The estate of Sivaganga ( ta, சிவகங்கை ஜமீன்), as per British records also known as Kingdom of the Lesser Marava, was a permanently settled ''

zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

'' estate in the Ramnad sub-division of Madura district,

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Along the estate of Ramnad, it formed one of the two ''zamindari'' estates of Ramnad subdivision. The Sivaganga estate was ruled by a branch of the Marava royal family of

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

. The kingdom was reduced to a ''zamindari'' by the British in 1803. The ''zamindari'' was abolished through socialist reform on

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

History

The Pudukkottai and Sivaganga regions were actually parts of the kingdom of Ramnad when it became independent in the 1680s. In 1725, Ramnad was invaded by the ''polygar'' of Nalkottai who captured two-fifths of the kingdom including the territory of Sivaganga. Since then, occasionally, Ramnad was referred to as the kingdom of the Greater Marava and Sivaganga, the kingdom of the Lesser Marava. In 1773, the British conquered Sivaganga and killed Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar, the king of Sivaganga. His widow, queen

Velu Nachiyar Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from 1780–1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company in India.Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

and lived under the protection of

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

. During her exile, she formed an armed force and alliance with Hyder Ali. In 1780, she became the first queen in India to fight against the British colonial power. Accompanied by

Maruthu brothers The Marudhu Pandiyars (Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu) were Diarchal Kings of Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India, towards the end of the 18th century. They were known for fighting against the East India Company. They were finally executed by t ...

she recaptured Sivaganga and made her daughter her heir. According to

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

documents, the queen died under somewhat suspicious circumstances. In 1803, the British restored the rightful heir Udayathevan to the throne. The kingdom was subsequently reduced to a ''zamindari'' by the permanent settlement of Lord Wellesley. The estate was ruled by the descendants of Udayathevan till India's independence when the ''zamindari'' was abolished.

Monarchs

* Vijaya Raghunatha Sasivarna Periyavudaya Thevar (1730–1750) * Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar (1750–1772) *

Velu Nachiyar Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796) was a queen of Sivaganga estate from 1780–1790. She was the first Indian queen to wage war with the East India Company in India.Vellacci Vellacci or Vellachi Nachiyar (1770-1793) was the second ruling queen of Sivaganga estate in 1790–1793. She is the daughter of Muthu Vaduganatha Periyavudaya Thevar and Velu Nachiyar. She was made the heir to the throne of Sivagangai by her mo ...

(1790–1793) * Vangam Periya Udaya Thevar (1793–1801)

References

* {{coord missing, Tamil Nadu States and territories established in 1725 States and territories disestablished in 1947 Historical Indian regions Zamindari estates Madurai Nayak dynasty Madras Presidency Sivaganga district 1947 disestablishments in India 1725 establishments in India