The woman who challenged British before 1857!
Rani Velu Nachiyar Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a little-known queen of Sivaganga estate from 1780–1790. She was the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India. She did this in 1780, 77 years before the First War of Independence.She was popularly known as ‘ veeramangai ’ (brave woman). Nachiyar was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari , Silambam , horse riding and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English and Urdu. When she was 16, Velu Nachiyar was married to Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar, the prince of Sivagangai. They had a daughter together called Vellachi, and ruled over the kingdom for over two decades – from 1750 to 1772, until the year that Mathuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar was killed by the British. She escaped with her daughter.S he formed an army and sought an alliance with G...