வீரபாண்டிய கட்டபொம்மன் - Veerapandiya Kattabomman

Veerapandiya Kattabomman (Tamil: வீரபாண்டிய கட்டபொம்மன்; Telugu: వీరపాండ్య కట్టబోమ్ములు) also known as Kattabomman was an 18th century Palayakarrar ('Polygar') chieftain from Panchalankurichi of Tamil Nadu, India. His ancestors migrated to Tamil Nadu from areas in present day Andhra Pradesh during the Vijayanagar period. Also known as Kattabomma Naicker he was among the earliest to oppose British rule in these regions. He waged a war with the British six decades before the Indian War of Independence occurred in the Northern parts of India. He was captured and hanged in 1799 CE. His fort was destroyed and his wealth was looted by the British army. Today his native village Panchalankurichi in present day Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, India is a historically important site.

Early life

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was born to Jagaveera Kattabomman and Arumugattammal on January 4, 1760. He had two younger brothers Dalavai Kumarasami and Duraisingam. Veerapandiyan was fondly called ‘Karuthaiah’ (the black prince) and Dalavai Kumarasami was nicknamed ‘Sevathaiah’ (the white prince) and since Duraisingam was a good orator he was nicknamed ‘Oomaithurai’ meaning the dumb (speech impaired) Prince.

Ancestors

Azhagiya Veerapandiapuram (Ottapidaram of today) was ruled by Jagaveera Pandiyan. He had a minister Bommu, also a brave warrior, who had migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu during the Vijaynagar times. He was known as Gettibommulu in Telugu after the god Sastha Ayyapan Swamy to describe his strength and fighting qualities which over a period of time, became Kattabomman in Tamil. Kattabomman ascended the throne after Jagaveera Pandiyan, who had no issue, as Adi Kattabomman, the first of the clan of Kattabomman.

Panchalankurichi

Legend has it that during a hunting trip into the forests of Salikulam (close to Azhagiya Veerapandiapuram) one of the Kattabommans was amazed to see a hare chasing seven hounds. Believing that the land possessed the power to instil courage in his people, he built his fort there and named it Panchalankurichi.
On February 2, 1790, Veerapandiyan, 30, became the king of Panchalankurichi as Veera Pandia Kattabomman, supposedly the 47th ruler of the region and the 5th ruler from the Kattabomman clan and a Palya-karrar (or Polygar), of the Madurai Nayak kingdom.

Role of Palayakkarars

Following its collapse in the mid-16th century, the Tamil governors of the Vijayanagara Empire broke away from the empire and established independent kingdoms. The old Pandiya country came to be governed by Naicker rulers in Madurai, who in turn divided their territories into 72 Palayams. These 72 Palayams were franchised to Palayakarrars (Tamil word) or Polygars or Poligars (anglicised), who had to administer their territories, collect taxes, run the local judiciary, and maintain a battalion of troops on behalf of the Naicker rulers of Madurai. Their function was a mixture of military governance and civil administration.

Origins of the Dispute

The Nayak rule in Madurai which controlled the entire West Tamil Nadu after two centuries came to an abrupt end in 1736, when Chanda Sahib of Arcot seized the Madurai throne from the last queen of Madurai in an act of treason. Chanda Sahib was later killed after the Carnatic Wars and the territory came under the Nawab of Arcot. The Palayakaarars of the old Madurai country refused to recognize the new Muslim rulers driving the Nawab of Arcot to bankruptcy, indulging in lavishes like building palaces even before establishing and sustaining his authority within the region.
Finally the Nawab resorted to borrowing huge sums from the British East India Company, erupting as a scandal in the British Parliament. Eventually he gave the British the right to collect taxes and levies from the southern region in lieu of the money he had borrowed. Many of the Polygars submitted to the demands of the East India Company, with the exception of Kattabomman and a few others who formed an alliance with the Maruthu Brothers of Sivagangai.
Tamil governors of the Vijayanagara Empire broke away from the empire and established independent kingdoms

Major Events

Kattabomman refused to pay his dues and for a long time refused to meet Jackson Durai, the Collector of the East India Company. Finally, he met Jackson at Ramalinga Vilasam, the palace of Sethupathi of Ramanathapuram. The meeting turned violent and ended in a skirmish in which the Deputy Commandant of the Company’s forces, Clarke was slain. Kattabomman and his men fought their way to freedom and safety, but Thanapathi Pillai, Kattabomman’s secretary was taken prisoner.
The Commission of Enquiry that went into the incident fixed the blame on Jackson and relieved him of his post, thinking the Company’s plan to take over the entire country gradually could be marred by Jackson’s fight with Veerapandiya Kattabomman.
The new Collector of Tirunelveli wrote to Kattabomman calling him for a meeting on 16 March 1799. Kattabomman wrote back citing the extreme drought conditions for the delay in the payment of dues and also demanded that all that was robbed off him at Ramanathapuram be restored to him. The Collector wanted the ruling house of Sethupathis to prevent Kattabomman from aligning himself with the enemies of the Company and decided to attack Kattabomman.
The British also instigated his long time feuding neighbor Ettayapuram Poligar to make provocative wars over Kattabomman on their long pending territorial disputes.

War against English

Kattabomman refused to meet the Collector and a fight broke out. Under Major Bannerman, the army stood at all the four entrances of Panchalankurichi’s fort. At the southern end, Lieutenant Collins was on the attack. When the fort’s southern doors opened, Kattabomman and his forces audaciously attacked the corps stationed at the back of his fort, and slew their commander Lt. Collins.
The British after suffering heavy losses, decided to wait for reinforcements and heavy artillery from Palayamkottai. Sensing that his fort could not survive a barrage from heavy cannons, Kattabomman left the fort that night.
A price was set on Kattabomman’s head. Thanapathi Pillai and 16 others were taken prisoners. Thanapathi Pillai was executed and his head perched on a bamboo pole was displayed at Panchalankurichi to demoralise the fighters. Soundra Pandian Nayak, another rebel leader, was brutally done to death by having his head dashed against a village wall.

Kattabomman refused to pay his dues and for a long time refused to meet Jackson Durai, the Collector of the East India Company.

Capture and Sentence

Veerapandiya Kattabomman hid in so many places including Thirumayam, Virachilai and finally stayed at Kolarpatti at Rajagopala Naicker’s house where the forces surrounded the house. Kattabomman and his aides fled from there and took refuge in the Thirukalambur forests close to Pudukkottai. Bannerman ordered the Raja of Pudukkottai to arrest Kattabomman. Accordingly, Kattabomman was captured and on October 16, 1799 the case was taken up (nearly three weeks after his arrest near Pudukkottai).
After a summary trial, Kattabomman was hanged unceremoniously on a Tamarind tree in Kayathar (near Thirunelveli).
Veeran Sundaralingam was a general of the Poligar Veerapandiya Kattabomman in his fight against the British East India Company.According to a majority of the accepted historical accounts, he was killed in 1799, while fighting for Kattabomman during the First Polygar War. Another view is that he was killed in the Second Polygar War (1800-1) while assisting Kattabomman's younger brother Oomaithurai.
Some of the other noteworthy persons who were hanged along with Kattabomman were Veeraghechayan Naicker, Dali Ethalappa Naicker and Palayakarrars of Kaadalkudi, Nagalapuram Puthur, Vripachy, Sivagangai, to death by hanging on charges of treason.
Unknown Facts : Some say that Katabomman committed suicide since he did not want to get killed by the British.

Aftermath

The Fort of Panchalankurichi was razed to the ground and all of Kattabomman’s wealth was looted by the English soldiers. Few years later, after the second Polygar war, the site of the captured fort was ploughed up and sowed with castor oil and salt on the orders of the colonial government so that it should never again be inhabited.

Legend and folklore

In subsequent years, a good deal of legend and folklore developed around Kattabomman and the Marudu Brothers. Kayatharu, where Kattabomman was executed has remained a place of political pilgrimage.
In his Tinnevelly Gazetteer of 1917, H. R. Pate notes the presence, in Kayatharu, of "a great pile of stones of all sizes, which represents the accumulated offerings by wayfarers of the past hundred years. Folk songs recalling the heroism of the Poligar leaders remain alive in Tamil Nadu to this day..."
The popular Tamil slang for a traitor or committing treason is Ettapa or Ettapan, courtesy the Ettayapuram Polygar whom the British later conferred the title of Raja. But it is disputed whether Ettapan ever committed a treason at all because Kattabomman was arrested by the King of Pudukottai. The Campa Cola ground in Chennai belongs/belonged to Ettappan family. Lately, there is an outcry over unfair portrayal of Ettappan in the film Kattabomman in which actor Sivaji Ganesan gave a great performance. It seems that Ma.Po.Si(Ma.Po.Sivanyanam) who wrote the dialogues for the film had some misunderstanding with the Ettappan family.

Honor and Monuments

Kattabomman memorial at Kayathar

Postage stamp released in bicentennial honour of Kattabomman's hanging

Kattabomman's story is celebrated in many legends and epic poetry in Tamil. Kattabomman is today recognised by the government as one of the earliest independence fighters opposing the British.

• In 1974, the Government of Tamil Nadu constructed a new Memorial fort. The Memorial Hall has beautiful paintings on the walls depicting the heroic deeds of the saga which gives a good idea about the history of the period. A cemetery of British soldiers are also seen near the fort.
• The remnants of the old fort are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
• At Kayathar, near Tirunelveli on the present day NH7, the place where he was hanged, there is another memorial for Kattabomman.^[2]
• To commemorate the bicentenary on 16 October 1799 of Kattabomman’s hanging, the Government of India brought out a postal stamp in his honour.^[3]
• India's premier communication nerve centre of the Indian Navy, at Vijayanarayanam, about 40 km from here, is named as INS Kattabomman.^[4]
• Till 1997, the state transport buses of Tirunelveli District was named Kattabomman Transport Corporation.
• Veerapandia Kattabomman Panpattu Kazhagam (Veerapandia Kattabomman Cultural association) is an organisation named in his honour.
• The district administration celebrates `Veerapandia Kattabomman festival' at Panchalankurichi on his anniversaries.^[5]

Movie

Main article: Veerapandiya Kattabomman (film)

Much of the modern currency of the legend comes from the 1959 motion picture starring Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan in lead role portraying the life of Veerapandiya Kattabomman. The Movie was directed by B.R. Panthulu and Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan got a wide international recognition and earned many international awards for his epic performance and this particular film is one of the most remembered in his 45 years of filmdom. The film received ubiquitously positive reviews and adjudged the best film at the Cairo International Film Festival and Sivaji received the prize for best actor from Col. Nasser, the then president of Egypt.