Vaikom Padmanabha Pillai
Vaikom Padmanabha Pillai (1767–1809) was a
his role in the rebellion
.
Life
He was born in the principality of
ambushed the huge Mysore Army in the Nedumkotta fortifications in December 1789.[citation needed] He also played an active role in the defeat of Tipu Sultan at the hands of the Travancore Army during the second battle in April 1790. He is also credited to have heavily injured a leg of Tipu, leaving him lame on one leg. After this he served as a general in Travancore Maharaja's militia.[2]
When
British East India Company, Padmanabha Pillai was his army chief. Freedom fighters jointly under Padmanabha Pillai and Chempil Valiya Arayan attacked British Resident Col. Macaulay in Poonjikkara Residency (now, Bolghaty Palace) in December 1808, but could not capture him. Later he ambushed a party of British soldiers at Pallathuruthy near Alappuzha which resulted in the deaths of 13 British soldiers. Padmanabha Pillai was captured by the British and hanged in public a few days later at Thiruveli kunnu in Vaikom.[3][4]