Marthanda Varma

Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: അനിഴം തിരുനാൾ മാർത്താണ്ഡവർമ്മ; 1706 – 7 July 1758) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).

King Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company forces at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. He also put an end to the Nair-Brahmin Administrative setup, Ettuveetil Pillamar and the Ettara yogam council and took the full power as the king. The Yogakars and Pillamars were always against the Royal Family to which King Marthanda Varma belonged. (Padmabhaswamy Temple Judgement page :16) He then adopted a European mode of discipline for his army and expanded his kingdom northward (to what became the modern state of Travancore). He built a sizeable standing army of about 50,000 nair men, as part of designing an "elaborate and well-organised" war machine, with the role of the travancore army and fortified the northern boundary of his kingdom (Travancore Lines). His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of Kochi (Cochin), against the northern Kingdom of Calicut, enabled the kingdom of Kochi to survive.

Travancore under Marthanda Varma made a deliberate attempt to consolidate its power by the use of Indian Ocean trade. It was the policy of Marthanda Varma to offer assistance to Syrian Christian traders (as a means of limiting European involvement in ocean trade). The principal merchandise was black pepper, but other goods also came to be defined as royal monopoly items (requiring a license for trade) between the 1740s and the 1780s. Eventually, Travancore challenged and broke the Dutch blockade of the Kerala coast.

Thiruvananthapuram became a prominent city in Kerala under Marthanda Varma. He undertook many irrigational works, built roads and canals for communication and gave active encouragement to foreign trade. In January, 1750, Marthanda Varma decided to "donate" his kingdom to the last Tiruvadi Sri Padmanabha (Vishnu) and thereafter rule as the deity's "vice-regent" (Sri Padmanabha Dasa). Marthanda Varma's policies were continued in large measure by his successor, Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja").

Marthanda Varma was born in 1706 to queen Karthika Thirunal Umadevi, the Queen of Attingal, and Raghava Varma of Kilimanoor Palace. Queen Karthika Thirunal Uma Devi - an adoptee from the northern Kolathunadu ruling family - was the senior queen of Attingal at the time. His father Raghava Varma Koil Thampuran died of severe fever when Marthanda Varma was one year old.

Marthanda Varma was the nephew of the last Venadu king, Rama Varma. At the time of Varma's birth, Trippappur Swaroopam (later Thiruvithamkoor or Travancore) was a small chiefdom extending from Edava in the north to Aralvaimozhi under the Venadu Kingdom. Venadu Kingdom was split into small feudal regions ruled and controlled by the Nair Aristocracy.

King Rama Varma died in 1729. According to the matrilineal system of inheritance of Kerala, the next king would be Marthanda Varma. However, a problem cropped up when two of his cousins, Valiya Thampi and Kunju Thampi, who were sons of King Rama Varma, claimed the throne under the earlier patriarchal succession of Kshatriyas. Some historians note that these thampis are sons of Rama Varma and a Rajput woman named Abhirami, while some believe he is of Bengali or Tamil noble Devadasi who followed patriarchal. The Thampis requested the help of Ettuveettil Pillai, the Nair Aristocracy who controlled the regions near Padmanabhaswamy Temple, along with their associates Yogakkar (comprising Malayali Brahmins and Nairs representative from Venadu).

Pillaimar were extremely influential in Venadu, and had more power than the kings themselves. Even the kings needed their permission to make decisions in Venadu. This conflict between Varma and the Thampis later resulted in severe consequences. In the aftermath, Marthanda Varma and his family lived in fear, many of his relatives were killed, they hide and moved from place to place, seeking refuge in various places with the help of several Nair Tharavads.