Bala Rama Varma was one of Travancore's least popular sovereigns, whose reign was marked by unrest and various internal and external political problems. At the age of seventeen he became rajah and fell under the influence of corrupt nobleman Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri from the Zamorin of the Kingdom of Calicut. One of His reign's first atrocities was the assassination of Raja Kesavadas, Travancore's then Dewan. Sankaran Nampoothiri was subsequently appointed Dewan, or with the assistance of two other ministers as Prime Minister.Because of corruption, the state treasury was soon empty so it was decided to raise money by requiring district officers to pay huge sums of money that were calculated without any relation to the districts' revenue. Velu Thampi, a southern district's Tahasildar(Karyakar), was ordered to pay Rs. 3000, to whom he replied he needed three days to pay. Velu Thampi returned to his district, gathered people together and a revolt ensued. People from every part of Travancore united to surround the palace and demand that Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri be immediately dismissed and banished.They also demanded that his two ministers be taken to a public place and then be flogged and their ears cut off. The penalties were duly carried out, and Trivandrum held the two ministers in prison. Later, Velu Thampi was named the Travancore Dalawa.
After Velu Thampi became Travancore's Dalawa he faced serious opposition from two late Raja Kesavadas relatives who were seeking help to get rid of him from their Bombay associates. Those letters were intercepted and presented in a negative light to the Maharajah and he ordered the two men, Chempakaraman Kumaran Pillai and Erayiman Pillai, to be executed immediately. Velu Thampi became Dalawa without opposition after he cleared the way. Within a few months the Government of Madras sanctioned his appointment.
Velu Thampi was not an competent statesman like his two immediate predecessors Ramayyan Dalawa or Raja Kesavadas. He was obviously rebellious. Within three years of Raja Kesavadas' death the country was plagued by corruption and various problems caused by the banished Dalawa Namboodiri. With a view to improving the situation, Velu Thampi has resorted to harsh sanctions. Some of the punishments adopted during his term as Dalawa were flogging, cutting off of ears and noses as well as nailing people to trees. Nevertheless, his harsh measures yielded results, and within a year of Velu Thampi 's accession to the Dalawaship, peace and order were restored
The undue severity and overbearing behavior of the Dalawa caused resentment among his colleagues, the very same people who had assisted his rise to power. Under the influence of Kunjunilam Pillai, a influential Travancore cabinet official who managed to get the Maharajah to sign a royal warrant for the arrest and immediate execution of Velu Thampi Dalawa, a conspiracy was formed against him.The Dalawa was in Allepey when he received news of the plot and immediately rushed to Cochin to meet Major Macaulay, the British Resident, who had become a good friend. Macaulay had already received evidence that Kunjunilam Pillai had a big hand in the assassination of Raja Kesavadas, and hence he supported Velu Thampi with a small force of British soldiers, and sent him to Trivandrum to investigate the plot of Kunjunilam Pillai. Pillai was found guilty of murder and conspiracy, and subsequently punished. Having removed this barrier, Velu Thampi has regained his former strength.
Travancore 's armies consisted primarily of members of caste group Nair(Nair Brigade). The 1804 proposal by Velu Thampi to cut their allowances was met with immediate discontent. The troops believed the idea had come from the British and resolved to murder Major Macaulay and Velu Thampi immediately. Once again Velu Thampi fled to Cochin to seek shelter with Macaulay.With a ten thousand strong army of sepoys, the Nairs marched to Trivandrum and demanded that the Maharajah immediately dismiss the Dalawa and terminate any alliance with the British. Meanwhile the Resident and the Dalawa gathered forces at Cochin and marched to Trivandrum, supported by the Carnatic Brigade, putting an end to the mutiny. A number of its leaders have been executed in the most gruesome manner. One Krishna Pillai, a Regiment commander, bound his legs to two elephants pushed in the opposite direction, tearing him to bits.
The Treaty signed by the popular Maharajah Dharma Raja Rama Varma with the British East India Company in 1795 was revised in what is known as the Treaty of 1805. Following the Nair troop insurrection at Travancore. It increased the British Indian force stationed at Travancore and the amount of money to be paid as a tribute to the British, although the state's spending on maintaining its own standing army was drastically cut. This was the principal change brought about by the 1805 Treaty.
Velu Thampi Dalawa and Govindan Menon, the Paliath Achan, met and decided to extirpate the British Resident and end British supremacy in their respective states. Velu Thampi coordinated volunteers, fortified forts and stored ammunition while the Paliath Achan in Cochin did similar preparations. Velu Thampi appealed for assistance to the Calicut Zamorin and the French but the request was not acknowledged by both.Paliath Achan and Velu Thampi 's plan was to unitedly attack the Cochin Fort and kill Major Macaulay and Kunju Krishna Menon, the British Resident. Another force for attacking the British garrison at Quilon was appointed. This was in 1807, and is known as the Quilon Battle.
Velu Thampi fled Trivandrum in the aftermath of the battle and committed suicide at the Mannadi Temple.
At Mannadi near Adoor, the Kerala government instituted a memorial to Dalawa, a research centre, a museum, a park and a statue. There is another statue of Velu Thampi Dalawa in front of the Kerala Secretariat at Trivandrum.