Pallūr Ēman Nāyar(Poligar Eman" "Pulior Eman" (died 1820 in Malaya) was a Nayar

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

of southern Wayanad, north east

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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was involved in the

Cotiote War The Cotiote War (Kottayathu war) refers to a series of continuous struggles fought between the Cotiote king, Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma, and the East India Company across a span of thirteen years between 1793 and 1806. Pazhassi Raja aimed to p ...

(1793–1806), a conflict between the Cotiote princely ruler Pazhassi and the

British 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 ...

. In 1799, Eman fought with the British. In 1802, Eman became a double agent for Pazhassi, who was his overlord.Frenz M. "From contact to conquest: transition to British rule in Malabar 1790–1805." Oxford University Press 2003.

British recruitment and espionage

The British considered Eman "a man of considerable property and rank".Yang A. A
"Bandits and kings: moral authority and resistance in early colonial India."
The Journal of Asian Studies. 66 (4) November 2007. DOI10.1017/S0021911807001234 In 1799, he was an advisor to the British with a wage of 200 rupees per year. Eman encamped with

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

and in 1801, his services to the British contributed to their capture of Periya. In 1801 and 1802, Pazhassi struggled. His once trusted commander,

Pazhayamviden Chandu Pazhayaveettil Chandu Nambiar, also known as Pazhayamviden Chandu, was a general of Pazhassi Raja whose betrayal led to the death of his Raja and the British victory in the Cotiote War. Early life Originally from a poor family, due to starvat ...

betrayed Pazhassi to the British. As the British tracked him down, the Raja and his men kept up a running engagement with his pursuers. During this time, Eman continued to support Pazhassi as a double agent. Eman's older brother,

Pallur Rayrappan Pallur Rayrappan was a supporter of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja of Kerala, India, who fought a guerrilla-type war against the British East India Company during first decade of the 19th century. Background Pazahassi Raja was defeated in battle by ...

Nayar also supported Pazhassi until his arrest by the British in 1806.

Discovery, escape and tribal alliance

When the British captured the fort at Panamaram in 1802, Eman's double agent status was discovered and he fled to join Pazhassi. The British put a reward of 1,000

pagoda 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 some ...

s on Eman's capture. Eman persuaded the Mullukurumba, a warrior tribe, to support Pazhassi.Logan W
"Malabar manual, 1887."
Asia Educational Services, New Delhi, 1989. Vol 1.

Attack on Malabar sub-jail.

On 23 March 1802, Eman and 1,000 rebels marched through the Thamarasseri Defile towards

Calicut 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 ...

and overran the sub-jail. The 250 sub-jail guards were captured of killed. Ammunition and stores were stolen. Many of the freed prisoners joined Eman. McLeod, collector of Malabar, resigned. Eman continued to fight the British. Pashassi died in November 1805 and his leadership assumed by his nephew. Eman was captured by the British in 1806.

Imprisonment, exile and death

Eman was tried at

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. His sentence was subsequently commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. In about 1807, Eman and his brother were sent to Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island).Kareem K. "Gazetteer of India, Kerala District, Palghat." Superintendent of Government presses. 1976. Volume 6. p161. Some of the rebels were released in late 1819 but not Eman. The British felt that if he were released to his homeland, he would stir discontent. Eman died at Prince of Wales Island in 1820.

References

Bibliography

* Kurup K. K. N. "Pazhassi Samarangal." 1980. * Nair C. G. "Wynad, its peoples and traditions."

Asian Educational Services Asian Educational Services (AES) is a New Delhi, India-based publishing house that specialises in antiquarian reprints of books that were originally published between the 17th and early 20th centuries. Founded by Jagdish Lal Jetley in 1973, the ...