Marthanda Varma - The lion among lambs.

Marthanda Varma
  Born: 1706 Died: 1758

The kings of the Travancore dynasty were invariably pious god fearing and innocent,But this one was different who could get in to the den of any lion and offer a challenge. Well versed in martial arts he rose to the status of a jack of all games. In administration tactics and strategies he matched Chanakya and in sky high ambition he nurtured, could match Alexander the great. By any means this king stands as a towering personality and his heroic deeds crown the pages of Kerala history.

His full official name was “Shree Padmanabadasa Vanchipala Marthanda Varma  Kulasekharapperumal”. Born on 1723 and crowned as the king of Travancore on 1729 at the age of 23. He had that quality what the generations of other kings of Kerala dynasty lacked, the ‘killer instinct”. Marthanda Varma was terror personified for his opponents, while a model king for the country and the people.

At that time the land was divided in separate fiefdoms controlled by feudal lords. The eight families which controlled major portion of the country with feudal rights never heeded the advices of the pious kings. They continued to torture the people with hefty taxation and all other misdeeds. Same time they were also engaged in plotting against the dynasty. The former kings as well as well as the members of the royal families lived in perpetual fear of these formidable foes numbering eight! (They were known as the “Ettuveettil Pillamar”) and their cronies.

Ammachi plavu (Mother jackfruit tree) in his teen ages Marthanda Varma was chased by these cronies of the conspirators and he had to escape from them by hiding in a big pothole in a jackfruit tree. This tree stood at the premises of the Sri Krishna temple at Neyyattinkara was live until recent times. People treated as a divine tree which saved the life of their beloved king. They named the tree as “Ammatchi plavu”, giving the tree the status of mother.

At the time of his taking over the reign, the economy was in shambles, army was obsolete and internal strife was rampant. As per the agreement reached between his uncles Ramavarma three thousand Rupees were to be paid to the king of Trichinapally as royalty. There was not even money to pay for the soldiers, and they became rebellious. Some soldiers captured his minister and kept him captive. Marthanda Varma who never stooped before threats, he did not choose to negotiate with the captors, but sent an army and released him by force. This was perhaps the first challenge he had successfully overcome.

Marthanda Varma inherited the throne from king Ramavarma his uncle as per the traditions existed. The two sons (Pappu thambi and Raman thambi)of the former king were angered at this and they were up in arms against the king from the very beginning. They conspired with the feudal land lords to eliminate the king. They approached the Pandya king of Trichinapally and complained that the king has illegitimately occupied the throne which was due to them. The Pandya king who also had scores to settle (as the royalty due to him was overdue) sent an army (under Alagappa Muthaliar) to Travancore. The master strategist in Marthanda Varma was able to convince the chief of the army about the legitimacy of him in occupying the throne. Relevant records also were produced to substantiate his arguments.

That was a time Marthanda Varma had just begun his career and a war with the Pandya king was not desirable at that time. So the master strategist in him chose the route of convincing the Muthaliyar- the chief- using documents with liberal dose icing in the form of generous gifts! As per the agreement reached with the chief he earned a portion of the army brought by the chief (a battalion of cavalry and two battalions of infantry) belonged to the Pandya king. This was sufficient for the occasion to intimidate the ever plotting feudal land lords.

As peace returned to the country he could concentrate his attention in building the nation. The renovation of Sri Padmanabha temple was done at this time in 1731A.D. The king was busy in building roads, markets, irrigation systems and dams (Ponmana and Puthen dams) The attention he paid in building infrastructure for agriculture, trade and commerce were examples for his farsightedness. The army he acquired from the Pandya king was used to train a good set of soldiers for him (Nairs and Maravar soldiers). One of the wisest things he did was to organise a good and efficient spy network. This network leaked to him the plots hatched by the feudal lords.

He took timely and brutal actions against the culprits sending right signals to the opponents that the king meant business. The message was loud and clear “don’t meddle with me”. Some of the feudal lords failed to sense it had to pay for it. One day while Marthanda Varma was relaxing at Nagercoil palace Pappu thambi and Ramanthambi tried to sneak in to the palace. The smart king who was aware of the plots was prepared. Papputhambi was killed by the guards at the entrance itself. The other one stormed in to the king’s room, tried to cut the king with his sword, but the sword struck on the ceiling of the room. The king sprang on him and sent his personal knife straight in to Ramanthambi’s heart (this incidence took place on 1733 AD.

Marthanda Varma did not spare the well wishers of Thamhi brothers, who flocked knowing the tragedy, occurred to them. The king was no weakling to forget and forgive. All the conspirators (totaling 42 in numbers) including the Ettuveettil Pllays were hanged in public. Their houses were dismantled and the materials recovered taken to Trivandrum and utilized it for building purposes, their women were given as gift to poor fisher folks!! The long history of revenges and plotting against the dynasty thus came to a decisive and tragic end.

Marthanda Varma “a war machine” as he was, never wanted to rest on the oars; his next aim was to expand the territories of his country. The Kollam dynasty (at that time known as the Desinganad dynasty) which was just north to his country was his next target. When surrounded by the Marthanda Varma’s army the Kollam king signed everything as directed and surrendered before him. The king of Kayamkulam was made of sterner stuff; he offered a stiff challenge stiffer than Varma thought! As the war was got prolonged, the king of Kayamkulam took over as chief of army and jumped in to the battle field on horseback. In the ongoing fight the king was shot at by a soldier and he fell dead.

Kayamkulam did not succumb with the fall of the king, the king’s brother took over charge and morale of the Kayamkulam army was restored. As casualties on both sides mounted Marthanda Varma had to retreat to Trivandrum. The failure of Varma was celebration to the mini kings of Kollam Kayamkulam Changanchery etc, As they viewed a rising monster in Marthanda Varma. They formed an alliance with the king of Kochi. Mr. Ramayyan the chief who led the Varma’s army, proceeded to Thirunelveli acquired reinforcements (both infantry and cavalry) under Ponnan Devan Pandyan, then came back after negotiations a new strategy was formed. Ramayyan took over charge as chief of army and took on Kayamkulam with renewed vigour.

The second battle was rather prolonged and final victory was that of Ramayyan, he entered in to Kayamkulam as a victorious general. Thereafter a lot provinces were added to Travancore during 1734 AD.(Chengotta, Kalakkad, Kerakkudi, Valliyoor etc. By this time the Dutch who had business as well as political interests in Kochi, Kayamkulam, Travancore etc. smelled a potential foe in Varma and they tried to correct the king in political matters. King’s reply to the letter sent by Mr. M. A. Matton read as follows “The Travancore government has always done much for the promotion of business with the Dutch, and I regret to inform that Your interference in political matters is unwelcome” 1737 AD, Sri. Ramayyan was promoted to the post of Prime minister with the deaths of Arumugham pillay and Thanupillay (his younger brother, who also died after a short spell). The war machine’s next plan was to launch a greater war on Kayamkulam, As Kayamkulam was emboldened by the support of the Dutch. The Dutch irked by the provocating letter by Marthanda Varma  who asked them to mind “Your business”.

The Kulatchal War.August 10, 1741.

Marthanda Varma ’s next target was Elayidathu swaroopam, a small kingdom where after the death of the ruling king the Dutch sponsored a lady to wear the crown. (This action was against the wish of Marthanda Varma ). The queen fled along with the Dutch securities to Kochi and sought asylum under Van Imholf.(the Dutch governor of that time) By this time a battalion of Dutch army sent from Ceylon (the present Sri Lanka) landed at Kulatchal beach and started looting houses and markets, they even attacked a small contingent of army belonging to Marthanda Varma . Emboldened by the initial successes the Dutch army captured lands ranging from Kulatchal to Kottar, and planned to attack Thiruvananthapuram.