The Dutch landing force was beaten and surrendered; its officers, among them Eustachius De Lannoy, were taken prisoner.
01The pepper coast
Marthanda Varma was uniting the small states of southern Kerala and taking their pepper trade into his own hands, which threatened the Dutch monopoly. The VOC sent troops from Ceylon who landed at Kolachel and began to raid inland towards Padmanabhapuram. Travancore’s Nair infantry and the local fishermen boxed them in on the shore. Cut off from the sea and short of supplies, the Dutch surrendered.
02De Lannoy
Among the prisoners was a Flemish officer, Eustachius De Lannoy. Marthanda Varma took him into service. De Lannoy drilled the Travancore army in European fashion and built the Udayagiri fort; he served the state for the rest of his life and is buried there. A pillar at Kolachel marks the victory, and a painting of the Dutch surrender hangs in the Padmanabhapuram palace. In 1750 Marthanda Varma dedicated his kingdom to Sri Padmanabha, ruling thereafter as the deity’s servant.
Kolachel ended Dutch ambitions on the Malabar coast; the treaty of Mavelikkara in 1753 confirmed it.