Velu Nachiyar: A Queen and A Human Bomb

The first Indian queen who defeated the Britishers-you thought it was Jhansi ki Rani. Right? It was actually the queen Velu Nachiyar, who ruled 100 years before Jhansi ki Rani. This is a story of revenge and bravery of the most courageous queen of India.

The Queen turned human bomb; Source: Wikimedia

In the middle of the 18th-century Velu Nachiyar, the valiant queen of the civil Sivaganga Kingdom lost her husband, lost her kingdom, and was forced to live in exile for eight years but only to come back stronger and take revenge. She made history as the very first Indian queen to defeat the British. The Ramnad Kingdom was being ruled by Chellamuthu Vijay Raghunatha Sethupathi in 1730.

Velu Nachiyar was born to him. The princess was brought up like a male warrior. She was trained in sword fighting, archery, valari, and silambam. In addition to Tamil, she was also proficient in English, French, and Urdu.

A few years before her birth portion of the Ramnad Kingdom got split off as the Sivaganga kingdom, ruled by Sasivarna Thevar. In 1746, a marriage alliance was made between the Ramnad and Sivaganga kingdoms with Vela marrying the Prince of Sivaganga

Kingdom Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar. Later on they had a girl child and named her Vellachi Nachiyar. The royal family and the people in the kingdom were happy everything went well until a treacherous act by the British.

Before we see get to know what the British did to Velu's family, we must look that who are the British and why did they even come to India? Did they have the support of any other Indian king?

The British East India Company initially set foot on Indian soil as traders but soon started building an army and began ruling portions of India. By mid 18th century, they became even more powerful by taking advantage

of the internal conflicts among the Indians. British became an ally of the Nawabs

of Arcot, who had already captured the Madurai Nayaka Empire, but the Ramnad and Sivaganga kings refuse to pay tribute

to the Nawab.

One fine day in 1772 the king of Sivaganga, Muthu went for his usual worship at the Shiva temple, Kalayar Kovil near Sivaganga. On behalf of the Nawab, the British Army led by Commander Joseph Smith attacked the Sivaganga fort. On the other side in a secretive manner, another group led by Lieutenant Colonel Abraham Bonjour entered the temple premises. The king was unprepared for war and was brutally killed. They looted the jewels from the temple along with 50,000 gold coins.

Velu was shell-shocked to hear the news of her husband's murder. With the help of her minister, Thandavaraya Pillai, she and her little child Vellachi Nachiyar escaped to Virupakshi near Dindigul. The Maradhu brothers from the Sivaganga army also joined her. Back in Sivaganga, her loyal bodyguard Udaiyal was tortured to reveal where their queen was hiding. But the faithful bodyguard didn't and hence was killed mercilessly. While in hiding, the news of Udaiyal's

death reached Velu. She took an oath to avenge the British and regain her throne.

Velu was already heartbroken and furious at the killing of her husband and now the killing of Udaiyal was like pouring fuel on the fire. She started focusing all her energy on building a new army to fight the British. In memory of the brave bodyguard, she formed an all-women army called the Udaiyal army and started recruiting several women and training them in warfare. Kuyili

was the commander of the army. Velu Nachiyar also had to constantly

change her hideouts from one camp to the other amidst dense forests, where she

trained her army and also continued to strategies for the war against the British.

Meanwhile, the Arcot nawab Wallajah annexed Sivaganga and renamed it, Hussain Nagar. Later, she sought additional military assistance from Hyder Ali, the Nawab of Mysore. He offered her infantry and cavalry to fight the British. Eight years had rolled by. The queen and her well-trained army were all set for the war. However, the arms and ammunition that Nachiyar's army had were still meager in

comparison to what the British had.

Velu’s army had the courage and a thirst for vengeance, but that alone was

not enough. They did not have any siege equipment for breaking into the Sivaganga

fort. However, she had a masterplan. Vijayadashami was a day when women from all the neighboring villages thronged the Rajarajeshwari temple inside the premises of the Sivaganga palace. That was a date when the fort would be opened for the public. The plan was for the queen and her Udaiyal all army to mingle with the public and infiltrate the Fort. Marudha

brothers and their army, Kuyili and her Udaiyal army, and Velu Nachiyar were all set for the day of revenge. It was the year 1780, the day of Vijayadashami. The Udaiyal army, with concealed weapons, successfully went inside the Sivaganga fort. At the perfect hour, at Kuyili's command, the Udaiyal army started attacking the British soldiers. Then, Udaiyal rushed to the ammunition storehouse behind the temple and took a bucket full of ghee from the temple, poured it over her, lit herself, and jumped into the ammunition storehouse. All the ammunition stored by the British was blown up and then Velu Nachiyar's army entered the scene. They fought valiantly, crushed the British forces, took revenge, and Velu Nachiyar regained her kingdom.

What a noble warrior queen and a mastermind she was. No wonder why the British did not want to keep any historical records of this brave queen as they were so ashamed and overwhelmed by her bravery and wisdom. After regaining the Sivaganga Kingdom, Queen Velu Nachiyar ruled for 10 glorious years. Later in 1796, the valiant queen died. Velu Nachiyar will be remembered forever for her bravery and strategic warfare and will be an inspiration for many generations to come.