The Battle of Mallavelly and the role played by the Mallas in the battle. -M. Nanjundaswami IPS

The Battle of Mallavelly and the role played by the Mallas in the battle

M. Nanjundaswami IPS

The Battle of Mallavelly

The Battle of Mallavelly  (also spelled Malvilly, today it is called Malavally) was fought on 27 March 1799 between forces of the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. The British forces, led by Colonel Arthur Wellesley, drove the Mysorean force of Tipu Sultan from a defensive position designed to impede the British force's progress toward Mysore's capital, Seringapatam.

In the back ground you can see the Dodda Holayara Keri. In those days Mallas (Holeyas) lived in the area.

The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War

The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799) was a war in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company under the Earl of Mornington.

Napoleon's landing in Egypt in 1798 was intended to threaten India, and Kingdom of Mysore was a key to that next step as the ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, was a staunch ally of France. Although Horatio Nelson crushed Napoleon's ambitions at the Battle of the Nile, three armies - one from Bombay, and two British (one of which contained a division that was commanded by Colonel Arthur Wellesley, the future 1st Duke of Wellington) nevertheless marched into Mysore in 1799 and besieged the capital, Srirangapatnam, after some engagements with the Tipu's armies. On 8 March, a forward force managed to hold off an advance by Tipu at the Battle of Seedaseer. On 4 May, the armies broke through the defending walls and Tipu Sultan, rushing to the breach, was shot and killed. Tipu was betrayed in this war by his general, Mir Sadiq,who was bought over by the British. Sadiq sent the army to collect wages at the height of the battle thus giving the British a chance to enter through a breach in the castle wall through bombardment.^[1].

Today, the spot where Tipu's body was discovered is fenced by the ASI and a plaque erected. The eastern gate under which his body was found was later demolished in 19th century to lay a wide road.

The British took indirect control of Mysore, restoring the Wodeyar dynasty to the Mysore throne (with a British commissioner to advise him on all issues). Tipu's young heir, Fateh Ali, was sent into exile. The Kingdom of Mysore became a princely state of British India, and ceded Coimbatore, North Kanara, and South Kanara to the British. The war, specifically the Battle of Mallevey and the Siege of Seringapatam, are portrayed in the novel Sharpe's Tiger which portrays many of the key protagonists.

The Mallas in the battle

The Malavas or Holeyas who were called Malloyis by Tolemy and also called Mallas by the British in their writings were the major antagonists of the British in the battle. Tipu sultan trusted the Malla soldiers more than any of his other soldiers for their bravery, obedience, and battle worthiness. It was one of the reasons why the battle took place in Mallavelly; the present Malavally in the Mandya district of Karnataka. The Malla soldiers attacking the Colonel Arthur Wellesley’s British army can be seen in the painting shown at the top of the article.

The Holeyas of Malavally have a sour memory of the battle even now. In their tongue you can hear the idiom Mir Sadiq for any one who betrays the master.

One notable military advance championed by Tipu Sultan was the use of mass attacks with iron-cased rocket brigades in the army. The effect of these weapons on the British during the Third and Fourth Mysore Wars was sufficiently impressive to inspire William Congreve to develop the Congreve rockets. This was the last of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars.

The Holeyas used the gun powder and the rocket technology to defend their Mysore Kingdom. The reminiscence of the battle and the rocket technology can be seen even today in the use of gun powder in the temples controlled by the Holeyas of Malavally Taluq. In the Mane Manchi (Mancheshwari) temple in Halasally Village no festivity goes without the sound of the gunpowder and the rockets launched by the Ur Yajaman (the leader of the Village).

The puppet government of the British which took over the reins of the administration of the Mysore kingdom under the instructions of the British commissioner who was posted to Mysore to advise the King on all issues led by the Diwan Poornaiah issued orders to the Mallas not to use rockets, gunpowder, their traditional Bichchugatti (Open sword), Choori (a bent knife), Kathari (Battle Worthy Knife), Beesu Kodli( Axe used in the Battles) and Eradu Nalage Machchu ( Double edged machete).

Apart from these military restrictions the Holeyas suffered at the hands of the British puppet government and lost several religious and traditional privileges enjoyed in the first grade temples of the Mysore Kingdom. To quote here the words of Mr. Edgar Thurston “In 1799 (after the battle of Mallavelly), however, when the the Dewan (prime minister) Purnaiya visited the holy place, (Melukote Chaluva Narayana Temple), the right of the outcastes (Mallas, Holeyas and Madigas) to enter the temple was stopped at the dhvaja stambham, the consecrated monolithic column, from which point alone can they now obtain a view of the god.”

The Holeyas (Mallas) suffered until their importance was realized by the Krisna Raja Wodeyar. But an irreproachable damage was done to the pride and prestige of the Mallas by then. The benevolent Wodeyar to mitigate the sour memories of the Holeyas constructed the Modern English School in Malavally; in the place where the battle took place and predominantly habited by the Mallas, the Holeyas were preferentially employed by his government; in his factories and offices and Malavally got hydro power stations and electricity. The Holeya Keris ( Areas Principally habited by Holeyas) got the first electrified houses and electrical street lights even prior to the Mysore Palace. Thus modern education and modern life style creeped into the houses of Holeyas and they contributed to the first batch of modern medicine doctors, engineers, civil servants, and teachers of Mysore Kingdom. The reasons mentioned here explain enough about the high academic, finanacial, political and social levels achieved by the Holeyas of Malavally in particular and those of Old Mysore region of Karnataka in general.

A few such acts of generosity shown by the King have brought back the confidence among the Holeyas in Malavally. Today they can be seen in all the walks of life. They don’t forget the King. One can see the photographs of both Sri Kisna Raja Wodeyar as well as Tipu Sultan in the Houses of Holeyas on par with their god Malle Madappa (Malai Madeshwara) and their ancestors.

 References

1.  Mysorean Military Commanders and Officials at Sedaseer and Seringapatam in 1799

2. Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston

A note on Athena Polias and her protectorate Acropolis

A note on Athena Polias and her protectorate Acropolis as an evidence to link the Holias of Karnataka with ancient civilization.

Athens is the Greek capital. The ancient Greeks worshiped Goddess Athena. They had built a huge monumental temple for her. They revered her as Athena Polias; protectress of the city. Every ancient Greek city was protected by polias. Polias were the benevolent protectors of the polis; citizen. The words polis and polias hold a mysterious history of mankind in them. They are in my opinion the roots of pole, poleya, paraiah, hole, holeya and holis, holias and other similar words originating from same roots.

The Malas, Malavas, and Holeyas even now worship Poleya Amma, Poleamma, Poleramma, Poleyappa, Potappa, and other Gods and Godesses as their village gods or Ur Amma or Ur Ayya or Ur Dingir or Ur Dindar; whose names resemble the Polias; the protectress of the city. 

The internal administration by the Poleyas, Holeyas, Malas, or Malavas is similar to the administration of the early Greeks. the oligarchy is reminiscent in the villages of these communities in the form of Ur Yajamans.The Malavas call them Kul-da-varu or Kuladavaru or Ur Aid Jana (Five Leaders of the Village). The Indian languages have a word Panchas or Pancharu. These words are similar to the words mentioned above. They all mean the oligarchy.

Pleasse refer here the  article-Polis: let us understand the word and concept behind it. 

http://malavaphilologicalacademy.blogspot.com/2011/05/polis-let-us-understand-word-and.html

The word Polis rhymes with Holis and Polias rhymes with Holias.

The basic knowledge of philology is sufficient to link the words Polis, Polias with Holis and Holias, and Holeyas.

Please read the connecting articles and you would get an insight into the grand history of the Holeyas, Malas, Malavas, and such other communities who are not in great social positions now. But you can visualize their slips from their grandeur to the present position over a long human history.

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Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis (Gr. akros, akron,^[1] edge, extremity + polis, city, pl. acropoleis) in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007.^[2] The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king.

HISTORY

Early settlement

While the earliest artifacts date to the Middle Neolithic era, there have been documented habitations in Attica from the Early Neolithic (6th millennium BC). There is little doubt that a Mycenaean megaron stood upon the hill during the late Bronze Age. Nothing of this megaron survives except, probably, a single limestone column-base and pieces of several sandstone steps. Soon after the palace was constructed, a Cyclopean massive circuit wall was built, 760 meters long, up to 10 meters high, and ranging from 3.5 to 6 meters thick. This wall would serve as the main defense for the acropolis until the 5th century.^[3] The wall consisted of two parapets built with large stone blocks and cemented with an earth mortar called emplekton.^[4] The wall follows typical Mycenaean convention in that it followed the natural contour of the terrain and its gate was arranged obliquely, with a parapet and tower overhanging the incomers' right-hand side, thus facilitating defense. There were two lesser approaches up the hill on its north side, consisting of steep, narrow flights of steps cut in the rock. Homer is assumed to refer to this fortification when he mentions the "strong-built House of Erechtheus" (Odyssey 7.81). At some point before the 13th century an earthquake caused a fissure near the northeastern edge of the acropolis. This fissure extended some thirty five meters to a bed of soft marl in which a well was dug.^[5] An elaborate set of stairs was built and the well was used as a protected source of drinking water during some portion of the Mycenaean period, as it was invaluable in times of siege.

The Dark Ages

There is no conclusive evidence for the existence of a Mycenaean palace on top of the Athenian Acropolis. However, if there was such a palace, it seems to have been transplanted by later building activity on the Acropolis. Not much is known as to the architectural appearance of the Acropolis until the archaic era. In the 7th and the 6th centuries BC, the site was taken over by Kylon during the failed Kylonian revolt, and twice by Pisistratus: all attempts directed at seizing political power by coups d' etat. Nevertheless, it seems that a nine-gate wall, the Enneapylon, had been built around the biggest water spring, the "Clepsydra", at the northwestern foot.

Archaic Acropolis and Athena Polias

A temple sacred to "Athena Polias" (Protectress of the City) was quickly erected by mid-6th century BC. This Doric limestone building, from which many relics survive, is referred to as the "Bluebeard" temple, named after the pedimental three-bodied man-serpent sculpture, whose beards were painted dark blue. Whether this temple replaced an older one, or a mere sacred precinct or altar, is not known. In the late 6th century BC yet another temple was built, usually referred to as the Archaios Naos (Old Temple). This temple of Athena Polias was built upon the Doerpfeld foundations.^[6] It is unknown where the "Bluebeard" temple was built. There are two popular theories (1) the "Bluebeard" temple was built upon the Doerpfeld foundations, (2) the "Bluebeard" temple was built where the Parthenon now stands.^[7] That being said it is unknown if the "Bluebeard" temple and the Archaios Naos coexisted.

To confuse matters, by the time the "Bluebeard" Temple had been dismantled, a newer and grander marble building, the "Older Parthenon" (often called the "Ur-Parthenon", German for "Early Parthenon"), was started following the victory at Marathon in 490 BC. To accommodate it, the south part of the summit was cleared of older remnants, made level by adding some 8,000 two-ton blocks of Piraeus limestone, a foundation 11 m (36 ft) deep at some points, and the rest filled with earth kept in place by the retaining wall.

The Older Parthenon was still under construction when the Persians sacked the city in 480 BC. The building was burned and looted, along with the Archaios Naos and practically everything else on the rock. After the Persian crisis had subsided, the Athenians incorporated many of the unfinished temple's architectural members (unfluted column drums, triglyphs, metopes, etc.) into the newly built northern curtain wall of the Acropolis, where they serve as a prominent "war memorial" and can still be seen today. The devastated site was cleared of debris. Statuary, cult objects, religious offerings and unsalvageable architectural members were buried ceremoniously in several deeply dug pits on the hill, serving conveniently as a fill for the artificial plateau created around the classic Parthenon. This "Persian debris" is the richest archaeological deposit excavated on the Acropolis.

The Periclean building program

Most of the major temples were rebuilt under the leadership of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens (460–430 BC). Phidias, a great Athenian sculptor, and Ictinus and Callicrates, two famous architects, were responsible for the reconstruction. During the 5th century BC, the Acropolis gained its final shape. After winning at Eurymedon in 468 BC, Cimon and Themistocles ordered the reconstruction of southern and northern walls, and Pericles entrusted the building of the Parthenon to Ictinus and Callicrates.

In 437 BC, Mnesicles started building the Propylaea, monumental gates with columns of Pentelic marble, partly built upon the old propylaea of Pisistratus. These colonnades were almost finished in 432 BC and had two wings, the northern one serving as picture gallery. At the same time, south of the propylaea, building of the small Ionic Temple of Athena Nike commenced. After an interruption caused by the Peloponnesian War, the temple was finished in the time of Nicias' peace, between 421 BC and 415 BC.

During the same period as the building of the Erechtheum, a combination of sacred precincts including the temples of Athena Polias, Poseidon, Erechtheus, Cecrops, Herse, Pandrosos and Aglauros, with its so-called the Kore Porch (or Caryatids' balcony), was begun.

Between the temple of Athena Nike and the Parthenon, there was the temenos of Artemis Brauronia or Brauroneion, the goddess represented as a bear and worshipped in the deme of Brauron. The archaic xoanon of the goddess and a statue made by Praxiteles in the 4th century BC were both in the sanctuary.

Behind the Propylaea, Phidias' gigantic bronze statue of Athena Promachos ("she who fights in the front line"), built between 450 BC and 448 BC, dominated. The base was 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) high, while the total height of the statue was 9 m (30 ft). The goddess held a lance whose gilt tip could be seen as a reflection by crews on ships rounding Cape Sounion, and a giant shield on the left side, decorated by Mys with images of the fight between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. Other monuments that have left almost nothing visible to the present day are the Chalkotheke, the Pandroseion, Pandion's sanctuary, Athena's altar, Zeus Polieus's sanctuary and, from Roman times, the circular temple of Augustus and Rome.

Hellenistic and Roman period

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many of the existing buildings in the area of the Acropolis were repaired, due to damage from age, and occasionally, war.^[8] Monuments to foreign kings were erected, notably those of the Attalid kings of Pergamon Attalos II (in front of the NW corner of the Parthenon), and Eumenes II, in front of the Propylaia. These were rededicated during the early Roman Empire to Augustus (or perhaps Cladius), and Agrippa, respectively.^[9] Eumenes was also responsible for constructing a stoa on the South slope, not unlike that of Attalos in the Agora below.

During the Julio-Claudian period, the Temple of Rome and Augustus, a small, round edifice, about 23 meters from the Parthenon, was to be the last significant ancient construction on the summit of the rock.^[10] Around the same time, on the North slope, in a cave next to the one dedicated to Pan since the classical period, a sanctuary was founded where the archons dedicated to Apollo on taking office.^[11] In the following century, on the South slope, Herodes Atticus built his grand odeon. During the 3rd century, under threat from a Herulian invasion, repairs were made to the Acropolis walls, and the "Beule Gate" was constructed to restrict entrance in front of the Propylaia, thus returning the Acropolis to use as a fortress.^[8]

Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman period

In the Byzantine period, the Parthenon was turned into a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Under the Latin Duchy of Athens, the Acropolis functioned as the city's administrative center, with the Parthenon as its cathedral, and the Propylaia as part of the Ducal Palace. A large tower was added, the "Frankopyrgos" (Tower of the Franks), demolished in the 19th century. After the Ottoman conquest, the Parthenon was used as the garrison headquarters of the Turkish army,^[12] and the Erechtheum was turned into the Governor's private Harem. The buildings of the Acropolis suffered significant damage during the 1687 siege by the Venetians in the Morean War. The Parthenon, which was being used as a gunpowder magazine, was hit by artillery fire and severely damaged. In subsequent years, the Acropolis was a site of bustling human activity with many Byzantine, Frankish, and Ottoman structures. The dominating feature during the Ottoman period was a mosque inside the Parthenon, complete with a minaret. Following the Greek War of Independence, most post-Byzantine features were cleared from the site as part of a Hellenizing project that swept the new nation-state.

Archaeological remains Acropolis

The entrance to the Acropolis was a monumental gateway called the Propylaea. To the south of the entrance is the tiny Temple of Athena Nike. A bronze statue of Athena, sculpted by Phidias, originally stood at its centre. At the centre of the Acropolis is the Parthenon or Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). East of the entrance and north of the Parthenon is the temple known as the Erechtheum. South of the platform that forms the top of the Acropolis there are also the remains of an outdoor theatre called Theatre of Dionysus. A few hundred metres away, there is the now partially reconstructed Theatre of Herodes Atticus.

All the valuable ancient artifacts are situated in the Acropolis Museum, which resides on the southern slope of the same rock, 280 metres from the Parthenon.

The Acropolis Restoration Project

The Project began in 1975 and is now nearing completion. The aim of the restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, destruction by acts of war, and misguided past restorations. The project included collection and identification of all stone fragments, even small ones, from the Acropolis and its slopes and the attempt was made to restore as much as possible using reassembled original material - with new marble from Mount Penteli used sparingly. All restoration was made using titanium dowels and is designed to be completely reversible, in case future experts decide to change things. A combination of cutting-edge modern technology and extensive research and reinvention of ancient techniques were used.

The Parthenon colonnades, largely destroyed by Venetian bombardment in the 17th century, were restored, with many wrongly assembled columns now properly placed. The roof and floor of the Propylaea were partly restored, with sections of the roof made of new marble and decorated with blue and gold inserts, as in the original. The temple of Athena Nike is the only edifice still unfinished, pending proper reassembly of its parts, all of which survive practically intact.

A total of 2,675 tons of architectural members were restored, with 686 stones reassembled from fragments of the originals, 905 patched with new marble, and 186 parts made entirely of new marble. A total of 530 cubic meters of new Pentelic marble were used.

Cultural significance

Every four years, the Athenians held a festival called the Panathenaea that rivalled the Olympic Games in popularity. During the festival, a procession moved through Athens up to the Acropolis and into the Parthenon (Suggested to be depicted on the Parthenon frieze). There, a vast robe of woven wool (peplos) was ceremoniously placed on Phidias' massive ivory and gold statue of Athena.

References

Notes

1.                              ^ acro-. (n.d.). In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: Quote: "[From Greek akros, extreme; see ak- in Indo-European roots.] "

2.                              ^ "Acropolis proclaimed top European Cultural Heritage Monument". News.xinhuanet.com. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2010-12-23.

3.                              ^ Hurwit 2000, p. 74-75.

4.                              ^ ἔμπλεκτος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library

5.                              ^ Hurwit 2000, p. 78.

6.                              ^ Hurwit 2000, p. 121.

7.                              ^ Hurwit 2000, p. 111.

8.                              ^ ^{a b} Travlos, John, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens, London: Thames and Hudson, 1971. p.54.

9.                              ^ Hurwit 2000 p. 278

10.                          ^ Hurwit 2000, p. 279.

11.                          ^ Nulton, Peter, The Sanctuary of Apollo Hypoakraios and Imperial Athens, Archaeologia Transatlantica XXI, 2003.

12.                          ^ Hellenistic ministry of culture History of the Acropolis of Athens

Bibliography

• Hurwit, J (2000). "The Athenian Acropolis", Cambridge University Press

External links

• The Acropolis of Athens (Greek Government website)
• The Acropolis Restoration Project (Greek Government website)
• The Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Acropolis, Athens
• Ancient Athens 3D
• Reconstruction of the ancient Acropolis
• Excerpt on the geology of Athens from: A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean by Michael and Reynold Higgins, Cornell University Press, 1996
• The Acropolis of Athens: photo album and description
• Acropolis of Athens, Full Reconstruction, animation by the Technological Research Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela, on YouTube
• Timelapse video of Acropolis during Earth Hour 2010 Timelapse showing how the Acropolis of Athens switched off & on the lights during Earth Hour 2010