Veeramangai (The Bravest Women From India): Rani Velu Nachiyar

Women empowerment is about creating high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, treating all people fairly at work, and respecting and supporting non-discrimination and human rights. Women's sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of society: The bravest women Rani Velu Nachiyar.

Rani Velu Nachiyar was a queen of the Sivaganga estate from c. 1780–1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company in India. She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai ("brave woman"). She was born on 3 January 1780. She died on 25 December 1796 when she died her age is 66. Burial on 25 December 1796.

How She Became First Queen?

Rani Velu Nachiyar was India's first queen to fight against the British colonial power. She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai. She was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of Raja Chellamuthu vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandhimuthal of the Ramnad kingdom.

Velu Nachiyar organized an army and employed her intelligent agents to find where the British stored their ammunition. She recaptured Sivagangai and was again crowned as a queen with the help of the Marudu brothers. defeated the British in a brilliantly formulated coup.

Her intelligence-gathering agents found out where the British had stored their ammunition. A suicide attack was then devised to destroy all of it. It was the first known instance on Indian soil. But she was successful. It went to show her expertise in planning and execution.

“Everything was taken from her save her self-respect. She spent every waking moment strategizing the best ways to sever the beast and defeat the British East to avenge the deceased.”

Background

Velu was born and raised in a Tamil Royal family of Ramanathapuram, Kingdom of Sivagangai. Vellacci was the second ruling queen of the Sivaganga estate from 1790–1793. She is the daughter of Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar and Velu Nachiyar. She was made the heir to the throne of Sivagangai by her mother Velu Nachiyar after the recapture of Sivagangai from the East India Company.

Queen Velu was born in 1730 to Raja Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandimuthal. An only child, she was brought up with great care and with all the skills according to a Prince regent. Trained in horse-riding, archery, and martial arts, she was a great warrior. She was well-versed in several languages, including English, French, and Urdu. This education would serve her later and come to her aid.

At 16, Velu Nachiyar married Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar, the prince of Sivagangai. They ruled peacefully for twenty years (1750 to 1772) and had a daughter together called Vellachi. The British were not happy till they had annexed the prosperous kingdoms. They targeted Sivagangai and killed the king.

Along with the Nawab of Arcot’s son, the British invaded Sivagangai in the ‘Kalaiyar Koil War’. The queen fled her kingdom with her daughter. She found haven at Virupachi in Dindigul and lived there for eight years under the sanctuary of Gopala Nayak. During her stay in Dindigul, Velu Nachiyar met Haider Ali, the Sultan and the then ruler of Mysore. Velu was an extraordinary woman, she was an ace stateswoman and impressed Haider Ali with her Urdu.

He was highly impressed with her courage and perseverance. This led to her garnering unwavering support from Gopala Nayaker and Haider Ali. They pledged to be her ally in her fight against the British. He even built a temple inside his palace as a sign of their friendship.

Final Words

Rani Velu Nachiyar was an intelligent woman. she will inspire you to not fear in life and be brave. Women's sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of society.

Written By: Nisheya

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