Edachena Kunkan (also known as Edachena Kunkan Nair) was a

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

noble from Tirunelli, Wayanad,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India who joined the war effort of

Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja () (3 January 1753 – 30 November 1805), also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, was the '' de facto'' head of the Kottayam Kingdom in the Malabar region of Kerala between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the ...

during the 1770s and became commander of the Raja's army. His younger brothers (Edachena Komappan Nair, Edachena Othenan Nair and Edachena Ammu) joined him as generals. Kunkan was a popular leader in Wayanad, gathering support from people of many classes for Raja's war against the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Commander

Under Kunkan's leadership, Pazhassi's troops fought against

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

and

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

as far as the outskirts of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. This enlarged the Raja's sphere of influence, and he claimed territories as far as

Nanjangud Nanjangud, officially known as Nanjanagudu, is a town in the Mysuru district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Nanjangud lies on the banks of the river Kapila (also called Kabini), 23 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is famous for the ...

. During Hyder's siege of Thalasseri, with help from Chirakkal and Kadathanad 779–1782 Raja sent 1,000 troops commanded by Kunkan (who repulsed all assaults by the Mysore army). The siege was later broken by a joint British-Pazhassi attack in 1782.

Capture of Panamaram Fort

The British increased taxes on farmers and demanded half the rice crop, to the dissatisfaction of the Wyanad people. When a member of the British Raj demanded a paddy field, Kunkan killed him and 150

Kurichiya Kurichiya or Kurichiyar also known as Hill Brahmins

ns under Thalakkal Chandu then joined him. With these troops and his brothers' support, Kunkan attacked the fort at

Panamaram Panamaram is a town, village in Wayanad district in the state of Kerala, India. Demographics India census, Panamaram had a population of 11651 with 5891 males and 5760 females. Panamaram River The Panamaram River is a tributary of the Ka ...

. It was guarded by 70 soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 4th Bombay Infantry under Captain Dickenson and Lieutenant Maxwell; both commanders and 25 soldiers were killed on 11 October 1802. After massacring the detachment, Kunkan acquired 112 muskets and six boxes of ammunition, with a value of ₹6,000. The buildings were razed, igniting a widespread revolt in Wayanad against British rule.

Guerilla warfare

Shortly afterwards, Kunkan went to the

Pulpally Pulpally is a mid-sized town in the Wayanad District of Kerala, India. Pulpally is also known as 'The land of black gold'. It is also renowned for its pure wild Wayanad honey. The famous Seetha Devi temple in Kerala is located in Pulpally. Geo ...

Pagoda and appealed to all Wayandians to join the rebel ranks; three thousand men volunteered. From then until early 1804, Pazhassi rebels launched guerrilla attacks on British positions throughout

North Malabar North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala State, Kerala's present day Kasaragod district, Kasaragod and Kannur district, Kannur districts, Mananthavady taluk of the Wayanad District, Wayanad distr ...

, reaching the coastal towns of

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

Thalassery Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...

and

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

. Kunkan confronted the British twice: in 1802 at Wayanad, where he tried to block British troops en route to Mananthavadi and in 1803 when he tried to besiege an outpost at Pazhassi. Both failed, leading him to concentrate on

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

. The British announced a reward of 1,000

pagodas A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but sometime ...

for Kunkan's arrest. By November 1805, the rebels were on the run and after Raja's death, Kunkan Nair ("that determined and incorrigible rebel") took his life at Panniyil (now Pannichal) in

Edavaka Edavaka is a Gram panchayat, Grama Panchayat in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. Demographics India census, Edavaka had a population of 15,620, with 7,939 males and 7,681 females. Major landmarks * Thonichal Siva Temple *Kalyanathum ...

Memorial

The people of Kerala have asked the government to build a memorial at

to Kunkan and

Thalakkal Chanthu Thalakkal Chanthu, also spelled Thalakkal Chandu, was an archer and commander-in-chief of the Kurichya soldiers of the Pazhassi Raja who fought British forces in the Wayanad jungles during first decade of the 19th century. Career Chanthu began hi ...

, since the Pazhassi rebellion is considered one of the most important uprisings against the British in South India.

In popular culture

In the 2009 Hariharan directed film ''

'',

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

played the title role while Edachena Kungan was portrayed, by

Sarath Kumar Ramanathan Sarathkumar (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician and former bodybuilder who works predominantly in Tamil cinema in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. He has acted in more than 150 films and won two ...

References