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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[OCTOBER, 1916
Naik's ministers, hurried to Madura, gave his version of the situation in Râmnâd, and by a skilful exertion of the arts of persuasion, convinced them of his claim to the estate; and Tirumal Naik, without bestowing attention on the justice of his measure or even summoning the other claimant to explain things, condemned the latter unheard, and invested the intriguing Tambi with the musnud. When the new ruler returned to Râmnad, however, he found in his rival a soldier who was ready to fight for his cause to the bitter end. Tirumal Naik had therefore to senil a large force under his General Ramappaiya and enforce his sovereign will. The version given by Mr. Nelson and J. W. L., purporting to be derived from the family histories collected by them, bars some resemblance to Wilson's, but varies in minor details. They say that Kattan had not five sons but only two, one legitimate, named Sadayakka, and the other illegitimate, Tainbi' by name. On his death, Kûttan bequeathed his estate to Sadayakka or Dalavậi Setupati, as he was also known to his contemporaries. Sadayakka maintained an efficient rule for two years (1635-7), when for some unknown reason, he desired to abdicate the throne in favour of his adopted son, Raghunatha. It was at this stage that the soaring ambition of the illegitimate Tambi created a party in his favour, and even gained the support and the military championship of Tirumal Naik,
Ramappaiyan's army of expedition against Ramnad. The actual operations of the war which followed are given in an exceedingly picturesque, spirited and dramatic manner, in the long and beautiful ballad Ram appaiyanAmminai. Like the majority of historical ballads, it is not quite accurate either in its 1xrsonalities or its dates. It has, as we shall see presently, some anachronisms. Nevertheless its fine and realistic, though one sided, description of the war, of the chiefs of the different sides, and the light it throws on the military customs and methods of war, make it, apart from its fine and spirited language, one of the most valuable historic documents of the period. The poem opens with an interview between Tirumal Naik and his great General Ramappaiya. News had just been received that the Narava chief she wed signs of turbulence and disaffection, and the king was very anxious about it. Ramappaiya asks in earnest and boastful language to be honoured with the
Madura Manual p, 128 and Cal. Review.
7 For a very absurd and inacourate version of the war, seo Storia do Mogor III, 100-102. The • Tevara' of the Maravas, he says, a giant who ate as much as 20 men and drank much wine, rebelled. Tho Madura king sent 80,000 men under General Chinna Tambi Mudaliar. Astute and valiant, this soldier met the 35,000 troops of the Tevara, 'defeated him, massacred his people, and brought him as a prisoner to Madura. The king admired his stature and valour and kept him fettered in the audience hall as an obiect of recreation. When the king once asked him what he would have done in oase he himself had by some chanoe fallen a prisoner into his hands, the bold chief replied that he would havo pounde. him in a mortar, then mixed with clay, and made pellets for his boys to shoot birds with. The king instead of being angry, was struck with this reply, and offered to set him free on payment of 40,000 pagodas worth of precious stones. The king's General, however, insisted on the Tévar's death, and offered double the amount to the king; and threatened to become a Yogin if the king refused. The Tovar was thereupon horribly murdered, limb after limb boing out off. The king then conquered the Marava country and entered the capital. “The Marava women pledged their word to each other that they would deny their husbands all marital rights" till they took vengeance on the Madura king: and they succeeded in killing his General and his men in one night. They then raised to the throne a nephew of Tevara, who made a brave defence and established himself firmly. Storia do Mogor III. Pp. 99-102.
