Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja a King

 Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja a  King

Kerala Varma, Pazhassi Raja, also referred to as Coyote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, one of the earliest freedom fighters of India, much before the 1857 Mutiny. Also called the Lion of Kerala, one of the fiercest warriors ever encountered on the battlefield. Born in the lush, green, hilly ranges of Malabar, Pazhassi Raja knew the terrain like the back of his hand, and spent time, mobilizing the people there against the invaders, first the Mysore kingdom and later the British. When one looks at Pazhassi Raja’s history of resistance, it can be broadly be divided into three phases, the first one against Hyder Ali from 1773-82, then against Tipu Sultan from 1784 to 1793 and finally the British till his death in 1805.
On 18th March 1797, in one of the biggest setbacks to the British till then a contingent of 1100 army men under Major Cameron came under a surprise ambush by Pazhassi's men. The attack was so brutal, that the British force was decimated, leaving only a few alive. It is said that between 1793 and 1797, 1,000 British soldiers and 3,000 British-employed native sepoys were killed by Pazhassi’s men.
Even under the command of Wellesley, the British remained unsuccessful in taming the revolt or capturing Pazhassi.

By 1804 when Wellesley who had defeated the Marathas a year earlier went back to England, failing to capture Pazhassi. It is said that in his despatches, Wellesley had remarked “We are not fighting 1000 men… but one man … Kerala Varma.”

Pazhassi finally fell to treachery, on November 30, 1805, when a Chetti who found out the location of their camp leaked it to Thomas Hervey Baber, who was the then Sub-Collector.
The Lion Who Never Bowed, the Pride of Kerala and the Valiant Defender. These are some of the ways that people fondly recall the great Kerala Varma Pazahssi Raja of the Kottayam royal dynasty. His employment of guerrilla warfare to thwart the invading British is part of folklore. His unwillingness to abandon his people, unheard among monarchs of the time, is still proudly remembered. He would meet his end in 1805, in the dense forests of Wayanad, where he made his last stand. The British were given a terse reminder of the prowess and will power of God's Own Country at the hands of one of its bravest sons
Along the banks of Kabini River in Mananthavady, the remains of a forgotten king, whose series of exploits against the British East India Company is quite literally the stuff legends are made of, lie in alone memorial.

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a name that seldom finds a place in the history books which throw light on the saga of the Indian struggle for independence—his heroic struggles against the British were never venerated or celebrated beyond the peripheries of Kerala.

But for the people in the state, the 18th-century warrior king continues to remain a revered hero, and his stories of valor and indomitable spirit are what most Malayali children have grown up listening to.