Dheeran Chinnamalai

Dheeran Chinnamalai (17 April 1756 - 31 July 1805), the Kongu Nadu palayakkarar who led the 1800-1805 Western Tamil Nadu guerilla campaign against the British East India Company. Born at Melapalayam in Erode district, Chinnamalai was initially an ally of Tipu Sultan's Mysore sultanate; after Tipu's 1799 fall he led the Kongu peasants in a Gandhian-anticipating economic boycott of British textiles. His guerilla operations across the Kongu-Nilgiri hills ended with his capture through betrayal and public hanging at Sankagiri Fort on 31 July 1805. The Tamil Nadu government's 1996 statue at Sankagiri and the 2005 Dheeran Chinnamalai 200-year anniversary commemoration honour his legacy.