A rare letter alerting the East India Company’s top military officials to the revolt of the Marudu Brothers of Sivaganga against the British has been discovered in the Government Archives in Chennai.
It was a communiqué about Srirangam Prakadanam (declaration) or Jamputheevu Prakadanam made by the Marudu Brothers on June 16, 1801, urging people to revolt against the British. Jamputheevu, also known as Navalamtheevu, is another name for India as it is surrounded by seas on three sides. The discovery marks the 222nd anniversary of the declaration.
“Wherever you find any of the low wretches, destroy them and continue to do so until they are exported. Whoever serves the low wretches will never enjoy eternal bliss after death, I know this,” says the declaration of the younger Marudu brother, who calls himself the “servant of the great Rajahs, but the implacable enemy of the European low wretches”. The declaration was posted up on Nawab’s palace in the Tiruchi fort, and on the walls of one of the ‘Poligars’ (Palayakars) at Srirangam.
