Though Haider had invaded Malabar in 1766 it had
not affected Cochin. But when Haider’s army descended
again on Malabar in 1773, Cochin wasn’t spared.
The Cochin Raja had to pay a lakh of Ikkeri Pagodas (4
lakh rupees) as subsidy to Mysore. In September 1776 the
Mysore forces under Sirdar Khan marched into Cochin and
occupied Trichur. The Raja was forced to become a tributary
of Mysore and to pay a nuzzar of 1 lakh of Pagodas and
4 elephants and annual tribute of 30,000 Pagodas. Haider
accorded to Cochin a special position in his empire. Meanwhile
Rama Varma (1775-1790) had succeeded Raja Kerala Varma
(1760-1775) and Sakthan Thampuran had become the virtual
ruler of the State in 1769. The hereditary Prime Ministership
of Cochin also came to an end during this period.
Cochin was left unmolested in the early years of the
reign of Tippu Sultan, who succeeded Haider Ali. The
alliance with the Cochin Raja was seen as an important
factor in achieving his ambition of conquering Travancore.
Though the Raja offered to act as a mediator, he refused
to meet Tippu Sultan when he was summoned in 1789 and
this turned Tippu Sultan into a determined enemy of
Cochin. Tippu made a proposal to purchase Cochin, Cranganore
and Azhikotta from the Dutch but the Dutch and Travancore
had entered into negotiations and the sale of these
forts to Travancore was effected with great speed. Tippu
who took strong objection to this drew the attention
of British Madras Government to it but his demands weren’t
met. He soon sent his army and demolished the Travancore
lines and Travancore and Cochin lay at the invaders
mercy. The British Governor-General, Lord Cornwallis,
sent a British contingent under Colonel Hartley to help
the Travancore army. He also started negotiations with
the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Mahrattas for a joint
attack on Seringapatam. Alarmed at these developments
Tippu withdrew from the scene. With this the drama of
the Mysorean invasion came to an end.
Mysorean
Invasion |
Portuguese Period
| Dutch
Conquest | Pre
History
|
