Dheeran Chinnamalai
{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title =
| image = Dheeran Chinnamalai1.jpg
| caption = Statue of Dheeran Chinnamalai at Odanilai
| birth_name = Theerthagiri Sarkarai Uthama Kaminda Manradiar
| predecessor =
| successor = British Rule
| father =
| mother =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1756|04|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Kangeyam (present day Tamil Nadu)
| death_date = {{death date and age|1805|07|31|1756|04|17|df=yes}}
| death_place = Sankagiri, Madras Presidency (present day Salem district, Tamil Nadu)
| date of burial = 03 August 1805
| place of burial = Odanilai, Madras Presidency (present day Erode district, Tamil Nadu)
}}
Dheeran Chinnamalai (17 April 1756 – 3 August 1805) was a chieftain who ruled the odanilai region of the present day western Tamil Nadu. He fought against the British East India Company, was later captured and hanged by the British.{{cite book |last=Nandakumar |first=J |title=SWA: Struggle for National Selfhood - Past |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Swa_Struggle_for_National_Selfhood_Past/beejEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Dheeran+Chinnamalai&pg=PA34&printsec=frontcover |publisher=India Scrolls Press |location=New Delhi |year=2022 |page=34 |isbn=978-93-90981-11-3}}
Early life
Dheeran Chinnamalai is first born as Theerthagiri Sarkarai Manradiar on 17 April 1756 near present-day Kangeyam, Tiruppur district in a Kongu Vellalar clan.{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/10/stories/2007071051470300.htm|title=Dheeran Chinnamalai statue to be installed in Odanilai soon|date=10 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201093126/http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/10/stories/2007071051470300.htm|archive-date=1 December 2007|url-status=dead|work=The Hindu|df=dmy-all}}
Reign
Chinnamalai fights against the Kingdom of Mysore who was collecting taxes in the Kongu region.{{Cite news|date=18 April 2016|title=Celebrating Dheeran Chinnamalai: Saluting his ideals or inciting casteist passions?|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/celebrating-dheeran-chinnamalai-saluting-his-ideals-or-inciting-casteist-passions-41796|access-date=27 June 2021|website=The News Minute|language=en}} He later allies himself with Tipu Sultan to fight against the British East India Company. After initial successes in repelling the British at Srirangapatna, he goes back to Odanilai and builds a fortress.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/dheeran-chinnamalai-remembered/article28809609.ece|title=Dheeran Chinnamalai remembered|newspaper=The Hindu|date=3 August 2019|access-date=7 September 2023}} After the deaths of Kattabomman and Tipu Sultan, Chinnamalai becomes one of the commanders in the Second Polygar War in 1801 in the story. He then engages in guerrilla warfare and wins battles at Cauvery in 1801, Odanilai in 1802 and Arachalur in 1804. Later, his army gets defeated in 1805 and he escapes from the British forces.
Death
Chinnamalai was hanged at Sankagiri Fort by the British on 2 August 1805 along with his two brothers. Some sources note the date of his death as July 31.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/Chinnamalai-a-lesser-known-freedom-fighter-of-Kongu-soil/article15270841.ece|title=Chinnamalai, a lesser-known freedom fighter of Kongu soil|work=The Hindu|date=2 August 2008|access-date=7 September 2008}}
{{multiple image
| header =
| direction = horizontal
| image1 = Dheeran Chinnamalai memorial.jpg
| width1 = 75
| caption1 = Dheeran Chinnamalai memorial at Sankagiri
| image2 = Dheeran Chinnamalai 2005 stamp of India.jpg
| width2 = 75
| caption2 = Postage stamp released by India Post
}}
Legacy
Statues and memorials commemorating Chinnamalai exist in Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Erode and Odanilai.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Memorial-of-Dheeran-Chinnamalai-set-for-a-facelift/articleshow/19607361.cms|title=Memorial of Dheeran Chinnamalai set for face lift|date=18 April 2013|work=The Times of India}}
On 31 July 2005, a commemorative postage stamp was released by India Post.{{cite web|url=http://postagestamps.gov.in/Stamps2005.aspx|title=Postage Stamps|publisher=India Post|access-date=12 September 2015}}
Until 1997, Tiruchirapalli division of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation was known as Dheeran Chinnamalai Transport Corporation.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8As_ndJ17jcC&pg=PA143|title=State Transport undertakings|author=P. Jegadish Gandhi|publisher=Deep and Deep|year=1998|isbn=978-8-1762-9084-5|page=143}}
The headquarters of Erode district collectorate and the Erode Municipal Corporation are named after him.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/In-memory-of-a-valiant-Kongu-Chieftain/articleshow/12540624.cms|title=In memory of a valiant Kongu Chieftain|date=5 April 2012|work=The Times of India|access-date=7 September 2023}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
{{Commons}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinnamalai, Dheeran}}
Category:Indian revolutionaries