Jambulingam Nadar: The Dacoit of Madras Presidency

The recent movie Pushpa has once again brought the aggressive protagonist of South Indian reel-life into the limelight. What runs common through stories like these is that most of the central characters are outlaws and at loggerheads with the authorities. How about a real-life story of one such outlaw aka dacoit, from the land of cult heroes like Rajnikanth and Mamooty?

Poster of the Malayalam Movie Jambulingam; Source: Wikipedia.

The story of Jambulingam Nadar may sound cliche if we mention him as the Indian Robin Hood, but the existing old ballads about him prove there is a grain of truth to it. In the Indian context, oral ditties and ballads are the unsung carriers of many legends and stories. They are also a way of keeping the memories alive of someone who was once admired and close to the hearts of the people through the ballads or folklore which are prevalent everywhere in India.

Jambulingam was the ant in the trunk of the elephants of the Madras Presidency. He was a man who grew up as a labour hand but the exploitation of landlords seemed to have compelled him to change his stance in life.

Jambulingam Nadar, Kasi Nadar, Kalluli Nadan, and Dovarappa were the names that shook the travellers along the routes on the borders of the Travancore-Madras Presidency. Born in a place called Vadalivilai in the present-day Tirunelveli district he formed a highwaymen gang of around 20-30 similar desperados. This crude band had a simple modus-operandi.

Taking advantage of the densely forested highways between Madras and Travancore and weak policing, these men would wait for travellers on foot or bullock carts. Once the target was found they would pursue it till the right opportunity to ambush. They coordinated through signals of whistles or owl hoots. After relieving the helpless traders of their goods and precious things, they would let loose a herd of bullocks to distract and buy time to escape the scene. Sounds like a shot from an old movie, right?

Well, there is a Malayalam movie on the life of this brigand titled ‘Jambulingam’ in which the veteran actor Prem Nazir enacts the role of this British Raj Madras ka Robin Hood. The movie's storyline supports the ballads about revolutionary peers. These were the daily wage earners and farmhands, who catalysed an uprising among the exploited ones.

The movie illustrates the atrocities of the landlords who entrusted local chieftains to collect the hard-earned money from the poor farmers which can be called ‘hafta usooli’ (colloquial term for weekly collection). Jambulingam turned out to be the rebel who also urged and impelled his peers to revolt against this feudal high-handedness. The movie ends on a biblical sort of tragic yet revolutionary note where he kills himself rather than become a prisoner to the boot-licking law enforcers or authorities. As per the folk tale reflected in the movie, Jambulingam triggered the freedom movement in this region. He was considered a martyr to the cause and a messiah of the poor.

The records of the police department of the British and contemporary Royalty, however, narrate a different version of his death. As per their records, he was caught twice but escaped each time with the help of his associates. Getting information about his hideouts also was a problem. Jambulingam had the support and loyalty of the underprivileged among the villages with whom he used to share his booty.

His escapades and famed mode of looting from the rich to help the poor irked and provoked the cream layer of the society into declaring a joint venture to end the fear of this outlaw gang leader ‘Dead or Alive’. Yet, the reports recorded gloat that someone from the dacoit’s band betrayed and thus the police finally ambushed the clueless Jambulingam near Aramboly. The reports proudly state that he was shot dead by the joint team of police on March 20, 1923, faintly reminding us of the iconic betrayal from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

To bring the story to 'The End', he was the ant that turned the elephants of the British and Royal to go helplessly and painfully mad irrespective of which version of the story we prefer to believe. The confiscated gun of Jambulingam is exhibited in the Vellore police museum. The museum revives the tales about him as an ‘azaadi ka krantikari’ aka dacoit of the Madras Presidency.

The Map of Madras Presidency in 1913; Source: Wikiwand