Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was the 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 as Viramangai by the Tamil people.
Rani Velu Nachiyar Born in 1730 to Raja Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandimuthal, she was the only child. The royal couple thus raised her as they would have raised a male heir. Rani Velu Nachiyar was trained in horse-riding, archery, and martial arts such as valari and silambam. She was also well-known in different languages, including English, French, and Urdu.
She made the human bomb in 1780, 77 years before the first war of independence. Popularly known as ‘veeramangai’ (brave woman), she also devised the first recorded suicide bombing in history, with her Dalit commander-in-chief Kuyili.
who is credited to have been the first person to use a human bomb. When she found the place where the British had stored the ammunition, her loyal follower Kuyili (some say her adoptive daughter) doused herself in oil and walked into the store blowing away the ammunition.
When she was 16 years old, Velu Nachiyar was married to Prince Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar of Sivagangai. They had a daughter named Vellachi, and ruled the state from 1750 to 1772, until Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar was killed by the British – for more than two decades.
The British invaded Sivagangai with the son of the Nawab of Arcot and after killing Velu Nachiyar’s husband, also known as ‘Kalayar Coil War’, she was forced to flee her kingdom with her daughter. She found a safe haven at Virupachi in Dindigul and livesthere for eight years under the sanctuary of Gopala Nayaker.
The conquest Over The British
1780 was the year when Velu Nachiyar bravely defeated the British in a brilliantly crafted uprising. His intelligence-gathering agents discovered where the British had stored their ammunition. A suicide attack was then devised to destroy all of it.
Kuyili, Commander-in-Chief, bravely volunteered to carry out a suicide mission. Before jumping into the ammunition store, she set herself on fire, destroying every last part of it. Kuyili, is considered by many to be the adopted daughter of Velu Nachiyar, and is the first recorded suicide bomber in history.
After the war
After her victory over the British, Velu Nachiyar ruled the Sivangai Empire for a decade. She made her daughter Vellachi the heir to the throne. Marudhu brothers, his comrades who survived the Kaliyar Koil war were given administrative positions in the state. To thank Haider Ali for his abundant and timely help, Velu Nachiyar built a mosque and a church at Saragani. She maintained a more friendly relationship with Haider Ali’s son Tipu Sultan and loved him like a brother.
Velu Nachiyar’s daughter, Vellachi, succeeded to the throne and ruled from 1790 to 1793.
The 66-year-old brave queen died in 1796 in her beloved kingdom of Sivagangai. She suffered from heart problems and was treated in France.