Marthanda Varma

This article is about the ruler of Hindu feudal kingdom of Travancore (Venad) from 1729 to 1758. For other uses, see Marthanda Varma (disambiguation).

Marthanda Varma
Reign	1729–1758
Born	1706
Died	1758
Occupation	King (Maharaja) of the Kingdom of Travancore (Venad)
Religion	Hinduism

Marthanda Varma (Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma) (Malayalam: മാര്‍ത്താണ്ഡ വര്‍മ്മ Marttanda Varma), (1706–1758) was the founder of the Indian Hindu feudal kingdom of Travancore from Venad Swaroopam^[1]He ruled from 1729 till his death in 1758, having succeeded his maternal uncle Dharma Raja.

King Marthanda Varma is usually credited as the "founder of Kingdom of Travancore" from the feudal kingdom of Venad. The rulers of Venad trace their relations back to the Ay kingdom and the Later Chera kingdom. Marthanda Varma crowned in his twenties, successfully suppressed the feudal lords, defeated the local kingdoms of Attingal, Kollam (Desinganad), Kayamkulam, Kottarakara (Ilayidathu Swaroopam), Pandalam, Ambalapuzha, Kottayam, Changanassery, Meenachil, Karappuram, and Alangad and fought numerous battles against the Dutch and the kingdom of Cochin with the help of the British East India Company. In the famous Battle of Colachel (1741), Marthanda Varma's army defeated the Dutch East India Company, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Malabar. In this battle, Marthanda Varma captured the Flemish admiral of the VOC Eustachius De Lannoy who would later modernize the Travancore army by introducing better firearms and artillery. This battle in the Travancore-Dutch War (1739–1753) is considered the earliest example of an organized Asian power overcoming European military technology and tactics; and it signaled the decline of Dutch power in India. He was also successful in defeating the Zamorin of Calicut in a battle at Purakkad. Ramayyan Dalawa, the Prime Minister (1737–1756) of Marthanda Varma, also played an important role in this consolidation and expansion.

Early life

Marthanda Varma was born in 1706^[2] as the son of the Junior Rani of Attingal (the queens of Travancore were styled as the Ranis of Attingal) whose entire family, including herself, a sister who died, and two brothers including the said Rajah Rama Varma had been adopted by Umayamma Rani of Venad on the failure of heirs in the Venad Royal house from Kolathunaad or Ezhimala Hill kingdom of North Kerala. Kolathiris founded the Attingal Matriarchal dynasty in 1314 AD replacing the southern Nair dynasty after the reign of Udayamarthandavarma, king of Venad. Travancore at this time was known as Venad and was a very small principality extending from Attingal in the north till Kanyakumari, the southern-most tip of the Indian sub continent. Within this small kingdom the power of the king was only nominal due to the power of the nobles known as Madampis, chief among them being the Ettuveetil Pillamar or the Lords of the Eight Houses. The powers of the ruler were also to a great extent curbed by the power of the Ettara Yogam, the Managing committee of the great Pagoda of Padmanabhaswamy in Trivandrum. The Ettuveetil Pillamar and Ettara Yogam play an important role in the history of Travancore and were responsible, as per legend, for the murder of Rajah Aditya Varma in the previous century, the murder of five sons of Rani Umayamma and other similar crimes, all committed in a bid to extirpate the Travancore Royal House. It was into these conditions, where the sovereign was powerless under the refractory nobles of the state that Marthanda Varma was born in 1706.

Coming to power

Marthanda Varma, from his formative years was an intelligent prince and it was on his advice in 1726 that Rajah Rama Varma signed a treaty with the Madurai Nayaks and secured a foreign force in the country to check the activities of the Ettuveetil Pillamar and other rebellious chieftains. Previously he had also signed a treaty with the English, styling himself as the "Prince of Neyatinkara" in 1723. This incurred the wrath of the Eight Lords and thus they bent upon murdering the prince. The result was that Marthanda Varma had to flee the capital for the safety of the northern states such as Kottarakara, Kayamkulam etc. where he lived in difficulty for many years, travelling from one place to another to escape his enemies.

Military career

Marthanda Varma was not only a shrewd tactician and king but an able general as well. In his military conquests he was ably assisted by Ramayyan Dalawa, later his Prime Minister. In 1731 Quilon or Kollam, which was ruled by a branch of the Venad family was defeated and the last King was made to sign a document allowing the annexation of his kingdom by Marthanda Varma after his death. Till then Quilon was to be a Venad tributary. Marthanda Varma next turned his attention towards Kayamkulam, another related family, which allying itself with the Quilon family tried to prevent the growth of Venad. In 1734, several battles were fought against Kayamkulam and Quilon without any decisive effect. In the final battle of that year the Rajah of Kayamkulam was killed and succeeded by his brother who soon sued for peace and hostilities were ended for the moment. Marthanda Varma then, in 1734, annexed the Elayadath Swaroopam or the Kottarakara kingdom, ruled by another related Queen who was pensioned off. In the same year,the Quilon Rajah died and Kayamkulam annexed the possessions of that king against the wishes of Marthanda Varma. The Kayamkulam Rajah had the support of the Rajah of Cochin and Dutch. The Dutch Governor of Ceylon, van Imhoff, asked the King to stop hostilities against Kayamkulam, to which Marthanda Varma remonstrated that the Governor need not interfere in affairs that did not concern him. In 1739 Van Imhoff arrived in Cochin and in 1740 espoused the cause of the Rani of Kottarakara and protested against the annexation of that kingdom by Marthanda Varma. On a subsequent interview with the Maharajah Marthanda Varma, the relations between the Dutch and Travancore became further strained. It is said that when the Dutch Governor threatened to invade the territories of Travancore the Maharaja gave an effective reply that he would invade Holland in case the Dutch misbehaved in Malabar. In 1741 the Dutch reinstated the Queen of Elayadath Swaroopam at Kottarakara against the wishes of Marthanda Varma who attacked the kingdom and completely routed the Dutch army and finally fully annexed Kottarakara to Travancore while the Queen fled to Cochin and received a pension from the Dutch.

Kingdom of Travancore
Part of History of Kerala
Travancore Kings
Marthanda Varma	1729–1758
Dharma Raja	1758–1798
Balarama Varma	1798–1810
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi‡	1810–1815
Gowri Parvati Bayi‡	1815–1829
Swathi Thirunal	1829–1846
Uthram Thirunal	1846–1860
Ayilyam Thirunal	1860–1880
Visakham Thirunal	1880–1885
Moolam Thirunal	1885–1924
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi‡	1924–1931
Chithira Thirunal	1931–1947
‡ Regent Queens
Capitals
Padmanabhapuram	1729–1795
Thiruvananthapuram	1795–1947
Palaces
Padmanabhapuram Palace
Kilimanoor palace
Kuthira Malika
Kowdiar Palace
v · d · e

Following this occurred the decisive Battle of Colachel, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Kerala. Though the Battle of Colachel was fought in 1741 A.D. (10 to 14 August) peace with the Dutch was only concluded and ratified by the Batavian Government in October, 1753. More than twenty Dutch men were taken as prisoners in the Battle of Colachel. The prisoners were treated with kindness, so they were glad to take service under the Maharaja. Among them were Eustachius De Lannoy and Donadi, who attracted the maharaja's special notice. De Lannoy, commonly known in Travancore as the 'Valiya Kapithan' (Great Captain) was entrusted with the organization and drilling of a special Regiment, which he did to the entire satisfaction of the Maharaja. De Lannoy was raised to the rank of General and proved of considerable service to the Maharaja in the subsequent wars. Following the expulsion of the Dutch, the Maharajah now turned his attention once again towards Kayamkulam which continued seeking help from the Dutch. In 1742, the Travancore forces attacked the Kayamkulam possessions at Quilon and fought the Kayamkulam army led by its commander Achuta Warrier.In this battle Travancore was defeated. But reinforced with cavalry brought in from Tirunelveli, Marthanda Varma mounted an attack on Kayamkulam and finally defeated the kingdom.

A treaty known as the Treaty of Mannar was signed, by which Kayamkulam became a tributary. However by 1746, the Kayamkulam Rajah once again started showing signs of rebellion and when his conspiracy with the kingdoms further north (such as Kottayam, Changanassery, Cochin and Ambalapuzha) came to the attention of Marthanda Varma, Kayamkulam was annexed by a final war in which the Rajah fled to the Kingdom of Cochin. Travancore now extended from Cape Comorin to Kayamkulam in the north. Following this, Ambalapuzha, Kottayam and Changanassery were also annexed to Travancore by 1753. The principality of Meenachil was also annexed. In 1753 the tributary states of Cochin collectively known as Karappuram and Alangad were ceded to Travancore. In 1755, the Zamorin of Calicut, the most powerful king in Northern Kerala was also defeated at a battle in Purakkad. He was supported by the armies of some other local kings also. This made almost all the Kings of Kerala prostrate before the power of Marthanda Varma.

Treaty of Mavelikkara

Dutch commander De Lannoy surrenders to Marthanda Varma at the Battle of Colachel. Depiction at Padmanabhapuram Palace

Treaty of Peace and friendship concluded between Marthandavarma and The Dutch. According to this treaty both the parties agreed to live in friendship and peace. The treaty was signed on 15 August 1753. The treaty was signed at Mavelikkara.

Other reforms

One military commander of the Travancore forces was Eustachius De Lannoy, a prisoner of war from the Battle of Colachel. He modernised the Travancore forces and made it superior to those of the other Kings of Kerala, thus playing a major part in the military acquisitions of Marthanda Varma. Besides these, under ponpandidevar reforms were brought about in the revenue system, budgetary system and public works etc., of the state. The Padmanabhaswamy temple was renovated and new state ceremonies such Murajapam, Bhadra Deepam etc. were introduced by Marthanda Varma. Marthanda Varma also instituted a new knighthood for his loyal Nair officers known as Chempakaraman Pillai. The Kingdom of Travancore was dedicated to the Lord Sri Padmanabhaswamy in 1750 January 3 and after that he was called Sripadmanabha Vanchipala Marthandavarma Kulasekaraperumal and the Maharajah, taking the title of Padmanabha Dasa ruled the kingdom as the servant of that deity. Travancore as a whole, thus became the property of Lord Sri Padmanabhaswamy, the deity of the Travancore Royal family or in other words "God's Own Country".

Marthanda Varma paid special attention to improving agriculture in the kingdom. The southern-most district of present day Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari was the southern-most part of Travancore. The portions of land lying east of Nagercoil town called Nanjil Nadu was considered the granary of Kerala due to the extensive cultivation of paddy there. The fertility of this area was only due to the irrigation facilities introduced by Marthanda Varma. His Edicts on the subject of irrigation issued between 1729 and 1758 A.D fill several pages in the Travancore Land Revenue Manual by R. Mahadeva Iyer. Only due to the digging of new canals for irrigation during His reign, the single-crop paddy fields of that area became double-crop fields, almost doubling their production. Pallikondan Dam,Chattuputhoor Dam, Sabari Dam,Kumari Dam and Chozhanthitta Dam, all on the River Pazhayaru in the vicinity of Nagercoil, were constructed by him and are still operational. Near Bhoothappandy, Chattuputhoor dam was constructed and a new channel named Puthanaaru was dug from it to irrigate the Thovala areas. Puthan Dam, built by him near Padmanabhapuram, provided drinking water to that area.

Demise

The death of Ramayyan Dalawa in 1756 caused great pain to Marthanda Varma as the former was not only his minister but also his friend. The king's health started deteriorating since then till he died two years later in 1758 after a brilliant military career. He was succeeded in 1758 by his nephew Maharajah Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma Dharma Raja, who consolidated the kingdom further. Before his death, Marthanda Varma summoned his nephew and successor and gave his final instructions. The main instructions were concerning the maintenance of all the pujas, ceremonies etc. in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple without attempts to meddle with them and to maintain above all the friendship existing between that Honourable Association (the British) and Travancore and to repose in them full confidence. They had proved more trustworthy of all the foreign forces. Another main instruction was that the expenses of the state should never exceed its revenue. No infighting in the royal family was to be ever allowed. Within a short time of these final instructions, the king gave up his life.

See also

• Mulabhadra

References

1. ^ Land and people of Indian states and union territories: Kerala By S. C. Bhatt, Gopal K. Bhargava,p 21
2. ^ Land and people of Indian states and union territories: Kerala By S. C. Bhatt, Gopal K. Bhargava,p 21

Source

• Travancore State Manual by V. Nagam Aiya, Volume I, pages 333 to 368
• Marthandavarma, a novel by C. V. Raman Pillai
• History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon
• A survey of Kerala history by A. Sreedhara Menon
• Travancore State Manual Revised Edition by T.K.Velu Pillai

Marthanda Varma Venad Kulasekhara Dynasty Born: 1706 Died: 1758
Regnal titles
Preceded by Rajah Rama Varma (as Raja of Venad)	Maharaja of Travancore 1729-1758	Succeeded by Dharma Raja

Persondata
Name	Varma, Marthanda
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1706
Place of birth
Date of death	1758
Place of death