Sivaganga- Velu Nachiar, Mumbai- Benjamin Horniman

Subject: History

Context:

As India gears up to celebrate its 74th Independence Day celebrations, the Ministry of Tourism’s DekhoApnaDesh Webinar Series presented a webinar titled “Lesser known stories of India’s struggle against the British”

Concept:

Sivaganga- Velu Nachiar

• It was in Sivaganga, during the rule of Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Odaya Thevar. He was married to the princess of Ramanathapuram, Velu Nachiar.
• King Muthu came into conflict with his neighbour, the powerful king of Arcot. At that time, the British power too was rising in South India, and the British had a strong alley in the Nawab of Arcot.
• In 1772, the British attacked Sivaganga, intending to capture it for the Nawab.
• Muthu sent out emissaries to negotiate with them. It seemed though the British agreed to talk with them, so the Sivaganga forces relaxed their guard.
• The British forces swept in and massacred all of them, including King Muthu.
• The crux of the story was the heroic battle waged by Velu Nachiar.
• She was determined to avenge her husband’s death. She had the support of the Marudu Brothers, fierce warlords who stood by her, along with a band of loyalists.
• Velu Nachiar was protected by Udaiyal, the leader of her bodyguards.
• The British captured her and tortured her to get her to reveal the whereabouts of Velu Nachiar. Udaiyal did not give in, and was killed.
• The brave Velu raised one more battalion of women and named it Udaiyal Regiment. It was commanded by the fiercely loyal Kuyili.
• Velu Nachiar met Haidar Ali, the king of Mysore, and convinced him to help her. Haider Ali sent 5,000 men to help Velu Nachiar to get back Sivaganga.
• But, by now, Sivaganga had been handed over to the British, and they had fortified the place.
• Kuyili smuggled some female guerillas in, and while they held the British at bay, she entered the ammunition store, and set it on fire. She died in the process.
• Velu Nachiar became Queen of Sivaganga and ruled for ten years.
• Sivaganga remained under the rule of her family until the merger of princely states happened in 1947.

Mumbai- Benjamin Horniman

• The Horniman Circle Gardens is a large park in South Mumbai, situated in the busy Fort district of Mumbai. It got its name in honour of Benjamin Horniman, the British editor of a newspaper called The Bombay Chronicle.
• The Bombay Chronicle was begun by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta. As its editor, Horniman spoke up against colonialism. He used the Bombay Chronicle to speak about Indian nationalist causes.
• Then in 1919, the JallianwalaBagh massacre happened in Amritsar.  The British knew that there would be a terrible backlash over the incident. They immediately clamped down on the press. Horniman defied the censorship.
• He smuggled a first-hand report of the massacre out of Punjab and published it. He continued publishing follow ups to the story and got the British really worried. They deported Horniman to England.
• Horniman continued to protest against the cruelties of the British rule in India in all his writings from England. In 1926, he exploited a loophole in his deportation order and returned to India to continue his work.