of succession to the throne and that a liberal provision is always made from the State funds for their maintenance in comfort and dignity. The Mudaliar having heard them and satisfied himself from independent enquiries, dis- missed the claims of the Tampis as utterly false, reprimanded them severely for their conduct and advised them to be loyal and faithful to their fathers nephew and their own rightful sovereign. The Maharajah sent suitable presents to the Mudaliar who at once left the country quite pleased, leaving behind him half of his force to help the Maharajah against his refractory subjects. The Maharajah, however, still apprehended fresh outbreaks from the disloyal Tampis and their wicked confederates and therefore organised several new regiments of Maravas equipped with fire-arras and constructed forts at all important strategic points. The just decision of the Mudaliar, the retention of a portion of the Trichino- poly force, the new fortifications, the raising of the additional regiments and the mobilisation of the forces throughout the country struck awe into the hearts of the rebellious Tampis and the confederate chieftains, and secured peace to the Maharajah and his subjects. For a long time there- after, the insurgents did not make any attempts to recover their lost ground. The King then ordered the building anew of the temple of Sri Pad* manabhaswamy, his family deity, himself personally supervising the work. The image of the God was remade and 12,000 Saligramams were put into the idol itself. The front mantapam of the inner shrine known as Otfakkal mantapam was built in 1730 a. d., with one huge slab of stone, 20 feet square and 2J feet thick, brought from the Tirumala hill three miles from the capital (Trivandruni). The next thing d36 Travancore Manual. [Chap^ that engaged the attention of the Maharajah was the improvement of the irrigation system of Nanjanad and two important dams of irrigation work, viz., the Ponmana dam and the Puthenar dam were constructed. The construction of the dams was personally superintended by His Highness himself and the people still fondly point to the hole made in the rock on which the Maharajah sat as the one in which a huge cadjan um- brella was fixed, thus saving to the Dam Works the labour of one servant who was to hold on His Highness the umbrella. The present writer has himself seen the hole in the rock at Puthen Anai in which the Maha- rajahs umbrella is said to have been fixed. The Puthenar dam besides supplying water for irrigation purposes, supplied also good drinking water to the inhabitants of Padmanabhapuram, the Maharajahs capital. Mftny public roads were opene.l and markets and thoroughfares were established. The rules of revenue procedm-e were improved ; the power of the Yogak- kars was broken and the supreme authority over the Sri Padmanabha- swamy temple virtually i)a9sed into the bauds of the Maharajali. Thus within two years, various reforms were introduced in all the departments of the State. The Ettuvittil Pillamars. The discomfiture of the Tampis only quieted the Ettuvittil Pillamars for a time. Their rebellious spirit was scotched, nob extinguished. The new reforms and the popularity of the Maharajah roused their hate against him more than ever and they therefore resolved to put an end to the sovereignty of Martanda Varma once for all. A conference was held by them in the niantapam of the Venganur Ambalam, an inn about seven miles south of Trivandrum. They there unanimously resolved to assassinate the King during his procession to the sea-beach on the next A urat day. This resolution was committed to writing in cadjan olas and secretly circulated amongst their friends and adherents, — the ola-chits themselves being carried in the shppers of the messengers. The Maharajah duly came to know of these proceedings. An old and faithful Pandaram — the keeper of the well attached to the inn (Ambalam) — ^having overheard the resolutions of the conspirators at the Yengannr meeting brought accurate news of tlie conspii-acy to Bama lyen who acquainted the Maharajah of the same. Detectives were employed to intercept the cadjan letters carried by the messengers to the conspirators. Two such messengers were seized with the oZa.s containing copies of the resolution in their slippers. They were closely imprisoned in the palace and the news was kept very secret. The intercepting of the conspiracy letters was not known to the rebels. They were anxiously looking forward to the Aurat day of the Panguni Ootsavam (festival) for the execution of their plans. With the approach of the festival in the Padmanabhaswamy temple, the rebel chieftains and their retinues flocked in large numbers to Tri- vandrum. When the procession itself started from the temple, the King walked boldly in front of Padmanabha*s image with the State sword in hand. He was escorted by an unusually strong body of troops whose disposition told the rebels clearly what tlie Maliarajah meant. Thus outwitted and cowed down, the rebel chiefs meekly escorted the idol to the sea-beach and back again to the temple tiying their best not to look foolish in the discovery of their plot and their own ignominious dis- comfiture. A few months later the Maharajah toured down to Nagercoil and there in consultation with his minister determined upon the extirpation of the refractory Pillamars of the eight houses. Secret orders were issued to the mihtary to simultaneously arrest all the rebel chieftains at a given signal. Horsemen were posted between Nagercoil and Trivandrum for carrying out the order. During these preparations Pappu Tampi came one morning to the palace to pay his respects to the Maharajah. The guards on duty had been specially instructed not to let him in but to resist him by force if he should attempt a forcible entry. The sons of kings had the privilege of paying respects to their fathers heir and successor without the formality of a previous announcement, and in accordance with that privilege, Pappu Tampi that morning walked straight up the stairs. But the sentries on guard stopped him which incensed him and he, in order to avenge the insult offered, drew his sword ; but before he could strike, he was mortally wounded by another sentry from behind. The younger Tampi who was witnessing the whole scene from behind immediately rushed upstairs to revenge himself upon the King seated on his swinging cot and struck him ; but the blow missed its aim, the sword hitting against the low beam of the roof which gave the King time to recover himself from the shock, and being a clever swordsman and a well-built soldier he disarmed the Tampi, threw him down and sitting on his chest, plunged his Persian dagger into his heart and lifting the dead body, threw it over the window amidst the assembled crowd below. The few followers of the Tampi who stood outside the palace took to their heels as soon as they saw the fate of their master. Orders were immediately issued for the arrest of all the rebels, troops were speedily sent to Trivandrum and in a few hours the Pilla- mars were seized and bound in chains. They were duly brought to Nagercoil and ushered into the Kings presence. The two mesadil{6ffi who had been closely imprisoned in the palace were then ptoduced. The olas were read to them. The rebels admitted their crime, the weaker among them craved for mercy. The King was too noble to be blinded by any spirit of vindictiveness but ordered a judicial enquiry iakO the conspiracy after which judgment was duly pronounced with thi following result. The four Pottis among the conspirators were to bd banished the land, the other rebels were to suffer immediate deaths and their properties were to be confiscated to the State. Their women and children were to be sold to the fishermen of the coast as slaves. The Edathura Fotti and the Pandarams (Elampallur Pandaram end Edathura l^andaram) were driven out of the country. The execution of the rebels took place at the MuJihuniantapam (Cutchery) at Padma- nabhapuram. The houses of the Ettuvittil Pillamars were forthwith razed to tlie ground and with the materials thereof the magnificient pile of buildings known as Ramananiatam and the Tevarathukoikal at Trivandrum were constructed. Thus ended the long tale of crime and bloodshed committed by the lawless band of Ettuvittil Pillamars and Madampimars who molested the land for a period of two centuries and more. Ministerial changes. Arumukam Pillai the minister died in 911 M. B. (1736 A. D.). His brother who succeeded liim died within a year after. In 912 M. E., Rama lyen was appointed Dalawa. The King was now at the head of a prosperous kingdom and a powerful army. With so capabltf a counsellor as Rama lyen at his back, he set his heart upon extending his dominion northwards. 838 Travancoke Manual. [CflAP.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:07:36 +0000
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