The Warrior Queen of Sivaganga : Velu Nachiyar

Veeramangai" Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 - 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from c. 1780-1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company in India.[2][3] She is proudly called by Tamils as Veeramangai ("brave woman").[4] With the support of Hyder Ali's army, feudal lords, the Maruthu Brothers, Dalit commanders, and Thandavarayan Pillai, she fought the East India company.[5][6][7][8]

Velu Nachiyar was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of King Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Queen Sakandhimuthathal of the Ramnad kingdom. Nachiyar was trained in many methods of combat, including war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam, horse riding, and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and was proficient in languages like French, English and Urdu.[3] She married the king of Sivagangai, with whom she had a daughter named 'Velacci Nachiyar'.

When her husband, Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar, was killed in a battle with EIC soldiers in 1772 at KalaiyarKoil, 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.[5][6][7]

When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the EIC stored some of their ammunition, her commander Kuyili[8] made a suicide attack on the ammunition depot by running into the ammunition godown, setting herself on fire, and blowing it up.[9][10][11] Nachiyar re-inherited the kingdom of her husband and ruled it for ten more years.[12]