The Battle of Manacaud took place at Manacaud near Thiruvananthapuram in 1680 between the forces of the Kingdom of Venad and the Mughal Empire.
Background
The Kingdom of Venad was undergoing political turmoil. Arguments broke out between the reigning queen Umayamma Rani and the feudatory chiefs called the Ettuveetil Pillamar. Taking advantage of this situation in Venad, a commander under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, wandering in the southern part of the peninsular India with a number of horsemen, invaded the unprotected southern part of Venad. The Mughal commander's forces reached Thiruvananthapuram without facing any resistance at all and camped near Manacaud.
Umayamma Rani, finding it difficult to recover her kingdom from the Mughal warlord while her feudatories were being disloyal towards her government, invited her relative Kerala Varma of the Kingdom of Kottayam to raise an army.
Battle
Kerala Varma raised a force armed with bows and arrows, slings, swords and lances. He led the army against the Mughal forces and attacked them unexpectedly at Manacaud. Because the Mughals didn't have a sufficient force, with all of their horsemen scattered between Varkala and Thovalai collecting tax revenue, they were unable to make a stand and retreated to Thovalai. Kerala Varma pursued them and the Mughal commander was reinforced by a party of horsemen from Thovalai and the other southern regions. He made a stand near the side of a hill at Thiruvattar, and a severe battle ensued. The forest and rocks with which the locality was covered presented obstacles to the Mughal commander's cavalry and threw them into confusion. Archers and slingers continued their attack on the Mughals. While the conflict was going on, many of the horsemen were killed and, a nest of wasps, on one of the trees under which the commander was fighting on horseback, was disturbed by the throwing of a stone from one of the slings and the insects came down in swarms, and stung the Mughal commander on his face. The commander fell down, and was soon killed by the archers and his army was thus defeated. Kerala Varma succeeded in securing around three hundred horses and about a hundred prisoners with many swords, lances and other weapons from the defeated army.
Aftermath
Venad regained the lands occupied by the Mughal chieftain. Kerala Varma organised a battalion of cavalry with the captured horses and brought all the rebellious feudatories under his control. He then acted as the queen's principal counsellor and commander of the troops of Venad. Umayamma Rani elevated him to the position of heir apparent. Subsequently, misunderstandings arose between her and the heir apparent and it is believed that he was assassinated.