Rani Velu Nachiyar

About  

• Rani Velu Nachiyar was born on January 3, 1730, in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
• She was the first queen to have ever actively opposed British rule and fought against colonial rulers many years before the Sepoy Mutiny.
• She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai.
• She was trained in war to match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using the stick), horse riding and archery. 
• She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency in languages like French, English and Urdu.
• She married the king of Sivagangai named  Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar, with whom she had a daughter. When her husband was killed by British soldiers, she was drawn into battle. 
• War against the British: In collaboration with Hyder Ali and Gopala Nayaker, she waged a war against the British and emerged victoriously
• She granted powers to the Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780. 

 

---

Q1) What special skills did the Maruda brothers possess?

They were good at aerodynamics and craftsmanship and are said to have invented the Valari, a variant of the boomerang.

Source: PM pays tributes to Rani Velu Nachiyar on her birth anniversary