Rani Mangammal (Mangamma)(died 1705) was a queen regent of the
Madurai Nayak kingdom (in present-day
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) during the minority of her grandson Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha in 1689—1704. She was a popular administrator and is still widely remembered as a maker of roads and avenues, and a builder of temples, tanks and choultries with many of her public works still in use. She is also known for her diplomatic and political skills and successful military campaigns. The capital of
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
Kingdom during her times was
Tiruchy
Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
.
Life
Mangammal was the daughter of Tupakula Lingama Nayaka,and was the wife of a general of Madurai ruler
Chokkanatha Nayak
Chokkanatha Nayak (1662—1682) succeeded his father Muttu Alkadri Nayak, as the ruler of the Madurai Nayak dynasty, when he was sixteen years old.
References
{{reflist
Madurai Nayak dynasty
Telugu people
Telugu monarchs ...
(1659–1682). She married Chokkanatha Nayak and became the mother of Rangakrishna Muthu Virappa Nayak (1682—1689).
When her husband died in 1682, he was succeeded by her son. Upon the death of her son in 1689, her son's widow was pregnant. Her son was succeeded by her grandson in 1689. Her daughter-in-law committed
sati
Sati or SATI may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi
* ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike
*Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer
*Sati, a character in ''Th ...
, and Mangammal became regent during the minority of her grandson.
Regency
During Mangammal's regency, many irrigation channels were repaired, new roads were constructed, avenue trees were planted, and several municipal buildings were completed, including temples and her "Spring Palace" at TumKum.
[ (no preview)] The "Spring Palace" now houses the
Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai.
The highway from Cape Comorin was originally built during the time of Mangammal and it was known as Rani Mangammal Salai.
She played a key role in assisting the
Mughal Army
The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...
during the
Siege of Jinji
The siege of Jinji, (September 1690–8 January 1698), began when the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb appointed Zulfiqar Ali Khan as the Nawab of the Carnatic and dispatched him to besiege and capture Jinji Fort, which had been sacked and captured b ...
(Gingee). Queen Mangammal had realized that the renegade
Rajaram had entrenched himself within Jinji and had been bent upon attacking
Thanjavur
Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...
and
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
if the Mughal Army were to withdraw. Mangammal soon recognized
Aurangzeb and the
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
as her allies and she began to assist
Zulfiqar Khan in attacking the Jinji fort. When the fort was captured by both Zulfiqar Khan and Mangammal after 8 years, she and her family had control over the fort under the leadership of the Mughals.
When her grandson, Vijayaranga Chokkanatha Nayaka, came of age in 1704, she and her prime minister, Achayya, refused to relinquish power. They were seized by the army commander and executed.
[ (no preview)]
Gallery
File:Queen Mangammal Palace Madurai.jpg, Queen's Summer Palace
File:Queen Mangammal Palace Inside View.jpg, Queen's Summer Palace
References
External links
*
MaduraiMeenakshi Temple*
{{authority control
17th-century women rulers
Indian queens
1706 deaths
Telugu people
Regents of India
Madurai Nayak dynasty
17th-century births
18th-century women rulers
17th-century Indian women
17th-century Indian people
18th-century Indian women
18th-century Indian people