Velu Nachiyar

Rani Velu Nachiyar
Queen of Sivagangai Princess of Ramanathapuram
200 px Statue of Rani Velu Nachiyar at the historic palace and her residence, Sivagangai
Reign	c. 1760-c. 1790
Successor	British Rule
Born	3 January 1730 Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India
Died	25 December 1796 Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India
Father	Chellamuthu Sethupathy
Mother	Muthathal Nachiyar
Religion	Hinduism

Rani Velu Nachiyar was an 18th-century Indian queen from Sivaganga. She was the first queen to fight against the British in India.

Her life

Velu Nachiyar was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of Raja Chellamuthu Sethupathy and Rani Sakandhimuthal of Ramnad Kingdom.

She was trained in war tactics, 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, Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar, was killed by British soldiers and the son of the Nawab of Arcot, she was drawn into battle. She escaped with her daughter and lived under the protection of Palayakaarar Kopaala Naayakkar at Virupachi near Dindigul for eight years. During this period she formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British. In 1780, she successfully fought the British. When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the British stored their ammunition, she arranged a suicide attack: a faithful follower, Kuyili, doused herself in oil, set herself alight and walked into the storehouse. Velu Nachiyar formed a woman's army named “udaiyaal” in honour of her adopted daughter — Udaiyaal, who died detonating a British arsenal. Nachiar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom and ruled it for ten more years.

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 Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). The Marudu brothers were the sons of Udayar Servai, alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai, and Anandayer, alias Ponnathal.

On 31 December 2008, a commemorative postage stamp in her name was released.

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.

See also

• Puli Thevar
• Indian independence movement
• Indian independence activists