Ettuveetil Pillamar
Ettuveetil Pillamar were the leaders of the land and ‘tharakootams’ known as ‘Arunootavar’ (the military setup of Nairs) established for maintaining law and justice in Venad (kingdom).
[citation needed] The late Rajah left two sons, Padmanabhan and Raman Thampi and a daughter Ummini Thankachi.
Recognizing a dangerous foe in the intelligent and decisive Marthanda Varma, the Pillamar supported the Kunju Thampis.
(It may be stated that according to a popular folklore, Marthanda Varma's enmity towards the Kunju Thampimar was because of their refusal to allow him to marry their sister.
In this entire episode Subhadra, the niece of the Thirumukom (Pillai) of Kudamon, plays an important part in betraying the Eight.
On the day of the Arrat festival when the murder was to take place, Marthanda Varma appeared with an escort strong enough to cow down the Pillamar.
Their houses were dug up (Kulamthondal - a common punishment of the time) and all their assets and armies seized by the victorious Marthanda Varma.
The Travancore State Manual written by scholar V. Nagam Aiya concludes by saying, Thus ended the long tale of crime and bloodshed committed by the lawless band of Ettuveetil Pillai and the Madampimar who molested the land for a period of two centuries and moreLater historians, with many more records available, have disputed the traditional stories, which were based on legend and folklore.
While there is no doubt about the existence of anti-royal nobles before Marthanda Varma, as well as frequent conflicts between the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple managers and the king, many of the events of the past were found to be entirely false.
Earlier historians stated that the King had no authority[1] over the temple and the Ettara Yogam and Pillamar were outside his control.
However the temple lands all lay to the south of Thiruvananthapuram where there were other influential nobles, whereas the bulk of the Pillamar lived to the north.
[citation needed] A major disagreement is registered regarding the aim of the Pillamar to extirpate the royal family.
Even if they succeeded in killing the Royal family at Thiruvananthapuram, there were the other collateral branches at Nedumangad and Kottarakara, places where the Pillamar had no following.
[citation needed] Further important revelations made by the documents of the Temple are with regard to Aditya Varma and Umayamma Rani.
It is clear that there did exist refractory nobles of immense power and that Marthanda Varma did put an end to their authority and made that of the king supreme, but most of the stories about the Pillamar were found to be false.
