Puli Thevar - Puli Thevar's Struggle-quoted From Caldwell's History of Tirunelveli - Battle of Gangai Konda

Battle of Gangai Konda

The armies met at Gangai Konda, north of Tirunelveli. Thevar’s troops attacked from all sides but suffered huge losses as Yusuf Khan’s artillery took its toll on Thevar’s ranks. Thevar realised that the battle was lost and ordered a retreat. Thevar’s army split into three; the forces of Polygars under Thevar fled into the jungle, Mian with his horsemen went to Madura and Nabi Khan retreated towards Srivilliputtur. As they had no artillery to breach the walls, they attempted to climb the walls but failed, so he and his men left Srivilliputtur.

Puli Thevar had not lost hope. He opened talks with agents of Mysore at Dindigul and offered them 5 lakh rupees in exchange for military help. He also tried to persuade the corrupt officers of Mahfuz Khan to give up Cholavandan, a region through which the only road between Dindigal and Madura passed through a mountain defile. In order to tempt Mahfuz Khan to join his side, Thevar also tempted him with promise of hig office in Mysore.

Thevar’s plan was to oust both Nawab of Arcot and the British from the kingdom of Madura and to restore a member of the ruling dynasty of Madura as the king. The English soon got reports of this effort for a third confederacy and despatched a large force under Yusuf Khan and Mudali; a third of this force was posted at Tirunelveli and another third was assembled in the fort of Palamkotta.

As the English prepared for war, Thevar persuaded Mian and Nabi Khan to join with their cavalry troops at Nelkettumseval. Once Yusuf Khan found that Mian and Nabi Khan were on their way to join with Thevar’s troops, he marched into Srivilliputtur. Yusuf’s plan was a show of might so as to dissuade other Polygars from joining hands with Thevar.

Mudali tried to negotiate a peace agreement, sending his agent Alagappa to Thevar’s camp. Mudali offered large land grants if Thevar were to join Nawab’s side but Thevar was too shrewd to fall for this trick. Instead of refusing outright, he sent his agent along with Alagappa into Yusuf Khan’s camp along with a force of 300 Marava guards for negotiations.

Thevar sent his main army to rendezvous with Mian and Nabi Khan and sent another force to ravage the enemy territories west of Tirunelveli, intending to cause the negotiations to fail. The Nawab’s people themselves withdrew from the talks. As a man driven by a great vision, he had no interest in conceding for paltry gains.

Soon Thevar got what he wanted-Yusuf Khan put to death some of Thevar's Maravas of Thevar, alleging that they had stolen horses and oxen from his camp. Immediately, Thevar’s agent and Marava guards fled to Thevar’s castle and reported this event. Thevar declared that he could in no way tolerate such a cruelty on his own people.

Mahfuz Khan himself was an unscrupulous character and soon thought that his future depended on the good will of Thevar, so he came to Nelkettumseval with his troops by end of 1756. Several of Nawab’s officers in Madura revolted and took control of Madura but as Mahfuz Khan was reluctant to engage in a war, they got no support and were chased away by English troops led by Calliaud. Calliaud and English troops made the mistake of leaving, as Thevar had completed his preparations for a third attempt to liberate Western Tamil country.