Singampatti

Singampatti is traditionally recognized as one of the 72 palaiyams of Tamil Nadu. This Maravar palaiyam headed 24 of 72 palaiyams was located in the Ambasamudram taluk, two miles from the spurs of the Western Ghats, in the former Tirunelveli province of the Nayak kingdom of Madurai.HistoryIts polygar belonged to the Siruthaali-Katti subcaste of the Maravar. According to tradition, the founder of the Singampati family was Apadhurhara Thevar, who on orders from the Pandyan ruler of the day, routed an invading Kannada army and, as a reward, was given possession of Singampati. The fifth in descent was made polygar of Singampati by Visvanatha Nayakar, the first king of Madurai. This palaiyam headed 24 palaiyams of 72 palaiyams of south Tamil Nadu (Undivided Tirunelveli,Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari)Coalition with Puli Thevar in Poligar WarSingampati was one of the palaiyams that joined Pooli Thevan’s coalition in 1754-1761 (see Nerkattumseval). In 1766, it joined the insurrectiont led by the polegar of Kollamkondan after victories over the Anglo-Nawabi forces helped the revolt spread to other polygars. That same year, General Donald Campbell began a systematic campaign, taking the forts of the major confederates one by one, including Singampati. Anxious over Hyder Ali’s activities, however, Campbell settled the polegars’ revenue accounts and restored them to their possessions in 1767.Post 1799At the end of the First Polygar War in 1799, the polygar of Singampati surrendered one fort and 105 armed men to Major J. Bannerman. The palaiyam, which had been under the Company’s administration since 1798, was restored to its former chief, Polygar Nellakotti Thevar(Nallakutti Thevar), in 1801, at the conclusion of the Second Polegar War; it survived into the 19th century as a zamindari. The zamindari originally had an area of more than 90 sq. m., and included four villages.