Krishna Varma Raja was Eralpad or eldest prince of Calicut.

Also known as Kishen Varma or Kishen Raja in British records.

He rose to fame during turbulent days that followed Hyder's second conquest of Malabar in 1774. Manavikraman Raja of Calicut fled away to Travancore and thus his second in command Krishna Varma becomes de facto head of state.(2)

Oppressive nature of Mysore rule threw whole of Malabar into a state of revolt that lasted throughout Mysore occupation of Malabar (1774 to 1791). Kingdom of Calicut covered much of South Malabar and here resistance to Mysore rule was led by Krishna Varma and his nephews, of whom Ravi Varma the Elder

Ravi Varma of Padinjare Kovilakam

Ravi Varma Raja was a Nair warrior prince from Calicut who fought a two decade long revolt against the Mysore Sultanate under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan between 1766–1768 and 1774–1791, and the British East India Company in 1793....

 and Ravi Varma the Younger were most prominent.(2)

Krishna Varma from traditional seat of Eralpad in Karimpuzha

Karimpuzha

Karimpuzha is a village in Ottapalam taluk, Palakkad district. The Karimpuzha River is one of the tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River. Bharathapuzha is the fourth longest riverin Kerala, south India. A famous Sree Rama Swamy Temple is situated on the banks of this River. Temple was owned by...

, present Palghat district, commanded a large resistance movement which took form of guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

. His nephew Ravi Varma the Elder acted as Commander In Chief of rebel military force. Rebels foiled all effort of Mysore government to set up a working administration in South Malabar.(1)(2)

In 1788, he went in person to Calicut to negotiate peace with Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...

but disgusted by forcible conversions decided not to cooperate with Sultan. But in order to escape from Tipu's camp, he agreed to all proposals of Sultan and even received a large sum from Tipu as reward, but once he fled to safety of Karimpuzha, he broke his promise and renewed revolt on a greater scale.(2)

He died in 1793.

Citations

1. Buchanan, Francis (1807). A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar. T. Cadell and W. Davies. Retrieved 2012-11-14.

2. Iyyer, K. V. Krishna (1938). The Zamorins of Calicut: (from the earliest times down to AD 1806). Publ. Division, Univ.

3. Logan, William (1887). Malabar manual, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120604469. Retrieved 2012-11-14.