Velu Nachiyar

Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from c. 1780–1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company in India.[2][3] She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai ("brave woman").[4] With the support of Hyder Ali's army, feudal lords, the Maruthu Brothers, Dalit commanders, and Thandavarayan Pillai, she fought the East India company.[5][6][7][8]

Rani Velu Nachiyar
Queen of Sivagangai
Princess of Ramanathapuram
Velu Nachchiyar on a 2008 stamp of India
Monarch of Sivaganga estate
Reignc. 1780-c. 1790[1]
Coronation1780
PredecessorMuthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar (until 1772)
SuccessorVellacci[1]
Born3 January 1730
Ramanathapuram, Kingdom of Sivaganga (Modern day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died25 December 1796 (1796-12-26) (aged 66)
Sivaganga, Kingdom of Sivaganga (Modern day Tamil Nadu, India)
Burial25 December 1796
Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India
SpouseMuthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar
DynastySethupathi
FatherChellamuthu vijayaragunatha Sethupathy
MotherMuthathal Nachiyar

Life
Sivagangai Palace with Rani Velu Nachiyar Statue

Velu Nachiyar was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of King Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Queen Sakandhimuthathal of the Ramnad kingdom. Nachiyar was trained in many methods of combat, including war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam, horse riding, and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and was proficient in languages like French, English and Urdu.[3] She married the king of Sivagangai, with whom she had a daughter.

When her husband, Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar was killed in a battle with EIC soldiers in 1780 at KalaiyarKoil, she was drawn into the conflict. Velu Nachiyar ran away from Sivagangai as a fugitive and sought the help of Hyder Ali. Hyder Ali helped her with 5,000 soldiers and gunpowder weapons. Initially Hyder Ali refused but later agreed to help her with soldiers, arms and training. Velu Nachiyar sought the help of rich merchants as well. After eight years of planning along with support of many feudal lords, Tipu Sultan, Marudhu brothers and Thandavarayan Pillai she fought against the British East India Company.[5][6][7]

When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the EIC stored some their ammunition, Her commander Kuyili [8] made a suicide attack on the ammunition depot,she ran into the ammunition godown, setting herself on fire blowing it up.[9][10][11] Nachiyar reinherited the kingdom of her husband, and ruled it for ten more years.[12]

In 1790, she was succeeded by her daughter Vellacci.[1] She granted powers to her daughter with the Marudu brothers to help with the administration of the kingdom. Velu Nachiyar died a few years later, on 25 December 1796.[13]

  • On 31 December 2008, a commemorative postage stamp in her name was released.[14]
  • OVM Dance Academy of Chennai presenting "VELU NACHIYAR" a Grand Dance Ballet on Sivaganga Queen.
  • Professor A.L.I., a Tamil-American hip-hop artist, released a song dedicated to Velu Nachiyar entitled "Our Queen" as part of his Tamilmatic album in 2016.[15]
  • On 21 August 2017, a grand dance ballet was conducted in Naradha Gana Sabha in Chennai depicting the life history of the queen Velu Nachiyar. The play was directed by Sriram Sharma, who researched on the Queen's life history for almost a decade.

See also

References
  1. K. R. Venkatarama Ayyar (1938) A Manual of the Pudukkóttai State. Sri Brihadamba State Press. p.720
  2. Rohini Ramakrishnan (10 August 2010) Women who made a difference. The Hindu.
  3. Remembering Queen Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai, the first queen to fight the British. The News Minute. 3 January 2017
  4. "Veeramangai Velu Nachiyar". The Hindu Business Line. Chennai, India. 18 January 2019.
  5. "Journeys English Course Book 6". Pearson Education India. 2007. p. 78.
  6. "Reminiscing Herstories". BFC Publications. 24 March 2021. p. 28.
  7. Soma Basu (24 December 2007). "Uphill, for history's sake". The Hindu. India. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008.
  8. "Power Women". Bloomsbury Publishing. 13 September 2021. p. All.
  9. "Of woman power and Tamizh glory". IBN Live. Chennai, India. 14 June 2011.
  10. "Tamil Nadu to build memorial for freedom fighter Kuyili". Times of India. Chennai, India. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  11. "A Durga A Day-Day 6: Mata Katyayini-Rani Velu Nachiyar and Kuyili". Chennai, India. 15 October 2018.
  12. Rohini Ramakrishnan (14 August 2010) Women who made a difference. The Hindu.
  13. "History-Sivaganga district". Sivaganga dist. – Tamil Nadu govt., India. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  14. "India Post – Stamps 2008". Postal department, Government of India.
  15. "International Women's Day Dedication to Queen Velu Nachiyar". professorali.com. 7 March 2016.

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