Hyder Ali had captured the Malabar region of the present day Kerala state. Tipu’s religious policies resulted in the persecution of Hindus and Christians who were granted asylum in Travancore The strength of the Travancore Nair Army was greatly reduced after several earlier battles with Hyder Ali’s forces. The death of the Dutch-born commander Valiya-kappitan Eustachius De Lannoy in 1777 further diminished the morale of the soldiers. The death of Makayiram Thirunal and Asvati Thirunal in 1786 forced the Travancore royal family to adopt two princesses from Kolathunad. As the threat of an invasion by Tipu Sultan loomed in the horizon, Travancore’s maharajah Dharma Raja tried to rebuild his army by appointing Chempakaraman Pillai as the dalawa and Kesava Pillai as the sarvadhikaryakkar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hyder Ali had captured the Malabar region of the present day Kerala state. Tipu’s religious policies resulted in the persecution of Hindus and Christians who were granted asylum in Travancore The strength of the Travancore Nair Army was greatly reduced after several earlier battles with Hyder Ali’s forces. The death of the Dutch-born commander Valiya-kappitan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kerala-facts-renaissance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n