VELU NACHIYAAR, THE FIRST INDIAN QUEEN TO FIGHT AGAINST BRITISH
I don't know how many of you are aware of this name. If you think that Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi is the first queen to fight against british, I'm sorry. You are absolutely wrong. It was a brave tamil queen Velu Nachiyaar who fought against the british. Velu Nachiyaar was born in 1730. She was married to the king of Sivaganga. She came into throne after her husband was killed by the british army. She know 6 languages including french.
For the first time in the history, VELU NACHIYAAR formed a women army named Udayal padai. She introduced guerrilla warfare in her army named kooraal padai and a human bomb named kuyili.After her loss of throne to the british government, she escaped with her daughter and lived under the protection of Hyder Ali in Dindugal for some years. Then with the help of Hyder Ali, she attacked the british government at her home land and became the queen again. A women helped her during the escape. The british killed that women for not betraying the queen. After capturing her throne after several years, VELU NACHIYAAR went to the place of the women and in her respect she built a temple. Even today you can see many women in and around sivaganga district with the name NACHIYAAR. This shows the love and affection of the people towards their brave sweet heart.
Honoring her, the Indian government has released a commemorative postage stamp on December 31-2008, which is shown below.
