The Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, one of the world’s greatest generals, was the man who broke the power of the Marathas in the second Anglo-Maratha war and then went on to triumph over Napoleon Bonaparte in the famous Battle of Waterloo. However, one of the most stubborn adversaries that he ever encountered, and whom he never managed to defeat, was the great hero of Malabar, Kerala Varma (1753-1805), popularly known as Pazhassi Raja.

Sadly, the heroic struggle of Kerala Varma against the British is not known or celebrated, beyond the state of Kerala.

The rise of Pazhassi Raja begins in 1773, during Hyder Ali’s second invasion of Malabar. Fearing the wrath of the Mysore armies, the Nair chieftains of Malabar fled and sought asylum in the Kingdom of Travancore. Among them was the Raja of Kottayam, whose kingdom encompassed what is today the Thalassery taluka of the Kannur, as well as the Wayanad district of Kerala.