Wayanad. By the end of 1788, Pazhassi Raja's hatred of Tipu had shot up on account of the latter's policy of forcible conversion. So he strengthened his ties with the East India Company on one hand and with fellow rebel chiefs and princes in Malabar on the other. Tipu sent an army under a French general named Lally with a genocidal mission—the extermination of the Nair caste from Kottayam to Palakkad – as Tipu was determined to end the menace of Nair rebels in Malabar who had foiled all attempts of him and his late father Hyder Ali to subjugate and exploit Malabar. The senior Rajah of Kottayam fled to Travancore fearing the Sultan. But before that, he handed over charge of government to Pazhassi Raja and asked him to save the country from Mysore's onslaught. Given below is the observation made by historian Rajayyan about Pazhassi Raja's resistance to Tipu Sultan after the exodus of Rajas from Malabar in 1788: But in 1790, Tipu abandoned the war in Malabar as the war in Deccan drew his attention. Pazhassi Raja joined the East India Company with a force of 1500 Nairs to capture the Mysorean stronghold in Katirur (near Talassery). After Katirur, Pazhassi Raja and his troops moved south-east and captured the Kuttiyadi fort from Tipu's men. Thus once more, the whole of Kottayam was under the control of Pazhassi Raja. In 1790, the Company recognised Pazhassi Raja as the head of Kottayam instead of the original Raja who was in refuge at Travancore. Raja agreed to pay 25,000 rupees as tribute to the Company. But his struggle with the Mysore troops continued in Wayanad till 1793 when he freed that land also. But by the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792) signed between the EIC and Tipu after the latter failed in Third Anglo-Mysore War, Malabar was ceded to the EIC. The East India Company then began to work for the establishment of their supremacy in Malabar. This was where the Company administration and Pazhassi Raja had opposite opinions – Pazhassi Raja helped the East India Company not because he was ready to accept Company rule but because he wanted his country Kottayam to be an independent land. Pazhassi Raja was disturbed when he heard about the terms which the Company put forward to the Rajas of Malabar in 1792, because the EIC had signed a cowl with him in 1790