Editing Pazhassi Raja (section)

===Rebellion to remove Tipu Sultan (1784–1793)===
By 1782, Kottayam was once more a free land. But by the Treaty of Mangalore (1784) after the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the Company administration recognised [[Tipu Sultan]]'s sphere of authority in Malabar. Thus with its only valuable ally lost, Kottayam was ready to become a vassal state of Mysore. Once more, as Sardar Khan did in 1779, Mysore exacted an exorbitant rate of tribute. Although Ravi Varma, the elder brother of Pazhassi Raja agreed to pay 65,000 rupees per year, Mysore demanded 81,000 rupees.{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=28}} The hiked rate of tribute meant greater hardship for the peasantry (largely Thiyyar) who had suffered from years of foreign occupation. So Pazhassi Raja took up this issue and decided to launch a mass resistance struggle once more.<ref>Calicut University Text for paper Kerala History and Culture Distance Education MA History 2007 by Prof. SS Warrier</ref>{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=29}}

What angered Pazhassi Raja even more was that his brother Ravi Varma who paid a visit to Tipu Sultan in 1786 for peace talks was forced to sign a treaty which ceded Wayanad to Tipu Sultan. Pazhassi Raja decided not to let Tipu enjoy Wayanad in peace and kept up a guerrilla warfare that constantly harassed Mysore troops in Wayanad and its neighbourhood. War in Wayanad lasted for seven years&nbsp;– till 1793&nbsp;– when the last of the Mysorean garrisons were expelled from the soil of Wayanad.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

By the end of 1788, Pazhassi Raja's hatred of Tipu had shot up on account of the latter's policy of forcible conversion. So he strengthened his ties with the East India Company on one hand and with fellow rebel chiefs and princes in Malabar on the other. Tipu sent an army under a French general named Lally with a genocidal mission—the extermination of the [[Nair]] caste from Kottayam to Palakkad&nbsp;– as Tipu was determined to end the menace of Nair rebels in Malabar who had foiled all attempts of him and his late father Hyder Ali to subjugate and exploit Malabar.{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=29}}

The senior Rajah of Kottayam fled to Travancore fearing the Sultan. But before that, he handed over charge of government to Pazhassi Raja and asked him to save the country from Mysore's onslaught. Given below is the observation made by historian Rajayyan about Pazhassi Raja's resistance to Tipu Sultan after the exodus of Rajas from Malabar in 1788:

{{Blockquote|Between 1787 and 1788, the ''thampurans'' or Rajahs of Malabar, threatened by the forces of Tipu, fled to Travancore. Among them were the princes of Kottayathu.....The Senior Rajah before his flight summoned Kerala Varma, the youngest prince, and instructed him to protect the country. Accordingly, the latter assembled the inhabitants, retired to the jungles and assisted them in the development of a new homeland.  Frequently, in defiance to the authority of the Sultan, he with a band of determined followers issued forth from the woods and levied contributions.{{sfnp|Rajayyan|1971|p=90}}}}

But in 1790, Tipu abandoned the war in Malabar as the war in Deccan drew his attention. Pazhassi Raja joined the East India Company with a force of 1500 [[Nair]]s to capture the Mysorean stronghold in Katirur (near Talassery).{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=31}} After Katirur, Pazhassi Raja and his troops moved south-east and captured the Kuttiyadi fort from Tipu's men.{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=32}} Thus once more, the whole of Kottayam was under the control of Pazhassi Raja.{{sfnp|Balakrishnan|2011|p=60}} In 1790, the Company recognised Pazhassi Raja as the head of Kottayam instead of the original Raja who was in refuge at Travancore. Raja agreed to pay 25,000 rupees as tribute to the company. But his struggle with the Mysore troops continued in Wayanad till 1793 when he freed that land also.{{sfnp|Kurup|1980|p=}}{{Page needed|date=June 2014}}

But by the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792) signed between the EIC and Tipu after the latter failed in Third Anglo-Mysore War, Malabar was ceded to the EIC.{{sfnp|Balakrishnan|2011|p=60}}  The East India Company then began to work for the establishment of their supremacy in Malabar.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} This was where the Company administration and Pazhassi Raja had opposite opinions&nbsp;– Pazhassi Raja helped the East India Company not because he was ready to accept Company rule but because he wanted his country Kottayam to be an independent land.<ref>Evolution of Kerala History and Culture, Prof. T. K. Gangadharan, 2004, Calicut University Central Cooperative Stores Ltd, No.4347, Calicut University 673,635</ref>

Pazhassi Raja was disturbed when he heard about the terms which the Company put forward to the Rajas of Malabar in 1792, because the EIC had signed a cowl with him in 1790 which promised to respect the independence of Kottayam.{{sfnp|Kurup|2008|p=35}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=A Sreedhara|title=Kerala Charitrashilpikal|date=2007|publisher=DC Books|location=Kottayam 686 001|isbn=978-81-264-1584-7|page=191|ref=none}}</ref> The summary of the East India Company terms in 1792 were as follows:
* The Raja to be able to rule as before, but the East India Company to control him "in case of oppressing inhabitants".
* A resident to be appointed to enquire about "complaints of oppression".
* Two persons on the part of the company and two persons on the part of the Raja to make valuation of the land revenue of Kottayam.
* The tax to be paid by each subject to be ascertained.
* The Raja's tribute to be settled in October 1792 according to the appearance of crop.
* The EIC share of the pepper to be delivered at a price fixed by their administration in December 1792.
* The remainder of the pepper to be bought only by merchants appointed by the company.{{sfnp|Kurup|1980|p=}}{{Page needed|date=June 2014}}

These terms converted monarchs to mere agents of the East India Company. Rajas were now stripped of their right to rule as they willed; they also lost control over their economies.

Kottayam was represented by Vira Varma, uncle of Pazhassi Raja during talks with the East India Company in 1792. Vira Varma concluded a treaty with Company = by which he accepted all terms and conditions put forward by them.{{sfnp|Kurup|1980|p=}}{{Page needed|date=June 2014}}