The Battle of Changanacherry was a battle between the old princely states of Thekkumkur and Travancore in September 1749. Defeat in this decisive battle led to Thekkumkur losing its dominance and expanding the Tranvancore empire to the southern border of the river Meenachilar. The kingdom of Travancore was conquered by the princely states of Kayamkulam and Ambalapuzha under the leadership of Ramayyan Dalawa. Thekkumkur army provided assistance to counter Travancore's invasion of princely state Ambalapuzha. Realizing this, King Marthanda Varma decided to invade Thekkumkoor following the fall of Champakassery.
In the 13th century, Thekkumkur Rajdhani was shifted to Puzhavathu in Changanassery after Thrikkodithanam, Vennimala, Manikandapuram and others. The last king of Thekkumkur was Aditya Varma Manikandan and he resided in the Neerazhi Palace at Changanassery. After hearing of the military advance of the Travancore under the leadership of Ramayyan Dalawa; the crown prince of Thekkumkur then advised Aditya Varma Manikandan to make a friendship with Travancore kingdom by understanding the downfall of princely state Ampalapuzha and the fall of princely state Kayamkulam. Then crown prince went to Thiruvananthapuram and met Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma and requested help. Aditya Varma Manikandan, angry at the crown prince's action, a messenger was sent to Thiruvananthapuram carrying a letter purportedly written by his sick mother. The crown prince had told king Marthanda Varma that this was a strategy to annihilate him, but king persuaded him to go to Changanassery to meet his sick mother and gave him some gifts for Thekkumkur king Aditya Varma Manikandan. When the young prince reached Thekkumkur, he was assassinated by the royal guards at the behest of his elder brother. The king spread the news that the prince Kotha Varma had died of a snake bite. Recognizing the news from Thekkumkur about the wrong decision of the Thekkumkur king, Marthanda Varma of Travancore ordered Ramayyan Dalawa to march to Thekkumkur and capture the king Aditya Varma Manikandan
The War
When the Travancore troops reached Aranmula in the south of Thekkumkur kingdom, the Telugu Brahmins stopped the Travancore army. They were opposed by the Christian and Muslim armies led by De Lannoy. After defeating the Telugu Brahmins at Aranmula, Ramayan Dalawa took over Thiruvalla gramam, where the Vilakkilli Madom Pottimar gave no resistance. Ramayyan's next target was the Neerazhi Palace of Thekkumkur at Changanassery. The Thekkumkur had a larger and stronger army than the other princely states conquered by the Ramayan. The Thekkumkur fort and the Neerazhi palace at Changanasseri were attacked in September 1749. The Vazhappally Pathillathil Potimar assisted the Thekkumkur king in the Neerazhi Palace and transferred him to Nattassery at Kottayam. The Kannamperoor wooden bridge at Vazhappally was destroyed to prevent the Travancore troops from following them in the event of adverse weather. The Thekkumkur king Aditya Verma fled to Calicut and gave refuge to the Zamorin. By this time, Ramayyan had influenced Vazhappadathu Paniker, the commander of Thekkumkur, and had learned the movement secret of the Pathillathil Pottimar. Proceedings of 11 September 1749; On the 28th of the year Malayalam era 925 Chingam, the capital of the Thekkumkur conquered by Ramayyan Dalawa and merged to Travancore kingdom.
The Vazhappally Pathillathil Pottimar
The Pathillathil pottimar were charged with treason because they helped the Thekkumkur' Rajah Aditya Varma Manikandan to escape the Changanassery and resist the march of Marthanda Varma's army by demolishing the Kannanperoor bridge at Vazhappally. The Vazhappally Pottimar initially deterred the Travancore army by the fate of the Thekkumkur Rajah and they did not expect Marthanda Varma to kill brahmins who is the administrator of Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple. Most of the male members of the brahmins family were either killed or exiled after sufficient evidence of conspiracy and murder was procured. Their houses were dug up and all their assets and armies seized by the victorious Marthanda Varma. At the beginning of the 20th century, only one family was left in the Vazhappally Gramam from Pathillathil Pottimar.
