Kalakkad is a Panchayat town in
Tirunelveli district. The town is centerd
on the Sathya Vageeswarar Temple. Kalakkad was a scene of frequent struggles during
1750s ~ but have we ever read anything
on this place in our History books ? – in schools ?? - there
were battles of : Nelkattumseval, Kalakkadu, siege of Srivilliputhur,
Tirunelveli, Settur, Vasudevanallur and more !
Indian history was written by the
British and distorted by Red orientation.
We have read a lot in schools about the Battle of Plassey in which British East India Company scored a decisive
victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The
battle consolidated the Company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to
cover much of India over the next hundred years. The battle took place at Palashi on the banks
of the Hooghly River, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Calcutta and south
of Murshidabad, then capital of Bengal (now in Nadia district in West Bengal). Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander
in chief of the Nawab's army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of
Bengal. He defeated the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta.
We read
in our books ‘the uprising of 1857’ not as a National movement, not as a
freedom struggle but as sepoy mutiny, an uprising by a group of soldiers. Perhaps sons of cow belt soil would remember
the movie - Mangal Pandey - The Rising
(The Rising - Ballad Of Mangal Pandey)
and the hero of the movie. Mangal
Pandey, the great hero was a Bengali
soldier of the 34th Native
Infantry. He was arrested, sentenced to
jail and a military court sentenced him to death. They set the execution date to April 18th
but they killed Mangal Pandey on April 8
because the Britishers didn’t want to wait too long. Mangal Pandey was certainly the man who
ignited freedom fighter and became the martyr
of the 1st War of
Independence. The Doctrine of Lapse, issue of cartridges greased with animal
fat to Indian soldiers – most of whom were vegetarians (cartridge wicks had to
be plucked out with the teeth before hurling them), introduction of British
system of education and a number of social reforms had infuriated a wide
section of the Indian population who rose in revolt all over the country.
.. .. .. he was not
the first man though, and Uprising – the National struggle of 1857 was not the
first fight against British East India Company.
Down under, we have read about the exploit of Poligars (Nayakars) – the name
and exploits became legendary more because of the 1959 tamil film “Veerapandiya
Kattabomman” written by Sakthi T. K.
Krishnasamy and directed by B. R. Panthulu. Everybody aspiring to become an
actor would try to repeat those immortal dialogues uttered by Sivaji Ganesan. There have been many rulers in this part of
land, around the 15th century
it was Pandyan dynasty, then Nayakas, as
the Vijayanagara Telugus were called. Madura was fortified Nayakas; the
constitution of the Polygars, ancestors of
present Zemindars of Tinnevelly and Madura, is assigned by tradition to
Visvanatha Nayaka, and was by far the most important political event of the
time. There were Maravars and Thevars
who fought for freedom.
On this day 303
years ago (1st Sept 1715) was born “Puli thevar”. Nelkatum Seval was the headquarters of Puli
thevar, the first Chieftain in India to resist the British. Nelkatum seval is
chiefly memorable as having been in the eighteenth century strong hold of the
redoubtable Puli Thevar, who figured for many years as a leader against the
troops of the Nawab and the company. “Nelkattum Serval” literally translates to
“Rice tribute paying place”, but after its ruler Puli Thevan’s successful
attempts, the name changed to nel kattan serval (“place which would not pay
rice as tax)
Pulithevan is
regarded as the first ruler in Indian history, who sowed the seed, by his
gallant resistance, to expel from his nature land even before the 1806 revolt
of Vellore and Sepoy mutiny in 1857. Puli thevar was an illustrious ruler in the chequered
history of Palayakarars. As Puli
Thevar refused the British demand for the payment of fief as an acceptance of
their lordship over him, they launched an attack on Thevar. Puli Thevar’s
informant in the British camp, the interpreter of Heron, sent him news that the
British were short on supplies and did not have much heavy artillery. Hearing
this Thevar decided to hold the British attack further. There were so many
battles involving Pulithevan and the ones read at the start of the post were
the battles fought by him.
Understanding fully
well that the British would not back down and would come back to attack his
people again, Puli Thevar sent one of his generals to Travancore to win over
the support of Maharaja Marathanda Varma who was the regent of Travancore. The
general managed to convince His Majesty to support the Poligar confederacy lead
by Puli Thevar and returned back with 4000 troops. The name Puli in Tamil means a Tiger, and this
brave devotee of Mahadeva was one who lived to his name. Unmatched in skill of
warfare, understanding of politics and full of fire this man was born to be a
rebel. Not a rebel without cause, rather a rebel against Adharma.
Today we remember this
fighter and salute those innumerable warriors but for whom, we would not be
enjoying the fruits of freedom
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
1st Sept
2018.
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