The Mysorean invasion of Malabar (1766–1792) was the military invasion of the Malabar region of Kerala, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut, by the then-de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Cochin to the south of Malabar became a tributary state of Mysore.
The invasion of Malabar was motivated by a desire for access to the ports bordering the Indian Ocean. The Mysore invasion gave the East India Company the opportunity to tighten their grip on the ancient feudal principalities of Malabar and convert Travancore into only a protected ally. www.kerala.gov.in History
By the late 18th century, the small kingdoms had been absorbed or subordinated by three large states: Travancore, Calicut (ruled by Zamorins), and the Kingdom of Cochin.
The Kingdom of Mysore, ruled nominally by the Wodeyar family, rose to prominence in India after the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire and again after the Mughal Empire. In 1761, Ali took control of Mysore by overthrowing the then-prime minister of Mysore, and became its de facto head. He made the Mysorean king Krishnaraja Wodeyar II a prisoner in his own palace. He turned his attention towards expansion, which included the capture of the Kingdoms of Bednur (Ikkeri or Keladi), Sunda, Sera, and Canara. In 1766, he descended into Malabar and occupied the Kingdoms of Chirakkal (former Kolathunad), Kottayam, Kadathanad, Calicut, Valluvanad and Palghat. The king of Cochin accepted his suzerainty and paid him tribute annually from 1766 to 1790.Mackenzie, R., Sketch of the War with Tippu Sultan, Vol.I, pp.29-31. Faruqabad, near Calicut, was the local capital of the Mysorean-ruled area.
Ali's 1767 attempt to defeat Travancore failed; a second effort by his son Tipu Sultan in 1789–1790 triggered the Third Anglo-Mysore War."Tippu Sultan." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 22 November 2011. Only Travancore stood outside the Muslim Mysore authority in the area.
In the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792), Tipu ceded half of his territories, including Malabar, to the East India Company and their allies, and paid 3.3 crores (33 million) rupees as indemnity. By 1801, Richard Wellesley created the Madras Presidency by attaching Malabar and the Carnatic territories seized from Mysore. The Company asked Travancore to pay all the expenses of the Third Anglo-Mysore war on the rationale that the war was undertaken in its defence. The treaty of 1795 reduced the status of Travancore from friend and ally of the East India Company to protected ally. The king was forced to entertain a subsidiary force far beyond his capacity to subsidise. The Company also claimed a monopoly on the country's black pepper trade.
Background
The Keladi Nayakas invaded the Kolathunadu Kingdom of northern Malabar in 1732 to recover their lost territories. Under the command of Gopalaji, 30,000 Canara soldiers easily overran prince Kunhi Ambu's (Cunhi Homo) forts in northern Kolathunad. In 1732, Mysorean forces invaded the dominions of Zamorin at the invitation of the ruler of Palakkad. Zamorin moved his army towards the border of his dominion and repelled the invasion.
The Nayaks of Keladi planned another attack on Kolathunad in 1737. Ambu agreed to sign a peace treaty with the Nayakas, which fixed the northern border of Kolathunad on the Madayi. The British factors of Tellicherry also signed their own treaty with the Keladi Nayakas, which guaranteed the integrity of British trading concessions in Malabar in the event of future conflicts between the Canara and Kolathunad.Lectures on Enthurdogy by A. Krishna Ayer Calcutta, 1925 In 1737, more border conflicts broke out between the Zamorin and Mysore. In 1745, three battles were fought between them, but the fighting appears to have been inconclusive.
Hyder Ali first marched to the area in 1757 as requested by the king of Palakkad, a long-time military foe of the Zamorin of Calicut. At that time, the Zamorin were fighting with the raja of Cochin. Hyder, who at that time was the faujdar of Dindigul under the Kingdom of Mysore, marched into southern Malabar with a force of 2,500 horses and 7,500 men supported by Palghat troops. His army defeated the Calicut army and reached the Arabian Sea. His main intention was to capture the vast treasuries of the rulers of Malabar. The Malabar Coast had been famous for its foreign spice trade since ancient times. Zamorin reached a treaty with Hyder, in which he was required to pay twelve lakh rupees as war reparations. However, the Zamorin technically deceived Ali after the Mysore Army returned from Malabar.Logan, William (2006). Malabar Manual, Mathrubhumi Books, Kozhikode.
Occupation of Malabar
When news of Ali's conquest of Bednur reached Ali Rajah of Cannanore in 1763, he promptly asked Ali to invade Kerala and help him deal with the Zamorin of Calicut. The Muslim chieftain of Cannanore, an old rival of the neighbouring powerful Kolathiri, was an active ally of Mysore under the occupation.Bowring, pp. 44–46Logan, William (2006), Malabar Manual, Mathrubhumi Books, Kozhikode.
Ali Raja seized and set fire to the palace of Kolathiri Raja. The latter escaped with his followers to the then-British settlement at Tellicherry. After the victory, Ali entered the Kingdom of Kottayam in present-day North Malabar and occupied it, with assistance from native Muslims, after some resistance by the Kottayam army.Kerala District Gazetteers: & suppl. Kozhikode By Kerala (India). Dept. of Education, A. Sreedhara Menon p.149
After taking Calicut in a bloody battle, Ali, with a large amount of money, marched south-east towards Coimbatore through Palghat. Mysore appointed Raja as military governor and Madanna (a former revenue officer) as civil governor of the newly acquired province of Malabar.Panikkassery, Velayudhan. MM Publications (2007), Kottayam India
Mysorean rule (1766–1773) Shortly afterwards, Raza Ali, Hyder's lieutenant, returned to Coimbatore, and Hindu fighters hidden in the forests rebelled against the Mysorean authorities. They re-occupied forts and large portions of land during the monsoon season. However, by June 1766, Hyder returned to Malabar and sent his troops on the rebels, killing many Nair soldiers and deporting over 15,000 Nairs to Kanara.
Mysore's response was harsh after it put down the rebellion. Many Hindu fighters were executed, and thousands of others were forcibly relocated to the Mysore highlands. To prevent another armed uprising, Hyder Ali suggested anti-Nair laws to the district, and levied additional taxes as punishment against rebellious Nair chiefs.
Eralppad, second-line successor to the throne at Calicut, continued his attacks against the Mysorean forces from southern Malabar. Eventually, faced by continuous instability and rebellions, Hyder agreed to cede many parts of Malabar to local Hindu rulers (as age-old customs existed in Malabar) as tributary states under the Kingdom of Mysore.
In 1767, the whole of Malabar revolted again. Mysore's army of 4,000 men were defeated by 2,000 Kottayam Nairs in Northern Malabar. Mysorean garrisons were trapped by Nair rebels, who seized the countryside and ambushed Mysorean convoys and communications.Malabar Manual by Logan
The Mysorean army temporarily retreated from Malabar in 1768, stopped the uprisings, and built Palakkad Fort.
In 1773, Mysore forces under Said Saheb marched to Malabar through the Thamarassery Pass, since the Hindu rulers had broken the earlier treaties on paying tributes.
Cochin accepts Mysore's suzerainty Mysore conducted a second military operation in 1774, concentrating on the extremely ancient and unsurpassed treasures of the Main Temple in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in Travancore. Travancore had also given refuge to political enemies of Mysore from Malabar. Hyder moved southwards with a huge army and negotiated with the Dutch for free passage to Travancore through Dutch territories, which they refused; the Dutch owed Travancore after their defeat in the Battle of Colachel. Travancore refused to stop building the Nedumkotta fortification, which formed the northern defences of Travancore, and rumours of a proposed invasion of Travancore started circulating.
Hyder asked the rulers of Cochin and Travancore to pay tribute as vassal states. Cochin was asked to pay a total of Rs. 400,000 and ten elephants, while Travancore was asked to pay Rs. 1,500,000 and thirty elephants. Cochin royals agreed to pay, and accepted Mysore's superiority. Malabar and Cochin came under Mysore rule, opening the Malabar Coast to the kings of Mysore. However the King of Travancore, under the protection of the East India Company, refused to pay the tribute.
Eventually, the Mysorean army marched on Travancore from the north. The Dutch military garrison at Cranganore Fort tried to stop it. Hyder asked his commander, Sardar Khan, to take an army of 10,000 to the Cochin Kingdom. In August 1776, Cochin was invaded from the north and the fort at Trichur was captured.
After the ruler of Cochin surrendered, Hyder advanced to the Nedumkotta fortifications. By this time Airoor and Chetuva Fort had been ceded to Mysore. Meanwhile, the Dutch, with the help of the Travancore Nair Army, put down an attempt by Mysorean forces to capture Cranganore Fort. The ruler of Cranganore surrendered to Hyder, but the Dutch stormed his palace and captured it in January 1778.
Afterwards, Hyder's forces engaged in small-scale attacks and ambushes throughout Malabar, on Travancore, British, and Dutch forces, as well as on Nair mutineers in northern Malabar. By 1778, Mysore had allied with the French, who were at war with the British Empire. That year, the British captured Mahé and Pondicherry. The newly appointed king of Kolathunad supported Mysore, providing crucial supplies for the war, and by March, Kolathiri had occupied Randattara. Soon, Hyder removed the kings of Kadathanad and Kottayam who had supplied the British in their campaigns. After facing losses in Calicut, Palghat and Tirunelvely, Hyder retreated to Mysore to plan another attack on Travancore.Travancore State Manual by T.K Velu Pillai, Pages 373 to 385The Travancore state manual by Aiya, V. Nagam. pp.381–384
Second Anglo-Mysore War
The East India Company captured the French controlled port at Mahé in 1779. Mahé was of great strategic importance to Hyder, who received French-supplied arms and munitions there, and Hyder not only explicitly told the British it was under his protection, he also provided troops for its defence. On 2 July 1780, Hyder declared war on the East India Company, signalling the start of what was later called the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1779–1784).Malabar Manual, Logan, William By February 1782, Dharpattom, Nitore, Calicut, and Palakkad Fort surrendered to the British forces under Major Abington. Sardar Ali Khan died later.
During the summer of 1782, East India Company officials in Bombay sent additional troops to Tellicherry, where they continued operations against Mysorean holdings in the Malabar. Hyder sent Tipu and a strong force to counter them, and pinned the force at Ponnani.