Sivaganga – History
During
the 17th century, Sivaganga was ruled by the Kingdom of Ramnad, which had its
boundary spreading across modern day Sivaganga, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram.
The seventh king of the empire, Ragunatha Sethupathy (also called Kilavan Sethupathy) ruled from 1674
to 1710 and was succeeded by his sister's son Vijaya Regunatha Sethupathy. He
was succeeded by his son-in-law Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy in 1726.
Bhavani Sankara Thevan, the illegitimate son of Regunatha Sethupathy aligned
with the Rajah of Tanjore to attack Ramnad.
Though
Bhavani won, he did not honour the earlier decision to cede some portions of
the empire to the King of Tanjore. He quarreled with Sasivarna Periya Woodaya
Thevar and sent him out of his province. Both Sasivarna and Kattaya Thevar, the
brother of Sundareswara, aligned with the Rajah of Tanjore. Both of them
conquered Bhavani in 1730 with the help of the army of Tanjore. Kattaya Thevar
divided the kingdom into five provinces and gave two to Sasivarna, who became
the first king of Sivaganga.
As per
legend, Sasivarna built the Theppakulam and fort around the spring
"Sivaganga", where he met his spiritual guru Sathappier. As per
another account, Sasivarna was appointed as the king by the Nawab
of Carnatic. Sasivarna died at
around 1750 and his son Muthu Vaduganatha Periya Udaya Thevar took over the
reign. He was shot dead in 1780 by Nawab's troops. His widow Velu
Nachiyar and infant Vellachi
fled the region and were aided by two Maruthu
brothers namely Periya
Maruthu and Chinna Maruthu.
Velu
Nachiyar ruled the region till 1790, when her daughter succeeded her. The
brothers still continued the support the new queen. The brothers rebelled
against the British East India Company and Nawab of Carnatic, who was
supporting the Company. The brothers were later captured and hanged in Tirupathur.
The Company appointed Gowry Vallaba Periya Woodaya Thevar as the Zamindar of
Sivaganga in 1801.
Sivaganga
District has been carved out from composite Ramnad District (G.O. MS. No. 1122
Rev. Dept. Dated. 6.7.84) and the District was functioning from 15.3.85 (G.O MS.No.
346 Rev. dept. Dated: 8.3.85).
Rulers of
Sivagangai
Past rulers:
The Kingdom
of Ramnad originally comprised
the territories of Ramnad, Sivaganga and Pudukottai of today. Regunatha
Sethupathy, or Kilavan Sethupathy, was the 7th King of Ramnad reigned between 1674 and
1710. He came to know of the bravery and valor of Peria Woodaya Thevar of
Nalukottai, located 4 kilometres from Sholapuram near Sivaganga. As a result,
the King assigned Thevar or Nalukottai a portion of land sufficient to maintain
1,000 armed men.
Vijaya
Regunatha Sethupathy became the 8th King of Ramnad in 1710 after the death of
Kilavan Sethupathy. The King, then, gave his daughter Akilandeswari Nachiar, in
marriage to Sasivarna Thevar, the son of Nalukottai Peria Woodaya Thevar.
Afterwards, the King gave Thevar lands as dowry, free of taxation, sufficient
to maintain 1,000 men. He also placed him in charge of the fortresses of
Piranmalai, Tiruppathur, Sholapuram and Tiruppuvanam, as well as the harbour of
Thondi.
Meanwhile,
Bhavani Sankaran, the son of Kilavan Sethupathy conquered Ramnad territory and
arrested Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy, the 9th King of Ramnad. Bhavani
Sankaran, then, proclaimed himself as the Rajah of Ramnad. He became the 10th
king of Ramnad and he reigned from 1726 to 1729. During his reign, he quarreled
with Sasivarna Peria Woodaya Thevar of Nalukottai and drove him out of his
Nalukottai Palayam.
Consequently,
Thevan, the brother of the late Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy fled from
Ramnad and sought refuge with the Rajah of Tanjore Tuljaji. While Sasivarna
Thevar was passing through the jungles of Kalaiyarkoil, he met
a Gnani (sage) named Sattappiah, who was performing Thapas
(meditation) under a jam bool tree near a spring called 'Sivaganga'. The
deposed king prostrated himself before him and narrated all the previous
incidents of his life.
In
response, the Gnani whispered a certain mantra in his ears (Mantra Upadesam)
and advised him to go to Tanjore and kill a ferocious tiger which was kept by
the Rajah especially to test the bravery of men. Henceforth, Sasivarna Thevar
went to Tanjore. There, he became acquainted with Kattaya Thevan a refugee like
himself. Satisfied with the good behaviour of Sasivarna Thevar and Kattaya
Thevan, wanting to help them to regain the states again, the Rajah of Tanjore
ordered his Dalavoi to go with a large army to invade Bhavani Sankaran.
Sasivarna
Thevar and Kattaya Thevan at once proceeded to Ramnad with a large army
furnished by the king of Tanjore. There, they defeated Bhavani Sankaran at the
battle of Uraiyur and captured Ramnad in 1730. Thus, Kattaya Thevan became the
11th King of Ramnad.
1st Rajah Sasivarna Thevar (1730–1750):
After
becoming the 11th King of Ramnad, Kattaya Thevan divided Ramnad into five parts
and retained three for himself. He granted the two parts to Sasivarna Thevar of
Nalukottai conferring on him the title of Rajah Muthu Vijaya Regunatha Peria Woodaya
Thevar.
2nd Rajah — Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Woodaya
Thevar (1750 –1772):
Sasivarna
Peria Woodaya Thevar died in or about the year 1750. He was succeeded by his
only son, Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Woodaya Thevar, who was the second Rajah of
Sivaganga. His wife, Rani Velu Nachiar acted as a friend, a philosopher, and a
guide to him. In his reign, Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Woodaya Thevar granted
commercial facilities to the Dutch only after the English rejected a similar
offer, made to Colonel Heron.
In fact,
the English' aim was to let the ruler of Sivaganga serve the Nawab, to pay
tribute to him, and to dissuade them from establishing relations with foreign
powers like the Dutch. However, a two pronged offensive was made by the
English. Joseph Smith from the East and Benjour from the West invaded Sivaganga
Palayam in June 1772. The country was full of bushes of cockspur thorn, though
there were villages and open spaces here and there.
Rajah
Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar, in anticipation of the invasion, erected barriers on
the roads, dug trenches and established posts in the woods of Kalaiyarkoil. In
the same way on 21 June 1772, the detachment of Smith and Benjour effected a
junction and occupied the town of Sivaganga. The next day, the English forces
marched to Kalaiyarkoil and captured the posts of Keeranoor and Sholapuram.
Now,
Benjour, who is continuing the operations, came into conflict with the main
body of the troops of Sivaganga on 25 June 1772. Muthu Vaduganatha Rajah with
many of his followers fell dead in that heroic battle. As a result, the heroic
activities shown in the battle field by Velu Nachiar is praised by the
historians. The widow queen Velu Nachiar and daughter Vellachi Nachiar with Thandavaraya
Pillai fled to Virupakshi in Dindigul.
Later
they were joined by the two able Servaigarars Periya Marudu and Chinna Marudhu.
Rani Velu Nachiar and her daughter Vellachi Nachiar lived under the protection
of Hyder Ali at Virupakshi near Dindigul. Her husband and his second wife were
killed by a few British soldiers and the son of the Nawab of Arcot. She escaped
with her daughter, lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupachi near
Dindigul for eight years.
During
this period she formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayakar and
Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British. In 1780 Rani Velu Nachiyar
fought the British and won the battle. When Velu Nachiyar finds the place where
the British stock their ammunition, she builds the first human bomb. A faithful
follower, Kuyili douses herself in oil, lights herself and walks into the
storehouse.
Rani
Velu Nachiyar formed a woman's army named “Udaiyal” in honour of her adopted
daughter — Udaiyal, who died detonating a British arsenal. Nachiar was one of
the few rulers who regained her kingdom and ruled it for 10 more years. The
Queen Velu Nachiar granted powers to Marudhu Brothers to administer the country
in 1780. Velu Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death
is not known (it was about 1790).
Marudhu brothers (1783-1801):
Marudu
brothers are the sons of Udayar Servai alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai and
Anandayer alias Ponnathal. They are native of Kongulu street of Ramnad and
neither belonged to the family of the ancient poligars, nor to their division
of the caste. Servaikaran was the caste title and Marudu the family name. The
Marudu Brothers served under Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar.
Later
they were elevated to the position of Commanders. Boomerangs are peculiar to
India and two forms of these weapons are used in India. One of the weapons is
commonly made of wood, commonly known as Valari stick in Tamil. It is a
crescent-shaped on end being heavier than the other, while the outer edge is
sharpened. It is said that Marudu Brothers were experts in the art of throwing
the Valari stick, and they used it in the Poligar wars against the English.
One time,
the Marudu brothers, with 12,000 armed men, surrounded Sivaganga and plundered
the Nawab's territories. Consequently, the Nawab appealed to the Madras Council
for aid on 10 March 1789. In the same way on 29 April 1789, the British forces
attacked Kollangudi, but it was defeated by a large body of Marudu's troops. On
the other hand, the Marudhu Brothers were in close association with Veera
Pandiya Kattabomman of Panchalankuruchi as Kattabomman held frequent
consultations with the Marudhus.
After
the execution of Kattabomman on 17 October 1799 at Kayattar, Chinna Marudhu
gave asylum to Kattabomman's brother Oomathurai. One time, they issued an
epoch-making Jumboo Deweepa proclamation to the people in the island of Jamboo,
the peninsular South India, to fight against the English whether they were
Hindus, Mussalamans or Christians. At last, the Marudhu Pandiyars fell a victim
to the cause of liberating the motherland from the English supremacy.
Consequently,
Marudu Pandiyan, the popular leader of the rebels, together with his gallant
brother Vellai Marudu was executed on the ruins of fort at Tiruppathur in
Sivaganga District on 24 October 1801. Marudu brothers were not only warriors
who are noted for bravery, but they were very great administrators. During the
period from 1783 to 1801, they worked for the welfare of the people and the
Sivaganga Seemai was reported as fertile. They constructed many notable temples
(i.e. Kalaiyarkoil) Ooranis and Tanks.
Remaining Rulers:
After
the many successions of legal heirs ruling the estate, Sri D.S. Karthikeya
Venkatachalapathy Rajah succeeded to the estate of late Sri. D. Shanmuga Rajah.
He was the former Hereditary Trustee of Sivaganga, Devasthanam and Chatrams
consisting of 108 temples, 22 Kattalais and 20 Chatrams. Sri. D.S. Karthikeya
Venkatachalapathy Rajah died on 30 August 1986, leaving a daughter named Tmt.
Maduranthagi Nachiyar as his heir.
At
present, Tmt. Maduranthagi Nachiyar is administering the Sivaganga Estate,
Sivaganga Devasthanam, and Chatram of Sivaganga Royal Family. Based on the
District Gazette 1990 of Ramanathapuram, and the history of Sivaganga
maintained by Samasthanam, Sivaganga District has been formed mostly with an
area of entire Sivaganga Zamin and part of Ramnad Zamin.