Queen Velu Nachiyar
Name: velu nachiyar
Born: 3 january 1730
Father: Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy
Mother: Muthathal Nachiyar
Death: 25 december 1796
Rani Velu Nachiyar was a queen of Sivagangai estate in south India. She is regarded as the first queen who fought against the british colonial power in India. Born as princess of Ramanathapuram she took training in hadling different weapons, in martial arts, horse riding and archery, and was also proficient in languages like English, French and Urdu. She was married to King of Sivagangai,Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyatheavar. After british soldiers and son of Nawab of Arcot conquered Sivaganga and killed her husband, she fled with her daughter and lived at Virupachi under the protection of palayakaarar Kopaala Naayakkar, build her army and joined hands with Gopala Nayaker and Sultan Hyder Ali to wage war against the british and rgained her kingdom. She is also credited as the first person to apply human bomb.
Velu Nachiyar was born on 3 January 1730, in Ramanathapuram, Tamil nadu, in the family of Raja Chellamuthu Viyayaragunatha Sethupathy of the RamnadKingdom and his wife, Rani Sakandhimuthal, as their only child. Sans any male heir, the royal couple raised the princess as a boy, who was trained in using war match weapons. She was also well-trained in archery, horse riding , silambam and in martial arts such as "Valari". She known English, French, Urdu.
At the age of 16, she was arried to MuthuvaduganathurUdaiyatheavar, son of the King of Sivagangai, Sasivarna Periya Udaya. Since 1730, Muthuvaduganathur Udaiyathevar was in charge of the administration of Sivagangai, the first indpendent state from Ramnad, while his father ruled as the king. Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar become the king of Sivagangai in 1750 and emerged as the only ruler of Sivangangai to rule the state fro the longest period of time, for over two decades till hsis death in 1772. Nachiyar and Muhuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar had a daugheter together named as vellachi.
Rani Velu Nachiyar was a queen of Sivagangai estate in south India. She is regarded as the first queen who fought against the british colonial power in India. Born as princess of Ramanathapuram she took training in hadling different weapons, in martial arts, horse riding and archery, and was also proficient in languages like English, French and Urdu. She was married to King of Sivagangai,Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyatheavar. After british soldiers and son of Nawab of Arcot conquered Sivaganga and killed her husband, she fled with her daughter and lived at Virupachi under the protection of palayakaarar Kopaala Naayakkar, build her army and joined hands with Gopala Nayaker and Sultan Hyder Ali to wage war against the british and rgained her kingdom. She is also credited as the first person to apply human bomb.
Early life
At the age of 16, she was arried to MuthuvaduganathurUdaiyatheavar, son of the King of Sivagangai, Sasivarna Periya Udaya. Since 1730, Muthuvaduganathur Udaiyathevar was in charge of the administration of Sivagangai, the first indpendent state from Ramnad, while his father ruled as the king. Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar become the king of Sivagangai in 1750 and emerged as the only ruler of Sivangangai to rule the state fro the longest period of time, for over two decades till hsis death in 1772. Nachiyar and Muhuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar had a daugheter together named as vellachi.
struggle Against british
Sivagangai was invaded by the troops of the East India Company in associtation with the son of the Nawab of Arcot in 1772. Muthuvaugananthur Udaiyathevar was killed in a war with col.Smith . The war did not even spare women and children , many of whom were killed mercilessly marking one of the most ruthless incidents of those times. Some of the notbale people inculdingthe trustworthy Mardhu brothers and Thandavaraya Pillai mangaed to escape the war.
Following the death of her husband in the battle , she fled with her daughter to Virupachi near Dindigul, where she took refuge for eight years under the protection of Palayakaarar kopaala Naayakkar.
During her stay in virupachi, she gradually built a powerful army to fight against the British. In her mission she garnered considerable support from Gopala Nayaker and Hyder ali, the sultan and the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Seeking his help, she met the latter in Dindugal. As she conversed with him in Urdu, the queen highly impressed Sultan Hyder Ali with her resolute and courageousness. the Sultan gave his word to support the queen in her crusade to retrieve her kingdom. she was also allowed to stay at virupakshi or Dindugal Fort by the Sultan where she was revered and treated as a Royal Queen. A monthly financial support of 400 pound was also sent to her by the sultan. She sought 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry from the Sultan to fight the british, and kept on confusin her enemy by frequently changing her base. Sultan Hyder Ali also equpped her with necessary weapons so that she could put up a tough fight aginst the British.
Fight for Freedom
In 1780, she came fact-to-face with the British, and with this became thefirst queen in india to figh for freedom against the British. She came to know about the ammunition store of the british. With this information, the gallant queen, known by "veeramangai" then plotted and aranged a suicide attack into the ammuition store. An army commander and a loyal follower of the queen, Kuyili, came forward to carary out the mission. Kuyili drenched herself with ghee and then set herself on fire before jumping into armoury and blowing it up. thereby procurig a victory for the queen . Kuyili , who man consider as an adoptive daughter of Nachiyar, is regarded as the first woman suicide bomber.
Nachiyar also had an adopted daughter, Udaiyaal, who gave her life detonating a British arsenal. The queen bulit up a woman's army and named it 'Udaiyaal' after her adoptd daughter. After recapturing the Sivaganga estate, Nachiyar rule the kingdom for the next decade while making her daughter Vellacci the heir to the throne. In 1780, she also bestowed powers to the marudu brothers to administer the country. Following the restoration of her kingdom. Nachiyar expressed her deep gratitude for the support given by Sultan Hyder Ali by constructing a Mosque and Church at saragani. The Sultan earlier conveyed his true friendship by building a tempe inside his palace. Nachiyar also maintained good relation with Tipu Sultan, the son of Hyder ali , whom she considered as a brother. She sent Tipu Sultan a golden tiger as a gift . Nachiyar's daughter Vellacci succeeded her to the throne in 1790 as th second queen of sivaganga estate and ruled till 1793.
Nachiyar's death
Nachiyar , the valiant queen breathed her last on december 25, 1796, at the age of 66 years in Sivaganga. According to the sources, the queen was suffering from heart ailments in the lasst few years of her life and also underwent treatment in France . He last rites wer performed by her son-in-law. |
| velunachiya's fort |
