Polygar Rebellions (1799-1805):

• Polygars (Palaiyakkarars) were feudal lords who were appointed as military chiefs and administrative governors from the time of the Vijayanagara Empire in parts of Southern India. (They were given the charge of a Palayam or a group of villages).
• It was the Polygars who collected taxes from the cultivators.
• But the East India Company came into conflict with the Polygars over the question of who should collect taxes, and sought to control the Polygars.
• The first rebellion, also called the First Polygar War broke out in September 1799 in Tirunelveli district in modern Tamil Nadu.
• The Polygars were led by Kattabomma Nayak (also called Veerapandi Kattabomman) who was in charge of Panchalankurichi Palayam.
• In the battles with the British troops, Kattabomman initially escaped but was subsequently caught and publicly hanged as a warning to other Polygars.