# Polygar Wars

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Indian conflict between the British East India Company and Polygars

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Polygar Wars

The **Polygar Wars** or **Palaiyakkarar Wars** were wars fought between the [Polygars](/source/Polygars) (*Palaiyakkarars*) of the former [Tirunelveli](/source/Tirunelveli) Kingdom in [Tamil Nadu](/source/Tamil_Nadu), [India](/source/India) and the [British East India Company](/source/British_East_India_Company)'s [Madras Regiment](/source/Madras_Regiment) between March 1799 to May 1802 or July 1805. The British finally won after carrying out gruelling protracted [jungle](/source/Jungle) campaigns against the Polygar armies. Many people died on both sides and the victory over the Polygars brought large parts of the territories of Tamil Nadu under British control, enabling them to get a strong hold in Southern India.

## First Polygar War

The Polygar Wars were a series of wars fought by a coalition of [Palaiyakkarar's](/source/Polygar) against the British between 1750 and 1805. The war between the British and [Puli Thevar](/source/Puli_Thevar) is often classified as the First Polygar war (1752 to 1767). The war between the British and [Kattabomman](/source/Kattabomman) Nayak of [Panchalankurichi](/source/Panchalankurichi) Palayam in the then [Tirunelveli](/source/Tirunelveli) region is the second Polygar war in history.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In 1799, a brief meeting (over pending taxes) between Kattabomman and the British ended in a bloody encounter in which the British commander of the forces was slain by the former. A price was put on Kattabomman's head prompting many Polygars to an open rebellion.

After a series of battles in the [Panchalankurichi fort](/source/Panchalankurichi_Fort) with additional reinforcements from [Tiruchirapalli](/source/Tiruchirapalli), Kattabomman was defeated, but he escaped to the jungles in [Pudukottai](/source/Pudukottai) country. He was captured by the British with the help of [Ettappan](/source/Ettappan), [Pudukottai](/source/Pudukottai) Raja after his backroom agreement with the British. After a summary trial, Kattabomman was hanged in front of the public in order to intimidate them in [Kayatharu](/source/Kayatharu).

Subramania Pillai, a close associate of Kattabomman, was also publicly hanged and his head was fixed on a pike at Panchalankurichi for public view. Soundra Pandian, another rebel leader, was brutally killed by having his head smashed against a village wall. Kattabomman's brother [Oomathurai](/source/Oomaithurai) was imprisoned in [Palayamkottai Central Prison](/source/Palayamkottai_Central_Prison) while the fort was razed to the ground and wealth looted by the troops.

## Second Polygar War

Despite the suppression of the First Polygar War in 1799, a rebellion broke out again in 1800. The Second Polygar War was more stealthy and covert in nature. The rebellion broke out when a band of Palayakkarar armies bombed the British barracks in [Coimbatore](/source/Coimbatore). In the war that followed, [Oomaithurai](/source/Oomaithurai) allied himself with [Maruthu Pandiyar](/source/Maruthu_Pandiyar) and was part of a grand alliance against the company which included [Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja](/source/Kerala_Varma_Pazhassi_Raja) of Malabar.

The Palayakarrars had artillery and a weapon manufacturing unit in [Salem](/source/Salem_District) and [Dindigul](/source/Dindigul) jungles. They also received clandestine training from the [French](/source/France) in the [Karur](/source/Karur) region.[1] [Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder](/source/Dheeran_Chinnamalai) headed the western Tamil Nadu popularly known as Kongu Nadu. The British columns were exposed throughout the operations to constant harassing attacks and had usually to cut their way through almost impenetrable jungles fired on from undercover on all sides. The Polygars resisted stubbornly and the storming of their hill-forts proved on several occasions sanguinary (involving or causing much bloodshed) work.

The British finally won after a long expensive campaign that took more than a year. The Company forces led by Lt. Colonel Agnew laid siege to the [Panchalankurichi](/source/Panchalankurichi) fort and captured it in May 1801 after a prolonged siege and artillery bombardment. Oomaithurai escaped the fall of the fort and joined Maruthu brothers at their jungle fort at Kalayar Kovil. The Company forces pursued him there and eventually captured Kalayar Kovil in October 1801. Oomaithurai and the Maruthu brothers were hanged on 16 November 1801 at Tiruppathur (Sivagangai Dist.).[2][3]

## Third Polygar War

A final Polygar War in 1847 against the British was fought by [Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy](/source/Uyyalawada_Narasimha_Reddy) at [Kovelakuntla](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kovelakuntla&action=edit&redlink=1) (Koilakuntla). He and his commander-in-chief Vadde Obanna were at the heart of a freedom movement against Company rule in India in 1847, where 5,000 Indian peasants rose up in revolt against the British East India Company in [Nandyal district](/source/Nandyal_district). The rebels were protesting against the changes introduced by the Company authorities to the traditional agrarian system in the first half of the nineteenth century. These changes include the introduction of the [ryotwari system](/source/Ryotwari_system) and other attempts to maximize revenue through exploiting lower-status cultivators through implementing exploitative working conditions. The revolt took thousands of Company soldiers to suppress, with Reddy's death bringing it to an end.

## Results

The suppression of the Polygar rebellions of 1799 and 1800-1805 resulted in the liquidation of the influence of the chieftains. Under the terms of the Carnatic Treaty (31 July 1801), the British assumed direct control over Tamil Nadu. The Polygar system which had flourished for two and a half centuries came to a violent end and the company introduced a Zamindari settlement in its place. In subsequent years, legend and folklore developed around Kattabomman, Maruthu Pandiyar and Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## See also

- [Indian rebellion of 1857](/source/Indian_rebellion_of_1857)

- [Veeran Sundaralingam](/source/Veeran_Sundaralingam)

- [Rani Velu Nachiar](/source/Rani_Velu_Nachiar)

- [Tipu Sultan](/source/Tipu_Sultan)

- [Hyder Ali](/source/Hyder_Ali)

- [Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy](/source/Uyyalawada_Narasimha_Reddy)

## Notes

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Gopal Naicker Memorial ready for inauguration"](http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3557002.ece). *The Hindu*. 22 June 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrancis1989261_2-0)** [Francis 1989](#CITEREFFrancis1989), p. 261.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDirk198819–24_3-0)** [Dirk 1988](#CITEREFDirk1988), pp. 19–24.

## References

- [Dirk, Nicholas](/source/Nicholas_Dirks) (1988), *The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom*, pp. 19–24, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-05372-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-05372-3)

- Francis, W. (1989), *Gazetteer of South India*, vol. 1, Mittal Publications, p. [261](https://books.google.com/books?id=vERnljM1uiEC&pg=PA261)

## Further reading

[https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/people/the-polygar-heroes-of-tamil-nadu](https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/people/the-polygar-heroes-of-tamil-nadu)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Polygar War](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Polygar_War).

- N. Rajendran, National Movement in Tamil Nadu, 1905-1914 - Agitational Politics and State Coercion, Madras Oxford University Press.

- M.P. Manivel, 2003 - Viduthalaipporil Virupachi Gopal Naickar (Tamil Language), New Century Book House, Chennai

- Prof. K.Rajayyan M.A., M.Litt, A.M. Ph.D., A History of Freedom Struggle in India

- Prof. K.Rajayyan M.A., M.Litt, A.M. Ph.D., South Indian Rebellion - The First War of Independence (1800–1801)

- [Welsh, James](/source/James_Welsh_(East_India_Company_officer)) (1830). ["Poligar War"](https://archive.org/stream/militaryreminisc01wels#page/51/mode/1up). [*Military Reminiscences: Extracted from a Journal of Nearly Forty Years' Active Service in the East Indies*](https://archive.org/details/militaryreminisc01wels). Vol. 1 (Two volume, 2nd ed.). Smith, Elder, and Company. pp. [81](https://archive.org/details/militaryreminisc01wels/page/81)–135.

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