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"Veeramangai" Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from 1780–1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company (EIC) in India.Rohini Ramakrishnan (10 August 2010) Women who made a difference. The Hindu. Remembering Queen Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai, the first queen to fight the British. The News Minute. 3 January 2017 She is proudly called by Tamils as Veeramangai ("brave woman"). With the support of Hyder Ali's army, feudal lords, the Maruthu Pandiyar, Dalit commanders, and Thandavarayan Pillai, she fought the EIC.
When her husband, Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar, was killed in a battle with EIC soldiers in 1772 at Kalaiyar Kovil, 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 he 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.
In 1772, Sivaganga minister Thandavarayan Pillai wrote a letter on behalf of Rani Velu Nachiyar to Hyder Ali, looking for military support:
When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the EIC stored some of their ammunition, her commander Kuyili made a suicide attack on the ammunition depot by running into the ammunition Warehouse, Self-immolation, and blowing it up.
In 1780, Velu Nachiyar waged war against the British and successfully reclaimed her kingdom. She governed for ten years and passed away in 1796.Rohini Ramakrishnan (14 August 2010) Women who made a difference. The Hindu. In 1790, she was succeeded by her daughter Vellacci. 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.
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Categories: 1730 Births, 1796 Deaths, Indian Female Royalty, Indian Independence Activists From Tamil Nadu, Indian Women In War, Tamil Monarchs, Indian Revolutionaries, Indian Independence Movement, People From Sivaganga District, Women In 18th-century Warfare, Women Indian Independence Activists, 18th-century Women Rulers, 18th-century Indian Women, 18th-century Indian People, Indian Queens Regnant
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