Long before 1857, a king from the hills of northern Malabar fought the British East India Company to a standstill for over a decade. Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja — remembered as “Kerala Simham”, the Lion of Kerala — is counted among the earliest of India’s freedom fighters, and the war he waged was the longest the Company ever fought on the subcontinent.
How the war began
Pazhassi Raja (1753–1805) was the de facto head of the Kottayam (Pazhassi) royal house of North Malabar, in the Kannur region. When Tipu Sultan ceded Malabar to the British in 1792, the Company took over the right to collect revenue — and its harsh tax demands and disregard for the local rajas set Pazhassi against them. What followed, from 1793, became known as the Cotiote War (the Kottayam War): a series of struggles that ran, on and off, for some thirteen years — longer than any of the Company’s wars against Mysore, the Marathas or the Sikhs.
A guerrilla war from the forest
Pazhassi Raja did not fight pitched battles he could not win. He melted into the forests of Wayanad and the Aralam hills and fought a guerrilla war, striking and vanishing. Crucially, he did it with the people of the land: the Kurichiya and Kurumba hill tribes, whose archers became famous for their deadly accuracy, and an aggrieved peasantry who gave the revolt the character of an agrarian uprising. Company regiments sent against him suffered appalling losses over the years of jungle warfare.
Mavila Thodu, 1805
In the end the Company hunted him down. On 30 November 1805, encircled by British forces, Pazhassi Raja was killed in a gunfight at Mavila Thodu, a stream near Pulpally in Wayanad. He was about 52. His long resistance has kept his name alive across Malabar ever since — in the Pazhassi Dam near Mattannur named for him, in memorials, and in film and story as the king who would not submit.
- Pazhassi Dam near Mattannur (about 33 km from Kannur city) carries his name and has a garden and boating.
- The Pazhassi Raja Museum near Kozhikode and memorials in Wayanad hold relics and tell the wider story.
- The forests of Aralam and Wayanad, where he fought, are today wildlife country — a very different kind of visit.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Pazhassi Raja?
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (1753–1805) was the de facto ruler of the Kottayam (Pazhassi) royal house of North Malabar, near Kannur. Called “Kerala Simham” (Lion of Kerala), he led a long guerrilla resistance against the British East India Company and is regarded as one of India’s earliest freedom fighters.
What was the Cotiote War?
The Cotiote (Kottayam) War was the series of struggles between Pazhassi Raja and the East India Company, roughly 1793–1806. Lasting about thirteen years, it was the longest war the Company fought in India, waged largely as guerrilla warfare from the Wayanad and Aralam forests.
How did Pazhassi Raja die?
He was killed on 30 November 1805 in a gunfight with British forces at Mavila Thodu, a stream near Pulpally in Wayanad, after being encircled at the end of his long insurgency.