Overview

Before 1857, before Rani Lakshmibai… there was Rani Velu Nachiyar, the fearless queen of Sivaganga who became the first Indian woman to wage war against the British.

Born in 1730, Velu Nachiyar was not just a ruler – she was a warrior, strategist, and revolutionary. After the British and their allies killed her husband, she built an army, mastered guerrilla warfare, and struck back with fire and fury. With the help of her commander Kuyili, who carried out India’s first recorded suicide attack, Velu Nachiyar destroyed the British arsenal and reclaimed her kingdom.

This is the untold story of India’s forgotten queen who stood up to the East India Company decades before the First War of Independence