Causes for the revolt:
i) The British had acquired the revenue districts of Salem and Dindigul under their control.
ii) The status of the Raja of Thanjavur was reduced.
iii) The nawab of Arcot was to cede five districts to the British
Grievances of the Indian soldiers:
i) The sepoys in the British Indian army nursed a strong sense of resentment over low salary and poor prospects of promotion.
ii) The English army officers' scant respect for the social and religious sentiments of the Indian Sepoys also angered them.
The New army regulations:
i) The Indian soldiers were asked not to wear caste marks or ear rings when in uniform.
ii) They were to be cleanly shaven on the chin and maintain uniformity about how their moustache looked.
Outbreak of the Revolt:
i) On 10 July 1806, in the early hours, the sepoys started the revolt.
ii) Colonel Fan Court, who commanded the garrison, was the first victim.
iii) Colonel Mekerras of the 23^rd regiment was killed next.
iv) Major Armstrong was also killed.
v) About a dozen other officers were killed within an hour or so.
Gillespie's Brutality:
i) Major Cootes, who was outside the Fort, informed Colonel Gillespie, the cavalry commandant in Arcot
ii) Gillespie reached the fort along with a squadron of cavalry under the command of Captain Young at 9.00 am.
iii) In the meantime, the rebels proclaimed Fateh Hyder, Tipu's eldest son, as their new ruler and hoisted the tiger flag of Mysore sultans in the Fort.
iv) But the uprising was swiftly crushed by Col. Gillespie, who threw to winds all war ethics.
v) In the course of suppression, according to an eyewitness account, eight hundred soldiers were found dead in the fort alone.
vi) Six hundred soldiers were kept in confinement in Tiruchirappalli and Vellore awaiting inquiry.
Consequences of Revolt :
i) Six of the rebels convicted by the Court of Enquiry were blown from the guns; five were shot dead, eight hanged.
ii) Tipu's sons were ordered to be sent to Calcutta.
iii) The officers and men engaged in the suppression of the revolt were rewarded with prize money and promotion.
iv) Col. Gillespie was given 7,000 pagodas. However, the commander-in-chief Sir John Cradock, the Adjutant General Agnew and Governor William Bentinck were held responsible for the revolt, removed from their office, and recalled to England.
v) The military regulations were treated as withdrawn.
Estimate of Revolt :
i) The Vellore Revolt failed because there was no immediate help from outside.
ii) Recent studies show that the organising part of the revolt was done perfectly by Subedars Sheik Adam and Sheik Hamid and Jamedar Sheik Hussain of the 2^nd battalion of 23^rd regiment and two Subedars and the Jamedar Sheik Kasim of the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment.
iii) Vellore Revolt had all the forebodings of the Great Rebellion of 1857.
iv) The only difference was that there was no civil rebellion following the mutiny.
v) The 1806 revolt was not confined to Vellore Fort.
vi) It had its echoes in Bellary, Walajabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru. Nandydurg and Sankaridurg.

i) In June 1801 Marudhu Pandiyars issued a proclamation of Independence which is called Tiruchirappalli Proclamation.
ii) Chinna Marudhu collected nearly 20,000 men to challenge the English army.
iii) British reinforcements were rushed from Bengal, Ceylon and Malaya.
iv) The rajas of Pudukkottai, Ettayapuram and Thanjavur stood by the British.
v) Divide and rule policy followed by the English spilt the forces of the Palaykkarars soon.
Fall of Sivagangai :
i) In May 1801, the English attacked the rebels in Thanjavur, Thiruchirappalli, Piranmalai and Kalayarkoil.
ii) They were again defeated by the forces of the English.
iii) In the end the superior military strength and the able commanders of the English Company prevailed
iv) The rebellion failed and Sivagangai was annexed in 1801.
Outcomes:
i) Marudhu brothers were executed in the fort of Thirupathur.
ii) Oomathurai and Sevathaiah were captured and beheaded.
iii) Seventy three rebels were exiled to Penang in Malaya.
iv) The palayakkarars fell to the English. The rebellion was suppressed
v) It led to the liquidation of all local chieftains of Tamil Nadu.
vi) The Carnatic Treaty was signed.
vii) The palayakkarar system came to an end in Tamil Nadu.

Veerapandya Kattabomman :
i) He became the Palayakkarar of Panchalamkurichi at the age of thirty, on the death of his father, Jagavira Pandya Kattabomman.
ii) The company had gained the right to collect taxes from Panchalamkurichi.
iii) The company appointed its Collectors to collect taxes from all the Palayams.
iv) The Collectors humiliated the Palayakkarars and adopted force to collect the taxes.
v) This was the bone of contention between the English and Kattabomman.
Confrontation with Jackson :
i) The land revenue arrears from Kattabomman was 3310 Pagodas in 1798.
ii) So Collector Jackson ordered Kattabomman to meet him in Ramanathapuram.
iii) Kattabomman met Jackson in Ramanathapuram on 19 September, 1798.
iv) It is said that Kattabomman had to stand for three hours before the haughty Collector Jackson.
v) Sensing danger, Kattabomman tried to escape along with his minister Sivasubraminanar.
vi) Oomaithurai suddenly entered the fort with his men and helped the escape of Kattabomman.
vii) Sivasubramanianar was taken prisoner.
viii) Kattabomman appeared before the committee that sat on 15 December 1798 and reported on what transpired in Ramanathapuram.
ix) The committee found Kattabomman was not guilty.
x) Jackson was dismissed from service.
xi) Kattabomman cleared almost all the revenue arrears leaving only a balance of 1080 Pagodas.
Kattabomman and the Confederacy of Palayakkarars:
i) Kattabomman was interested in this confederacy.
ii) Marudhu Brothers and Kattabomman jointly decided on a confrontation with the English.
iii) Kattabomman tried to influence Sivagiri Palayakkarar who was a tributary to the Company.
iv) So the Company ordered the army to march on to Tirunelveli.
The siege of Panchalamkarichi :
i) A British force advanced towards Tirunelveli under the leadership of major Bannerman.
ii) On 1^st September 1799 an ultimatum was served on Kattabomman to surrender.
iii) Kattabomman's "evasive reply" prompted Bannerman to attack his fort.
iv) Bannerman moved his entire army to Panchalamkurichi on 5 September.
v) They cut off all the communications to the fort.
vi) Bannerman deputed Ramalinganar to convey a message asking Kattabomman to surrender.
Execution of Kattabomman :
i) Kattabomman escaped to Pudukottai. The British put a prize on his head.
ii) Betrayed by the rajas of Ettayapuram and Pudukottai, Kattabomman was finally captured.
iii) A trial was conducted in front of the palayakkarars.
iv) During the trial Kattabomman bravely admitted all the charges levelled against him.
v) Kattabomman was hanged from a tamarind tree in the old fort of Kayathar, close to Tirunelveli.