Team News Riveting
Know about Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796), the queen of Sivaganga estate from 1780–1790, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered and paid tributes on her birth anniversary.
She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company (EIC) in India. She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai (brave woman)
Velu Nachiyar was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of King Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Queen Sakandhimuthathal of the Ramnad kingdom.
She was skilled in various combat mode, 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.
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, she was drawn into the conflict. She escaped the battlefield with her daughter.
During this period, she formed an army and sought an alliance with Hyder Ali with the aim of launching a campaign against the East India Company in 1780. When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the EIC stored some their ammunition, she arranged a suicide attack on the location, blowing it up. Nachiyar re-inherited the kingdom of her husband, and ruled it for ten more years. In 1790, the throne was inherited by her daughter Vellacci.
She granted powers to her daughter with the Marudu brothers to help with the administration of the kingdom in 1780. Velu Nachiyar died a few years later, on 25 December 1796.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Rani Velu Nachiyar on her birth anniversary. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said; “Remembering the brave Rani Velu Nachiyar on her birth anniversary. Her indomitable courage shall keep motivating the coming generations. Her strong commitment to fight colonialism was remarkable. She personifies the spirit of our Nari Shakti.”
