Veerapandiya Kattabommu

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Palayakarrar and king of Panchalankurichi in present-day Tamil Nadu, India. He fought the British East India Company and was captured by the British with the help of the ruler of the kingdom of Pudukottai, Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman, and at the age of 39 he was hanged at Kayathar on 16 October 1799. He belongs to the Thokalavar sub-sect of the Rajakambala Nayakkar community.

Early life Veerapandiya Kattabomman was born to Jagaveera Kattabomman Nayakar and Arumugathammal in a Telugu family. His father was the polygar (head) of Panchalankurichi. He belonged to the Bommu and Aathi Kattabomman clans of Panchalankurichi. He inherited his father's position as the polygar of Panchalankurichi when he turned 30, becoming the 47th polygar of the village.

Rebellion against the British

Background Veerapandiya as a polygar retained the right to collect taxes and recruit soldiers in his domain, the British viewed the polygars as illegitimate rulers and wanted to end their taxation powers, and curtail their power and influence. To this end they introduced a new tax policy through which they intended to completely bypass the polygars and other intermediaries during tax collection. Kattabomman saw this as an attempt to usurp his sovereignty over his domain by the British and stopped paying them tributes contending that his taxes ought to be waived due to the prolonged drought in his domain, whilst fighting against polygars allied with the British.

Fighting Kattabomman had to make a stand at his fort in Panchalankurichi, largely unprepared, although his forces were able to hold back the company troops initially, his fort was incapable of taking on British artillery, so he withdrew from the fort into nearby forests, fighting a guerilla campaign till his capture on 1 October 1799 with the assistance of polygars allied to the British like Ettappan of Ettaiyapuram and the king of Pudukkottai Vijaya Raghunatha Thondaiman. The Tamil Nadu government rebuilt the Panchalankurichi fort in 1974. In 2006, the Tirunelveli district administration organised a festival at Panchalankurichi on his birth anniversary.

The 1959 Tamil-language film Veerapandiya Kattabomman, starring Sivaji Ganesan, is based on his life.

To commemorate the bicentenary of Kattabomman's hanging, the Government of India released a postal stamp in his honour on 16 October 1999. The Indian Navy communications centre at Vijayanarayanam is named INS Kattabomman.