Rani Velu Nachiyar

Life Velu Nachiyar was born on 3 January 1730. She 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, Kalaripayattu, horse riding, and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and was proficient in languages like French, English and Urdu.

When her husband, Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar, battle was held in maravar manglam 12 km from kalaiyar Kovil.second day killed in attack EIC soldiers in 1772 at KalaiyarKoil, she was drawn into the conflict. Velu Nachiyar ran away from Sivagangai and sought the help of Hyder Ali, Dindigul is border state ruled by Hyder Ali . She stayed in virupaachi fortress.After eight years of planning — along with support of many nattu ambalars, commanders Marudhu brothers, and Thandavarayan Pillai—in war time support by tippu sultan she fought against the British East India Company.

In 1772, Sivaganga minister Thandavarayan Pillai wrote a letter on behalf of Rani Velu Nachiyar to Hyder Ali, looking for military support:

In 1780, Velu Nachiyar waged war against the British and successfully reclaimed her kingdom. She governed for ten years and died in 1796.

Popular culture On 31 December 2008, a commemorative postage stamp in her name was released. OVM Dance Academy of Chennai presenting "VELU NACHIYAR" a Grand Dance Ballet on Sivaganga Queen. Professor A.L.I., a Tamil-American hip-hop artist, released a song dedicated to Velu Nachiyar entitled "Our Queen" as part of his Tamilmatic album in 2016. On 21 August 2017, a grand dance ballet was conducted in Naradha Gana Sabha in Chennai depicting the life history of the queen Velu Nachiyar. The play was directed by Sriram Sharma, who researched on the Queen's life history for almost a decade.