On February 11, 1802, the ship Admiral Nelson started its journey from the Thoothukudi port to Penang in Malaysia. On board were 73 prisoners, including Vengai Periya Udayana Devar, the Sivaganga ruler and the first Indian king to be exiled by the British. Another high-profile prisoner was Duraisamy, aged around 14, the son of Chinna Marudu of the Marudu Brothers who were hanged by the British at Tirupattur (in Sivaganga) after their defeat in the Kalayarkoil war in 1801. There were also four Palayakarars or Poligars among the prisoners and a lot of others were Maravar leaders from the Kalakadu-Nanguneri areas in Tirunelveli district.
Though the Kalayarkoil war was described as the First War of Independence by historian K. Rajaiyan in his book, South Indian Rebellion, the valour, bravery and ordeal of these freedom fighters were overshadowed by what modern historian Vikram Sampath describes as the popular Indian historiography, especially the one taught to our future generations in schools and colleges that is heavily tilted towards Delhi.
While every student of history in the country is taught the story of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor who was exiled to Burma after the 1857 rebellion, known as Sepoy Mutiny, a similar story from Tamil Nadu 56 years before the deposition of Bahadur Shah Zafar largely remained untold.
While Vikram Sampath’s book, Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History, has included a chapter of Velu Nachiyar, the ruler of Sivaganga and mother-in-law of Periya Udayana Devar, it is the Sahitya Akademi award-winning novel Kala Pani (Black Water), written by retired IAS officer M. Rajendran, which sheds light on the dark history of the Indian freedom movement.
A colonial practice
Kala Pani, known as Theevanthira Thandanai, was a practice followed by the British to exile the rebels to an unknown island. Mr. Rajendran, who has delved into the mental state of the prisoners in the novel, says hanging was a better option than Kala Pani because living in an unknown place was torture and humiliation. The exile was codenamed “operation demolition” by Edward Clive, the Governor of Madras.
Colonel James Welsh, the friend-turned-foe of the Marudu Brothers, poignantly captures the situation of the prisoners waiting to be exiled. “Never shall I forget the day, when, on the wharf at Tutucorine, I consigned my charge over to Lieutenant Rockhead (the captain of the ship). I still seem to see the combination of affection and despair which marked the fine countenance of my young friend Dora Swamy, as I handed him into the bolt; and the manly and silent misery, which his companions in affliction displayed, on quitting their dear native land forever,” recalls Welsh in his Military Reminiscences.
All prisoners were chained in two to prevent them from ending their lives by jumping into the sea. Duraisamy, who would always be seen in the company of Vengai Periya Udayana Devar, was paired with Chokku Dalavai of Thirukurungudi. Jagannatha Iyer, the Amaldar of the Ramanathapuram Sethupathy, was tied together with Sheik Hussain, a rebel from Dindigul, who was involved in the Coimbatore jail break.
“The British wanted to convey the message that those who were being exiled should never cherish their past glory and demolish the hierarchy that existed among them before the defeat,” explains Mr. Rajendran.
The ship carrying them had a non-stop voyage of 74 days, and three persons died during the journey. When one of the prisoners was found dead in mysterious circumstances, his body was thrown into the sea. Another prisoner, who had been chained together with the dead, remained shocked and suddenly jumped into the sea and ended his life.
Three persons ended their lives before the ship reached Penang. Three persons lost their minds and ran into the forest when the ship anchored. On reaching Penang, the British decided to separate the king from the others and sent him to Sumatra, where he was lodged in a mosquito- and rat-infested prison at Fort Marlborough in Bengkulu city.
Toll on health
“Mosquito-borne diseases took a heavy toll on his health, and he died in three months on September 19, 1802, at the age of 34,” said Mr. Rajendran, who visited the prisons before penning the novel. The other prisoners in Penang were released before the king’s exile to Marlborough.
James Welsh had recalled meeting Duraisamy in Penang as “a miserable decrepit old man”. “I demanded his name and business, he looked for some time in my face, the tears ran down his furrowed cheek, and at length, he uttered the word Dora Swamy! It came like a dagger to my heart,” he recalls.
In 1820, 11 persons, including Duraisamy, returned to India. Earlier, it was thought that Duraisamy died in Madurai. But a letter from Madurai Collector Rose Peter, on May 19, 1821, had confirmed that he could reach Sivaganga. Duraisamy died there on May 22, 1820.
