Rani Velu Nachiyar (1730–1796)

[KALKI]

Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from c. 1780–1790. She was the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India. She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai ("brave woman").

Velu Nachiyar was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of Raja Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandhimuthathal of the Ramnad kingdom.

Nachiyar was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using stick), horse riding and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English and Urdu.

She married the king of Sivagangai, with whom she had a daughter. When her husband, MuthuvaduganathaperiyaUdaiya Thevar, was killed by British soldiers and the son of the Nawab of Arcot, she was drawn into battle. She escaped with her daughter .

During this period, she formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British, whom she did successfully fight in 1780. When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the British stored their ammunition, she arranged a suicide attack successfully.

. Nachiyar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom, and ruled it for ten more years.In 1790, the throne was inherited by her daughter Vellacci.

Velu Nachiyar was the first queen to fight for the freedom from the British in India. She granted powers to the Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780. Velu Nachiyar died a few years later, on 25 December 1796..