The Untold Past

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (1753-1805) also known as Kerala Simham or the lion of Kerala, for his bravery and resistance exhibited against the English East India Company.He was a warrior Hindu prince of Kottayam.He was highly qualified in the field of martial arts especially in Kalaripayattu and possessed extraordinary fighting skills.He was the successor of his uncle Vira Varma.He took over the throne to replace his uncle who had fled to political asylum in Kallara near Vaikom fearing the invasion of Hyder Ali, who was the father of Tipu Sultan of Mysore.Pazhassi Raja was the only king who remained in Kottayam to protect his subjects, to fight and resist the invasion of Hyder Ali.Except him all the kings had fled to other kingdoms seeking asylum fearing the invasion of Hyder Ali.Pazhassiraja fought a war of resistance with Hyder Ali and defeated him to regain the kingdom of Kottayam.On account of his refusal to leave Kottayam and due to his effective resistance to Mysoreans, he gained...

Before independence Kerala was not a single state, instead it was a collection of mainly three royal Kingdoms which were referred to as Princely States by the British.Each of the three kingdoms were ruled by the respective kings on a hereditary basis and followed the system of absolute monarchy.The kingdoms were Travancore, Cochin and Malabar.All the three kingdoms belonged to the Chera dynasty which established rule in Kerala many years back.Travancore was considered to be the most prosperous kingdom, it was also the oldest kingdom of Kerala with vast amount of land and wealth.Cochin was the tradecentre of Kerala with trade and commerce taking place around the world.Ports and markets flourished on the shores of Cochin.Spices and other goods were exported in large numbers to European countries.Pepper was the most expensive spice which had high demand and price through which it was referred as the black gold by the Europeans. Malabar was the kingdom under the Zamorin rule.Traders such a...