Who is a hero? A person who thinks other’s miseries as their concerns becomes a real hero. The freedom we breath is completely filled with blood and sacrifices of our heroes. Many of them are known, some of them weren’t. This essay brings out an biography of an unsung lioness from southern India. The Velunachiyar, the queen of district of sivagangai which is in Tamilnadu a southern state of India
Queen of southern india
In the 18th century, 1730s, In Ramanathapuram (a district in Tamilnadu )For the couples, king chellamuthu Ragunadha sethupathy and queen muthathal, a girl baby was born and named as Velu nachiyar . It didn’t cry for it’s hunger but cried for the rise of Indian freedom. As she was the only child, she’s raised with full support of her parents with bravery and courage. From her early childhood, she was a legend in archery ,horse riding, sword fighting and silambam(one of the martial arts performed in Tamilnadu).other than tamil,she was proficient in Urdu , Hindi, English and French .Then she got married to the king of sivagangai district king Muthu vaduganadhar.
They had a daughter vellachi nachiyar. In a war, muthu was killed by Arcot of Nawab as he refused to pay taxes to nawab.his aim was to take all the wealth from the district of sivagangai.Sivagangai was then under the control of nawab.finally she wanted to see her husband’s face, so decided to go to kalayarkoil where, muthuvadugar left his last breath.
When she was searching for her husband in the bloody battlefield, the visual she saw remained as a wound in her heart. then She was in the protection of nayakar (a king)with support of Marudhu brothers. velu nachiyar could not tolerate the loss of her husband, then she decided to gain back her territory of sivagangai with fire burning in her eyes and her main aim was to recover India from British , then she started her contributions to Indian freedom struggles.
Contributions to freedom
Velunachiyar spent nearly 8 years for convincing other kingdoms and planning against British. A king named Hydher Ali (king of mysore)Gave her 5000 soldiers and weapons required for the war.
‘The confidence given by velunachiyar, created a spirit among southern tamil peoples’.
By her motivational speeches, “even the new born foetus was ready to take part in war”. She started a revolt and it spread along all the southern part of India. people were ready to do whatever for the recovery of their state. One of the main reasons for her victory was Kuyili( a woman commander). Kuyili was a devotee of velu nachiyar and she was a chief commander of nachiyar’s army. She was known for her sacrifice as she was considered as human suicide bomb. She applied ghee on her body and set herself on fire then she jumped into the British weapon site. For her sacrifice, a memorial was raised by government of Tamilnadu. Then a woman named Udayal, when the enemies were asking about nachiyar’s plan, Udayal refused to confess it, so those horrible soldiers cut her hand off. People were such devotees of velu nachiyar as they are inspired by her struggles.she gained back her territory after so many bloody battles.
A symbol of bravery
She was considered as the first woman in royal history to fight against British. She is aptly called as “veeramangai” by tamil people which means brave woman. she trained her army with perfections. On seeing her, people who were thinking about lives, then began to take part in other wars of Indian freedom struggles. She enlarged her army forces, increased her Territory’s wealth and made her people to lose only the tears of happiness.she died due to heart illness at age of 66. After she handed over her territory to marudhu brothers who supported her through out her life time.
Conclusion
The revolt which was created by her made the starting point of freedom struggle Along southern part of India. Her story should be known by each and everyone. By her flashback, we are able to feel, how a pain can turn into a tornado Which can destroy a battlefield. A victory of a single queen is not just a history to be read but an inspiration that should be rebirthed.
By: L. Subashini
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