Pallichal Pillai was one of the eight noble houses known as
Ettuveetil Pillamar in the medieval history of south
Kerala. The Ettuveetil Pillamar were the part of the
administrative system in
Travancore (which consisted of territory of the present
Thiruvananthapuram i.e. the capital of the state of
Keralam and the district of
Kanyakumari in
Tamil Nadu) from early times. They were known as Desavazhis, who were directly subordinate to the supreme power which was Nāduvāzhi. Pallichal Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the most powerful domains among the eight in
Travancore. In the earlier 17th century the
Karanavar of the family of Pallichal Pillai moved to Vanchimuttam near
Attingal. All the family members of Pallichal Pillai family remained in Pallichal. This was because the Pallichal Pillai had slightly more alliance with
Kollam and Attingal
Swaroopams, and the south and east part of
Karamana River was under the jurisdiction of Travancore, and because Pallichal is in this area. So he moved to avoid
allegation of
sedition on him by the Travancore
royal family. There are other legends attributable to the 8 Pillais. One view is that the king had no regular army those days. When war was threatened, the King sent messages to the 8 Pillais, who were masters of the ancient martial art "Kalaripayaatu" and had several trained warriors under their command. They sent their forces to fight the war. However Marthanda Varma, the King was a very ambitious man and he felt that this system had to change if he was to have his way. Since the Pillais were very popular they could not be done away with easily. False stories were spread about them and their houses and families destroyed by surprise attacks with the help of alien forces called "Maravas" and using soldiers and firearms captured from the Dutch. ==See also==