Rulers of Sivangangai Sivaganga district

1 rulers of sivangangai

1.1 past rulers
1.2 1st rajah sasivarna thevar (1730–1750)
1.3 2nd rajah — muthu vaduganatha peria oodaya thevar (1750–1772)
1.4 marudhu brothers (1783-1801)
1.5 remaining rulers

rulers of sivangangai
past rulers

the kingdom of ramnad comprised territories of ramnad, sivaganga , pudukottai of today. regunatha sethupathy, or kilavan sethupathy, 7th king of ramnad reigned between 1674 , 1710. came know of bravery , valor of peria oodaya thevar of nalukottai, located 4 kilometres sholapuram near sivaganga. result, king assigned thevar or nalukottai portion of land sufficient maintain 1,000 armed men.

vijaya regunatha sethupathy became 8th king of ramnad in 1710 after death of kilavan sethupathy. king, then, gave daughter akilandeswari nachiar, in marriage sasivarna thevar, son of nalukottai peria oodaya thevar. afterwards, king gave thevar lands dowry, free of taxation, sufficient maintain 1,000 men. placed him in charge of fortresses of piranmalai, tiruppathur, sholapuram , tiruppuvanam, harbour of thondi. meanwhile, bhavani sankaran, son of kilavan sethupathy conquered ramnad territory , arrested sundareswara regunatha sethupathy, 9th king of ramnad. bhavani sankaran, then, proclaimed himself rajah of ramnad. became 10th king of ramnad , reigned 1726 1729.

during reign, quarreled sasivarna peria oodaya thevar of nalukottai , drove him out of nalukottai palayam. consequently, thevan, brother of late sundareswara regunatha sethupathy fled ramnad , sought refuge rajah of tanjore tuljaji. while sasivarna thevar passing through jungles of kalayarkoi, met gnani (sage) named sattappiah, performing thapas (meditation) under jam bool tree near spring called sivaganga . deposed king prostrated himself before him , narrated previous incidents of life. in response, gnani whispered mantra in ears (mantra opadesam) , advised him go tanjore , kill ferocious tiger kept rajah test bravery of men. henceforth, sasivarna thevar went tanjore. there, became acquainted kattaya thevan refugee himself. satisfied behaviour of sasivarma thevar , kattaya thevan, wanting them regain states again, rajah of tanjore ordered dalavoy go large army invade bhavani sankaran. sasivarna thevar , kattaya thevan @ once proceeded ramnad large army furnished king of tanjore. there, defeated bhavani sankaran @ battle of uraiyur , captured ramnad in 1730. thus, kattaya thevan became 11th king of ramnad.

1st rajah sasivarna thevar (1730–1750)

after becoming 11th king of ramnad, kattaya thevan divided ramnad 5 parts , retained 3 himself. granted 2 parts sasivarna thevar of nalukottai conferring on him title of rajah muthu vijaya regunatha peria oodaya thevar.

2nd rajah — muthu vaduganatha peria oodaya thevar (1750–1772)

sasivarna peria oodaya thevar died in or year 1750. succeeded son, muthu vaduganatha peria oodaya thevar, second rajah of sivaganga. wife, rani velu nachiar acted friend, philosopher, , guide him.

in reign, muthu vaduganatha peria oodaya thevar granted commercial facilities dutch after english rejected similar offer, made colonel heron. in fact, english aim let ruler of sivaganga serve nawab, pay tribute him, , dissuade them establishing relations foreign powers dutch. however, 2 pronged offensive made english. joseph smith east , benjour west invaded sivaganga palayam in june 1772. country full of bushes of cockspur thorn, though there villages , open spaces here , there. rajah muthu vaduganatha thevar, in anticipation of invasion, erected barriers on roads, dug trenches , established posts in woods of kalayarkoil.

in same way on 21 june 1772, detachment of smith , benjour effected junction , occupied town of sivaganga. next day, english forces marched kalayarkoil , captured posts of keeranoor , sholapuram. now, benjour, continuing operations, came conflict main body of troops of sivaganga on 25 june 1772. muthu vaduganatha rajah many of followers fell dead in heroic battle. result, heroic activities shown in battle field velu nachiar praised historians. widow queen velu nachiar , daughter vellachi nachiar tandavaraya pillai fled virupakshi in dindigul. later joined 2 able servaigarars periya marudu , chinna marudhu.

velu nachiar aranmanai

rani velu nachiyar , daughter vellachi nachiyar lived under protection of hyder ali @ virupakshi near dindigul. husband , second wife killed few british soldiers , son of nawab of arcot. escaped daughter, lived under protection of hyder ali @ virupachi near dindigul 8 years. during period formed army , sought alliance gopala nayaker , hyder ali aim of attacking british. in 1780 rani velu nachiyar fought british , won battle. when velu nachiyar finds place british stock ammunition, builds first human bomb. faithful follower, kuyili douses herself in oil, lights herself , walks storehouse. rani velu nachiyar formed woman s army named udaiyaal in honour of adopted daughter — udaiyaal, died detonating british arsenal. nachiar 1 of few rulers regained kingdom , ruled 10 more years.

the queen velu nachiar granted powers marudhu brothers administer country in 1780. velu nachiar died few years later, exact date of death not known (it 1790).

marudhu brothers (1783-1801)

marudu brothers sons of udayar servai alias mookiah palaniappan servai , anandayer alias ponnathal. native of kongulu street of ramnad , neither belonged family of ancient poligars, nor division of caste. servaikaran caste title , marudu family name.

the marudu brothers served under muthu vaduganatha thevar. later elevated position of commanders. boomerangs peculiar india , 2 forms of weapons used in india. 1 of weapons commonly made of wood, commonly known valari stick in tamil. crescent-shaped on end being heavier other, while outer edge sharpened. said marudu brothers experts in art of throwing valari stick, , used in poligar wars against english. 1 time, marudu brothers, 12,000 armed men, surrounded sivaganga , plundered nawab s territories. consequently, nawab appealed madras council aid on 10 march 1789. in same way on 29 april 1789, british forces attacked kollangudi, defeated large body of marudu s troops. on other hand, marudhu brothers in close association veera pandiya kattabomman of panchalankurichi kattabomman held frequent consultations marudhus. after execution of kattabomman on 17 october 1799 @ kayattar, chinna marudhu gave asylum kattabomman s brother oomadurai.

one time, issued epoch-making jumboo deweepa proclamation people in island of jamboo, peninsular south india, fight against english whether hindus, mussalamans or christians. @ last, marudhu pandiyars fell victim cause of liberating motherland english supremacy. consequently, marudu pandiyan, popular leader of rebels, gallant brother vellai marudu executed on ruins of fort @ tiruppathur in sivaganga district on 24 october 1801. marudu brothers not warriors noted bravery, great administrators. during period 1783 1801, worked welfare of people , sivaganga seemai reported fertile. constructed many notable temples (i.e. kalayarkoil) ooranis , tanks.

remaining rulers

after many successions of legal heirs ruling estate, sri d.s. karthikeya venkatachalapathy rajah succeeded estate of late sri. d. shanmuga rajah. former hereditary trustee of sivaganga, devasthanam , chatrams consisting of 108 temples, 22 kattalais , 20 chatrams. sri. d.s. karthikeya venkatachalapathy rajah died on 30 august 1986, leaving daughter named tmt. maduranthagi nachiyar heir. @ present, tmt. maduranthagi nachiyar administering sivaganga estate, sivaganga devasthanam, , chatram of sivaganga royal family. based on district gazette 1990 of ramanathapuram, , history of sivaganga maintained samasthanam, sivaganga district has been formed area of entire sivaganga zamin , part of ramnad zamin.