01Minister under a subsidy
He came from Thalakulam in the south of Travancore, rose by force of character and became Dalawa under Maharaja Balarama Varma. He cleared the treasury of corruption, punished officials hard, and pushed through roads and markets. The treaty of 1805 tied Travancore to the Company with a heavy annual subsidy for troops it had not asked for. When the state fell behind, the British Resident Colin Macaulay pressed the Dalawa, interfered in the court, and treated the Maharaja as his subordinate.
02Kundara and Mannadi
In December 1808, together with Paliath Achan of Kochi, he attacked the Residency at Kochi; Macaulay escaped by boat. In January 1809, at Kundara near Kollam, he issued a proclamation in Malayalam calling on the people to drive out the Company, which he warned would take their land and their dharma. Company troops came in from both north and south and the Travancore forces were beaten at Kollam and elsewhere. The Maharaja made peace. Velu Thampi withdrew to the Bhagavathi temple at Mannadi and died there by his own hand in 1809. The Company had his body hung on a gibbet at Kannammoola.
