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| Puli Thevar was a poligar (or palayakarar)besttoppers.com |
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| Sri Krishna thevaraya article.wn.com |
Palaiyakkarar (Tamil) or Palegaadu (Telugu) or Paaleyagaara (Kannada) or Polygar (English), was a special feudal title for a class of rulers, specifically selected and appointed by the Nayak rulers of South India (notably Vijayanagara Empire formed in 1336; Madurai Nayakas and the Kakatiya dynasty) during 16th – 18th centuries. In reality, they were territorial administrative and military governors vested with limited powers over large areas and they owed their allegiance to Madurai Nayak rulers.
Kumara Kampana - 1378 AD of Vijayanagaram first established his rule in Madurai. By the end of the century, the whole of South India, south of the Krishna-Tungabadra rivers including part of Kartataka, Kerala, were under the Vijayanagara rule.
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| Kattabomman, TN early freedom fighter. Chira Chaitanya blogger |
Vijayanagaram became so a vast a military state, it was too difficult to manage it. At one stage territorial division for effective management became a necessity. The country was divided into small territories and each territory called 'Amara Nayakka Thaanam' is headed by Amara Nayakkars. Subsequently, the divisions were referred to as ''Palayams.''
Palaiyakkarars' civil responsibilities included irrigation projects, maintenance of forts, religious institutions, land revenue collection, giving judgment and imposing punishment, etc. They, being patriotic waged many wars against the Arcot Nawab and the British After the demise of Madurai Nayaks, Palayakkarars' rebellions are often regarded as the ''earliest Indian Freedom struggles'', predating the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (Earliest Independence Struggle in Northern states. Unfortunately, their daring exploits, sacrifices and vast contributions to India's earl struggle are given either less importance or simply ignored by historians under the Congress regime after freedom. Much focus was given to the Mogul reign
Even now a vast majority of people in Tamil Na are not aware of daring Hindu local Chieftain- Palayakkarars in the interior of South tamil Nadu. Nor have they read or come across great freedom fighters Puli Thevar, Veerapandya Kattabomman, Dheeran Chinnamalai, Marudu brothers, Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy - the most courageous and well-known Palayakkarar.
They revolted against the oppressive British rule in the Southrn belts of Tamil Nadu because the British collected tax from the revenue lands on behalf of Arcot Nawab who was unable to pay the loans, etc from the British. Besides, Arcot kingdom was on Subsidiary Alliance and had to pay hefty annual money to the company. The feudal rulers protested against forced land revenue collection from their legitimate land, which they had long been enjoying the rights by way of raising various crops even before the arrival of the British,
Many Palaiyakkarars were hanged to death under some pretext and some banished forever to Andaman Islands by the British. Over night, the rich feudal heads, their families and their dependents were pushed to mere ''hand to mouth existence.'' One could imagine how cruel the British company officials were against the natives. To strangle the throat of daring Poligars or Palayakkarars, the British followed several ingenious methods - right choice of whistle blowers, unpatriotic turn coats, among some local rulers. These traitors served the British well in return for substantial rewards, land, etc.
The head of Palayam (Tamil) or Paalem (Telugu), a fortified district or military camp was headed by a chieftain - Palayakkarar.Army IGeneral Ariyanatha Mudaliar of Visvanatha Nayakkar of Madurai established 72 Paalayams in the Madurai country - system of military - civil administration for better management and better services to the people. Each palayam was taken care of by a chieftain - palyaakkarar. So, there was a perfect harmony between the head of Palayam and his subjects. After the gradual down fall of Madurai Nayak rule, many Palayams became separate small kingdoms on their own and the palayakkarar became a ruler. Their origin is a debatable subject. Any way, it was
kind of system of civil military administration based on the Kakatiya dynasty's model by the ruler Prataparudra. There were, it is believed, 77 Padmanayakas in the kingdom.
Under the Vijayanahara ruler, staunch Hindus, Tamil desam was well-protected and temples were guarded against the invasion of Muslim army.Nayak rulers, rebuilt or repaired several temples damaged by the Muslim invaders led by Malik Kaufer and Ulagh Khan, Military Commanders of Alauddin Khilji of Delhi in the 13th century. Examples are Meenakshi temple and Srirangam Ranganathar temple.
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| A 1700 AD map of India,Polygars areas S.India ,en.wikipedia.org. |
The head of Palayam (Tamil) or Paalem (Telugu), a fortified district or military camp was headed by a chieftain - Palayakkarar.Army IGeneral Ariyanatha Mudaliar of Visvanatha Nayakkar of Madurai established 72 Paalayams in the Madurai country - system of military - civil administration for better management and better services to the people. Each palayam was taken care of by a chieftain - palyaakkarar. So, there was a perfect harmony between the head of Palayam and his subjects. After the gradual down fall of Madurai Nayak rule, many Palayams became separate small kingdoms on their own and the palayakkarar became a ruler. Their origin is a debatable subject. Any way, it was
kind of system of civil military administration based on the Kakatiya dynasty's model by the ruler Prataparudra. There were, it is believed, 77 Padmanayakas in the kingdom.
Under the Vijayanahara ruler, staunch Hindus, Tamil desam was well-protected and temples were guarded against the invasion of Muslim army.Nayak rulers, rebuilt or repaired several temples damaged by the Muslim invaders led by Malik Kaufer and Ulagh Khan, Military Commanders of Alauddin Khilji of Delhi in the 13th century. Examples are Meenakshi temple and Srirangam Ranganathar temple.
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| Talikota war, Jan 1565. alchetron.com |
When the Vijayanagara empire was was attacked by the allied army of Deccani Sultanates at the Battle of Talikota in 1565 there were as many as 200 palayams across Tamil nadu and other places, Unfortunately, they refused to come to support the Vijayanagara ruler. The battle saw the downfall of the Vijayanagara empire. After their fall, the nayaks of several places including Thanjavur and Gingee followed system of Palayam or Palegallu followed by the Aravidu line of later Vijayanagara Kings based in Chandragiri and other systems of administration.
The Madurai kingdoms consisted of present day Western Tamil Nadu with Coimbatore, Salem and Kollidam river forming the northern boundary barring Tanjore Kingdom and Western Ghats forming the western border and Kanniyakumari in the South.
Ref:
Balendu Sekaram, Kandavalli, 1909–. The Nayakas of Madura by Khandavalli Balendusekharam (Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Sahithya Akademi, 1975) ; 30 p. ; 22 cm. ; "World Telugu Conference publication." ; History of the Telugu speaking Nayaka kings of Pandyan Kingdom, Madurai, 16th–18th century.
Prof.K.Rajayyan M.A.,M.Litt,A.M. P.hd.,A History of Freedom Struggle in India
M.P.Manivel, 2003 – Viduthalaipporil Virupachi Gopal Naickar (Tamil Language), New Century Book House, Chennai
https://www.facebook.com/reddiyars/posts/376491209133936
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygar
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