Poligar wars
Also called: Palayakkarar wars · Topic: Peasant and Tribal Resistance under Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Poligar wars were a series of revolts in Tamil country, roughly between 1799 and 1805. Poligars (also called palayakkarars) were local chiefs who held fortified territories called palayams. They collected taxes and kept armed men. The Company demanded tribute (regular payments) from them and wanted to take away their military power, so the poligars rose in revolt. The Company crushed them, executed their leaders and took direct control of the region.
Example
Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the poligar of Panchalankurichi, refused to pay tribute. He was captured and hanged at Kayathar in 1799. In the next phase of the war (1800–01), the Marudu brothers of Sivaganga led a wider rising. They were defeated and executed in 1801.
Don't confuse with
- Paharia raids: raids by forest-dwelling hill people of the Rajmahal hills in eastern India. They were not revolts by land-holding military chiefs.
Related concepts
- Criminal Tribes Act
- Rangpur uprising 1783
- Veerapandiya Kattabomman
- Velu Thampi Dalawa
- Paika rebellion 1817
- Kittur Chennamma
- Ahom revolt 1828