• Dr. S.L Omnakutten

During the reign of Marthandavarma, the famous Battle of Colachel was took place in 1741 A.D, and the Dutch were completely defeated. The Travancore army took 24 prisoners, besides 389 muskets, a few pieces of canon and a large number of swords. Among the prisoners Eustachius De-Lannoy and Donadi were specially attracted the King’s notice and whom he appointed to high military officers in the Travancore State. After the battle of Colachel, Marthandavarma took special steps to strengthen his defenses at Udayagiri fort. The fort was reconstructed and used as their strong defensive structure. The palace was protected by a granite fort and an arsenal was established at Udayagiri. Canon, mortar, weapons, and gunpowder were manufactured. Batteries were erected on the sea-coast at different places between Cape Comorin and Poracad. The state army consisted of cavalry, infantry, artillery and irregular troops. They were fifty thousand strong and were disciplined on European model. The army was also rearranged on European model by De-Lannoy. The army was divided into regiments and Battalions. An arsenal was established at Udayagiri Fort for the manufacture of heavy ammunitions. He not only trained the soldiers of Travancore in European method of warfare, not only produced western type of guns at Udayagiri fort, but also led the army northward upto Cochin annexing the kingdoms all along the way. The special interest evinced by Marthandavarma with the help of De-Lannoy in the improvement of the State forces has made military service particularly attractive. Marthandavarma and his successor won many battles with the help of De-Lannoy. During the time of De-Lannoy many forts were constructed and some of them repaired. In short, one wonders what the history of Travancore would have been if there had been no De-Lannoy.

Travancore, Marthandavarma, Dutch, De-Lannoy, Battle of Colachel, modernization, Travancore army, fortification, Udayagiri, expedition and expansion

"CONTRIBUTIONS OF DE-LANNOY TO MODERN TRAVANCORE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no.1-5, March-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903E01.pdf

"CONTRIBUTIONS OF DE-LANNOY TO MODERN TRAVANCORE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no. pp1-5, March-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903E01.pdf