Krishna Varma Raja was Eralpad or eldest prince of Calicut.
Also known as Kishen Varma, Kishen Raja and Prince of Karimpuzha 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 and Ravi Varma the Younger were most prominent.(2)
Krishna Varma from traditional seat of Eralpad in Karimpuzha, present Palghat district, commanded a large resistance movement which took form of guerrilla warfare. 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 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.