Kattabomman’s minister Sivasubramonia Pillai was taken prisoner. The British forces followed up their victory with the reduction of Nagalapuram and other strongholds of the defiant chiefs to submission. On the appearance of the army the western Palayakkarars too surrendered. Vijaya Ragunatha Tondaiman, Raja of Pudukottai, captured Kattabomman from the jungles of Kalapore and handed him over to the enemy.
Upon the fall of the Palayakkarar into the hands of the enemy, his followers fled to Sivaganga and from there to the hills of Dindigul for taking service with Marudu Pandiyan and Gopala Nayak. refused, he threatened Kattabomman with dire consequences. In response Kattabomman appeared before the committee which acquitted him of the charges of rebellion and condemned the conduct of the collector. S.R.
Lushington was appointed collector in the place of Jackson, who was eventually dismissed from service. However, Kattabomman remained irreconciled. At this time Marudu Pandiyan of Sivaganga along with Gopala Nayak of Dindigul and Yadul Nayak of Anamalai, was engaged in organising a Confederacy against the British. In view of the identity of interests Kattabomman and Marudu Pandiyan came closer.
Kattabomman also established contact with the Sivagiri palayakkarar. While Panchalamkurichi was situated in an open plain and appeared vulnerable, the strategic location of the fort of Sivagiri at the foot of the Western Ghats and the formidable barriers around it rendered it eminently suited both for offensive and defensive operations. Thus in a bold attempt to strengthen his position an armed column consisting of the followers of Veera Pandiyan, the son of the Palayakkarar of Sivagiri and other allied chiefs, led by Dalawai Kumaraswami Nayak, moved towards the west. As the Palayakkarar of Sivagiri was a tributary to the Company, the Madras Governor’s Council considered this as a challenge to its own authority and ordered the march of the army.
In May Lord Wellesley issued orders from for the advance of forces from Trichirapalli, Thanjavur and Madurai to Tirunelveli. The Travancore troops joined the British. Major Bannerman, armed with extensive powers, effectively commanded the expedition. On June Kattabomman, attended by men, proceeded to Sivaganga.