There were not only men in the fight of independence from the British, there were women also who left the comfort and the safety of their homes and joined the struggle to make difference in the war for independence on India from the British. Rani Velu Nachiyar, the 18th-century queen of Sivagangai, was also one of those women.

Rani Velu Nachiyar was the first queen who stands against the British colonial control, 85 years before the 1857 rebellion. She is also known as Veeramangai, which means “brave woman” in Tamil.


EARLY LIFE

Velu Nachiyar was born on 3 January 1730 as the princess of Ramanathapuram and only child of king Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and queen Sakandhimuthathal.

She was trained in horse riding, archery and martial art such as valari (throwing of sickle) and silambarn (fighting with a sickle). She was also upskilled in many languages like English, French and Urdu.

She married Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar, the King of Sivagangai, when she was 16 years old. In 1770, she gave birth to a daughter whom she called Vellachi. From 1750-1772, Rani Velu Nachriya and her husband ruled the Sivagangai peacefully. Until 1772, the King Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar entangled in a war with the Nawab of Arcot known as “Kalaiyar Koli war”. Later in the war British troops join in to fight against the king causing him to lose the campaign and be assassinated by the British and the Nawab.    

    

Due to the king's unexpected martyrdom, Rani Velu Nachriya was forced to leave her kingdom with her infant daughter and a few surviving courtiers to Virupachi in Dindigul in order to save herself and the eventual the heir of Sivagangai, Vellachi’s. Still, before her kingdom she makes a vow to her kingdom and to her dead husband that one day she would return to regain her throne of Sivagangai.   
                                                                           


PLAN OF TRIUMPH       

SULTAN HAIDER ALI

                                                         

For eight long years, she stayed in Dindigul under the  Gopala Nayaker harbor. During her time as a refugee, she encountered Sultan Haider Ali, the ruler of Mysore, and persuaded him to join her in fighting the British.

To converse her thoughts to Sultan she used her one of the powerful weapon, her mastery of various languages. Even Haider Ali was blown away by her command of the Urdu language, as well as her bravery and perseverance.

“More than courage, legend has it that her mastery of language (Urdu in this case) was what won her strong ally as she was inching closer to retribution,” most historians said.

Sultan Haider Ali provide her arms and men so that she could create her own army. Rani Velu Nachriya also created an army of young women and named it Udiyal after her adopted daughters name who sacrifice her life in order to protect her and her infant daughter Vellachi life from the British attack on Sivagangai.

The  Marthadu brothers (surviving courtier and also who assisted her in escaping from Sivagangai ) began raising an army amongst the loyalist. Rani Velu Nachriya was able to attack Britishers and Nawabs with the help of her loyal supporters, but no attack ever caused them significant harm. Following these minor assaults, Queen Velu and Kuyili, the commander-in-chief of Velu's army and her one of the adoptive daughter, devised a larger and more deadly assault on them. As they discovered about the British ammunition stockpile Rani Velu and Kuyili plotted and arranged a suicide attack into the ammunition store and this plan was followed by Kuyili.

To carry out this mission, the first step was to reach the fort without alerting any of the fort’s gatekeepers. As a result, they selected Vijayadashmi as the day to complete this mission. With a few women from her army, Kuyili will reach the fort and open the fort gates for Queen Velu and her army.

As per the plan Kuyili and other women enter inside the fort  with a group of women who came from outside the Sivagangi to visit the temple ofRajarajeswari Amman on the occasion of Vijayadashami invading through the eyes of British gatekeepers.


KUYILI

    Kuyili issued orders to her sister to assault the British soldiers at the appointed time. When others opened the fort door,         Kuyili doused her in ghee and oil, set herself on fire, and dashed into the armory hall. This was the first time in history that the idea of suicide bombing was used. This resulted in a massive explosion,  which Rani Velu           Nachriya took advantage of to defeat the British troops and the Nawab.

   In 1780, she was finally able to regain her authority over Sivagangai and fulfill her promise.







POST WAR

After reclaiming the throne of Sivagangai she rule for the next 10 years before passing her throne to her daughter Vellachi .she also gave the Marudu brothers administrative powers over the region. Nachiyar expressed her profound appreciation for Sultan Hyder Ali's assistance by building a Mosque and Church at Saragani following the restoration of her empire.
She died on December 25,1796 in Sivaganga at the age of 66 as she was suffering from heart
disease.

Image Credit : https://anikartick.blogspot.com/2012/07/velu-nachiar-warrior-queen-and-freedom.html
 https://anikartick.blogspot.com/2012/07/velu-nachiar-warrior-queen-and-freedom.html



Post a Comment

Ask your Queries here

أحدث أقدم