Author: K. Jeevabharathi
Translator: Vishard
In our country, opposition against the British first began in Southern Tamil Nadu. That too, the ruler of a small kingdom was the first to oppose the British.
The British thought that they could subdue Indians with the help of their weapons, but the Indian bravehearts saw to it that their dreams were crushed. The biggest example of this is in the Tamil country.
The Tamil people of that time did not discriminate based on caste, creed and religion. The rulers and people united and fought the British, to attain much glory and rewrite history.Great examples of this are the times of Puli Thevan and the times of Velu Nachiar.
In the year 1780, with the help of Haider Ali and support of the Marudhu brothers, Velu Nachiar was engaged in reconquering Sivagangai which she had lost to the British. The task was not easy because the British had huge stores of ammunition. To help Velu Nachiar, A woman, belonging to a backward caste called ‘Kuyili’, smeared her body with ghee and lit herself on fire to destroy the British ammunition. The British ammunition was destroyed, however Kuyili died in the process. Had Kuyili not sacrificed her life that day, It would not have been easy for Velu Nachiar to reconquer Sivagangai.
A similar incident happened in Kattabomman’s life as well. While fighting against Bannerman, Kattabomman and his close aide’s - Danapathi Pillai, Sundaralingam, Vellaiaya Thevan and Oomaidurai - were discussing strategies to destroy the enemy’s ammunition and effectively win the war. Sundaralingam came forward and said that he had a plan. As he was the head of the overseers, everyone listened to him carefully. He told everyone to leave the responsibility up to him.
The next day, the sound of exploding ammunition was heard in Panjalankuruchi fort. The Britisher’s store of ammunition had been destroyed. Everyone inside the fort was happy - except Kattabomman. Because Kattabomman knew that Sundaralingam too would have been burned up along with the Britisher’s ammunition. This victory had come only because Sundaralingam set himself on fire and sacrificed his life!
Even though there was more loss for the Britishers, Kattabomman was heartbroken at the loss of a brilliant warrior and aide . That is why, even when he was victorious, he did not rejoice. His eyes filled with tears in remembrance of Sundaralingam.