The
history of Madurai will not be complete without mentioning the
name of Rani Mangammal,
the woman of great skill and sagacity. History does not provide
many instances of ruling queens in Tamillnadu. Though it was considered
that women were not suited to succeed the throne of a kingdom,
Rani
Mangammal, however,shines in almost solitary eminence as an able
and powerful ruler in Tamilnadu. It was sheer circumstances that
forced Mangammal to take up the reins of administering the Madurai
Nayaka kingdom about the close of the 17th century. She ruled it
for about eighteen years during an exceptionally troublesome period with great
skill and boldness.
The general of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb was at the gate
of the Gingee fort and he was bent upon attacking Thanjavur and
Madurai at any cost. Mysore
in the west,
had embarked on a campaign of territorial expansion by including Madurai even
during the time when her husband was alive. In the south, the Raja of Travancore,
who was an overlord of Madurai, had stopped paying the tribute. In the east,
the powerful ruler of Ramanad, Raghunatha Thevar also known as Kilavan Sethupathi
had risen in revolt in a bid for independence.
It was in this state that Rani Mangammal had to face almost without any help
from outside. With her political wisdom, diplomatic skill, administrative ability
and cool courage in facing danger, she was able to maintain the prestige of Madurai
and regain for it much of the position it had held during the days of Tirumala
Nayaka. Mangammal was the daughter of Lingama Nayaka, a general of Chokkanatha
Nayaka, who ruled Madurai from 1659 to 1682 A.D. Though Chokkanatha married Mangammal
early, she became the principal queen only later on when all his efforts to wed
the daughter of the Thanjavur ruler Vijayaraghava Nayaka had failed. Chokkanatha
died in 1682 A.D., but his queen Mangammal did not commit sati as she was a politically
minded woman to whom affairs of the state was more important.
Rengakrishna Muthu Veerappa, who succeeded Chokkanatha was a spirited youth.
He tried to retrieve to some extent the diminished fortunes of the kingdom. He
made a name for himself by ignoring Aurangazeb with courage. When Rengakrishna
died in 1689 A.D., his queen was pregnant. After she gave birth to a son, Vijayaranga
Chokkanatha, she ended herself by saying that she could not live after the death
of her husband. Under such
circumstances, Mangammal was forced to become regent on behalf of her infant
grandson, who was crowned when he was three months old.
The first problem which Mangammal had to face was the threat from the Mughals.
Zulfikhar Ali Khan, the general of Aurangazeb, who was engaged in the siege of
Gingee, where Rajaram, son of Shivaji had entrenched himself, sent an army to
the south to demand submission from Thanjavur which had gone into the hands of
the Marathas, even during the time of her husband.
After careful deliberation, Mangammal sent her tribute and later with the help
of Zulfikhar Ali, she was able to recover some portions of the kingdom lost to
Thanjavur in the past. In this policy, Mangammal showed great prudence and wisdom,
by skillfully bowing before the enemy. Mangammal had to face an invasion of Tiruchi
by Chikkadevaraya of Mysore who sent his famous Dalavoy Kumariyya, but an attack
by the Marathas on Mysore led to his recall.
In 1697 A.D., Mangammal sent an expedition to Travancore to punish its ruler,
Ravi Varma, who had attacked and destroyed an army sent from Madurai to Travancore,
as in the previous years, to collect the annual tribute which the king had
not been paying. Mangammal's next war was against Shaji, the Maratha ruler
of Thanjavur.
In 1700 A.D., Dalavoy Narasappiah defeated the Thanjavur forces. For some time
afterwards, friendly relations existed between the two kingdoms. They even
united and proceeded against Chikkadeval.aya of Mysore who had built an anicut
across
the river Cauvery and prevented adequate
supply of water for the irrigation of land in Thanjavur district. But by that
time, heavy rains had washed off this anicut at the site of which the present Kannambadi
dam stands.
Mangammal's greatest trial and serious failure was her expedition against Raghunatha
Sethupathi. This ended in a defeat for the Madurai and the death of Dalavoy Narasappiah
in the battle. This was a serious blow to Madurai from which it never recovered
again. Mangammal died in about 1706 A.D. and was succeeded by her grandson Vijayaranga
Chokkanatha Nayaka.
Mangammal did not neglect civil administration, trade and industry. She paid
special attention to irrigation and communications. Many irrigation channels
were repaired, new roads were constructed and avenue trees planted. The highway
from Cape Comorin was originally formed during the time of Mangammal and it was
known as 'Mangammal Salai'. She built many works of public utility of which the
Chatram in Madurai near the railway station is a standing monument. Her own original
palace in Madurai now houses the Mahatma Gandhi Museum although modified several
times.
Though Mangammal was devout Hindu, she showed tolerance in religious matters.
She endowed temples and mosques alike with property and was friendly to the Christian
missionaries and their converts. Mangammal was an efficient and popular ruler
and her memory is cherished even today in the rural areas of the district.
Rani Mangammal instituted the famous Unjal (swing) festival in the temple of
Meenakshi to be performed in the month of Ani. It will be interesting that her
contemporary portrait is found in the Unjal Mandapam. It may also be mentioned
that Hindu kings ruled their kingdoms as the servants of God. The land was ruled
in the name of the presiding God of the country. Tirumala Nayaka was ruling Madurai
in a similar manner. On all celebrations, the royal sceptre (sengol) used to
be placed before the Meenakshi deity and then placed on the thTone for the whole
day. This symbolised that the rule of land was by the Goddess. This old practice
continued even during the period of Rani Mangammal, as evidenced by a painting
in the Meenakshi temple. It shows the priest of Meenakshi temple handing over
the royal sceptre to the Queen |