About this stamp
Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone
India Post issued this ₹5 stamp on 26 December 2015 on Alagumuthu Kone (1710–1759), honoured as Maveeran, “the great hero”, for one of the first revolts against British rule in India. He was born in 1710 at Kattalankulam near Kovilpatti, in today’s Thoothukudi district, and served the king of Ettayapuram, Ettappanayakar.
Revolt against the Company
In the 1750s the British, having defeated the Nawab of Arcot, began collecting taxes in Tirunelveli and Madurai through their commander Khan Sahib. The king of Ettayapuram and Alagumuthu Kone refused to pay. Khan Sahib took Ettayapuram and put a rival cousin on its throne, while Alagumuthu Kone saved the king and, after his death, crowned his successor and raised an army to win back the kingdom. Betrayed, his force was surrounded at Bethanayakanur at midnight, and he was captured with 255 of his men. In July 1759 he was tied to the mouth of a cannon and blown away. His sacrifice is remembered every year on 11 July.
The stamp was designed by Nenu Gupta; Security Printing Press, Hyderabad printed 0.32 million.
For More Information
Read more here:
