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Veerapandiya Kattabomman!

Topic started by Manoj Kumar on Tue Sep 13 15:37:52 2005. [Full View]

Veerapandiya Kattabomman a villain !


Looking into the history and the condition during the close of 17th century, one has to wonder if Veerapandiya Kattabomman was really a national hero.

SOME UNSAID TRUTHS
1) Veerapandiya Kattabomman was not a King, but a Feudal Lord.
2) He did not fight only against the British, but he had fought against the earlier legitimate Indian Rulers also.
3) Whenever he was not at war with the central authority he was at war with other neighboring Poligars. He would often set plundering and murdering expeditions into other Poligar’s territories around his place; often to take over their villages.
4) He was not a person who treated all caste equally. He was a terror and committed acts of cruelty and oppression on the inhabitants of the other caste people residing nearby.
5) He killed more Indians than the British. Most of the Tamils he killed were ordinary peasants and traders.
6) Except for his followers, who approved him and his methods, he never did any good for the Tamil people. There was no development of the place or the people during his periods. There were no roads in existence. What are called roads were merely cross-country tracks, sometimes lined with trees. Bridges appear to have been unknown. There were no schools, except for Brahmins. Trade was unprotected, and merchant did not dare to appear to grow rich. Hospitals were unknown.
7) Kattaboma Nayaka was tried and executed on 16th October 1799. During this time the legitimate rulers were the Nawab of Carnatic . On 31st July 1801, the entire region along with Carnatic was peaceably ceded by a treaty to the British. Therefore during Kattaboma Nayaka’s time the revenue was collect by the Bristish on behalf of Nawab of Carnatic.

With all the above facts, Kattaboma Nayaka seems to be more a villain than a hero. He can’t become a hero just because he fought British. His motives were not of a national cause but his own selfish gain only to exploit the ruling authority.

I always wonder why our historians and the writer never write the history as it is. They have an inborn tendency to omit all the evil deeds committed by their so-called Indian hero and at the same time conveniently, omitting all the good deeds done by the opposing side.

They never portray the real identity or the nature of the so-called Indian hero. They just want to stress one deed without explaining the background just to make him an idol.
However, when one reads the history from other sources, one is astonished to find that most of the history we are taught is fabricated or just one sided.

TRUTH
In the year 1520, the king of Vijayanagara, Krishna Rayalu sent his Governor Visvanatha Nayaka to take over Madurai (old name Madura). The governor Viswanatha Nayaka appointed the Palaiyakaras (Poligars), many of who were the dependents and adherents of his own caste, and they were granted a tract of country consisting of certain number of villages. These Palaiyakaras (Poligars) were bound to pay a fixed annual tribute and to supply and keep in readiness a quota of troops for the governor’s armies. For fifteen generations Nayaka rulers ruled (1559 – 1736) Madurai. The Nayaka never called themselves kings of Madura. They professed to be lieutenants of the great Rayalu of Vijaya-Nagara. These Poligar’s reign record little more than a disgraceful, murders and civil commotions, relieved only by the factitious splendor of gifts to temples, idols, and priests, by means of which they apparently succeeded in getting the Brahmans and poets to speak well of them, and thus in keeping the mass of the people patient under heir misrule. Most of the time these poligars were not fighting the foreign foes but their legitimate ruler of the country.
The Poligar of Panjalamkurichi was a Nayaka of the Kambala division of the caste. Boma is a common Telugu name. Kattaboma Nayaka’s rule towards the close of the 17th century was the centre of all disloyalty and misrule. He was just another ruthless, rapacious feudal lord, who just managed the fort that was granted to him. But, he nor his ancestors were true to their given assignments. From 1748, after the commencement of the rule of the Nawab of Arcot, under the Carnatic Nizam, Kattabomma Nayaka continued his attack against them. They collected taxes and other kaval charges from the people residing there but never gave their annual revenue to their ruling authorities (Vijayanagara rulers or the Carnatic rulers). By doing so, they often fought with the central authority. It was rarely possible to collect from them the revenue due to the central authority without the display of military force. (Even earlier than British Intervention)
From his fort of Panjalamkurichi the Poligar used to sally forth at the head of his armed followers, and making incursions into Circar villages, as well as into the villages of other Poligars, sack and plunder all that came into his way, often times carrying off some of the principal inhabitants. Kattaboma Nayaka often used to make raids into the neighbouring territories, especially into the territories of the Poligar of Ettaiyapuram. He occupied Supplapuram village of Ettappan. This resulted in the enmity between the two Poligars. He often made war or committed depredations, as his local interests, or his passions lead him, upon other Poligar’s territories without any provocations.

CAN THIS MAN BE A NATIONAL OR TAMIL HERO?
JUDGE FOR YOURSELF


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