This article is about the 18th century Indian king. For other uses, see Marthanda Varma (disambiguation).
Marthanda Varma
King of Travancore Mughal Zamindar of Malabar
A depiction of Marthanda Varma
Reign
1729 – 7 July 1758
Predecessor
Rama Varma
Successor
Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja")
Born
Anizham Thirunal 1706 Attingal, Venad
Died
7 July 1758 (aged 53) Padmanabhapuram, Kingdom of Travancore
Regnal name
Sri Padmanabhadasa Vanchipala Maharajah Sri Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma Kulasekhara Perumal
Kulasekhara Dynasty
House Of Venad
Father
Raghava Varma Koyil Thampuran of Kilimanoor
Mother
Karthika Thirunal Umadevi of Attingal
Religion
Hinduism
Marthanda Varma
Allegiance
Venadu
Mughal Empire
Travancore
Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758.[1] He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).[2] While he was the heir to the throne, he suggested to his uncle the idea of forming an alliance with the Mughal Nawab of Carnatic. Rama Varma pledged allegiance to the Mughal empire and embraced the title of "Zamindar of Malabar". The feudatory status of Travancore persisted even during the era of Hyder Ali.
Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company forces at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. He also put an end to the Ettuveetil Pillamars and the Ettara Yogam council and took full power as a king. The Yogakars and Pillamars were always against the Royal Family of Venad (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).[1] He built a sizeable standing army of about 50,000 nair men, as part of designing an "elaborate and well-organised" war machine,[2] with the role of the travancore army and fortified the northern boundary of his kingdom (Travancore Lines).[2] His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of Kochi (Cochin), against the northern Kingdom of Calicut, enabled the kingdom of Kochi to survive.[1]
Travancore under Marthanda Varma made a deliberate attempt to consolidate its power by the use of Indian Ocean trade.[2] 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.[3][2] Eventually, Travancore challenged and broke the Dutch blockade of the Kerala coast.[3]
Trivandrum became a prominent city in Kerala under Marthanda Varma.[4] He undertook many irrigational works, built roads and canals for communication and gave active encouragement to foreign trade.[5] 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).[6][7] Marthanda Varma's policies were continued in large measure by his successor, Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja").
^ abcNoble, William G., Kerala at the Encyclopædia Britannica
^ abcdeSubrahmanyam, Sanjay. The south: Travancore and Mysore "India". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ abSubrahmanyam, S. (1988). Commerce and State Power in Eighteenth-Century India: Some Reflections. South Asia Research, 8(2), 97–110.
^Thiruvananthapuram at the Encyclopædia Britannica
^Bipan Chandra "History of modern India"
^Cite error: The named reference Chaitanya1983 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Aswathy Thirunal 1998 168–170, 179–180, 595–602 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Anizham Thirunal MarthandaVarma was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in...
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reigned towards the end of the 17th century was a prominent ruler. MarthandaVarma, the "maker of modern Travancore" and Dharma Raja were powerful rulers...
Thiruvananthapuram and the Ettara Yogam. Their power and wealth grew until MarthandaVarma (1706–1758), the last king of Venad and the first king of Travancore...
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Tamil-speaking people. King MarthandaVarma inherited the small feudal state of Venad in 1723, and built it into Travancore. MarthandaVarma led the Travancorean...
from legends, history, and real life. MarthandaVarma is also mentioned as Yuvarajavu (Prince). MarthandaVarma is described as a young man between 20...
Dutch at the 1741 Battle of Colachel during the reign of Maharajah MarthandaVarma, the creator of modern Travancore. Ramayyan, was born in a Tamil Brahmin...
Travancore from 1758 until his death in 1798. He succeeded his uncle MarthandaVarma, who is credited with the title of "maker of modern Travancore". During...
until September 1749 when the king of Travancore Anizham Thirunal MarthandaVarma ousted him from Neerazi Palace at the Battle of Changanassery. Thekkumkur...
Supreme Court of India, in the matter of Sri MarthandaVarma v T P Sundararajan AND Uthradom Thirunal MarthandaVarma v Union of India Archived 8 March 2013...
succeeded his brother Unni Kerala Varma. He is better known as the uncle of Maharajah Padmanabha Dasa Vanchi Pala MarthandaVarma Kulasekhara Perumal, the "maker...
Sankaran. He was a courtier of two successive Kings of Travancore, viz. MarthandaVarma and Dharma Raja.[citation needed] The most celebrated work of Ramapurathu...
the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore-Dutch War, King MarthandaVarma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East India Company's forces...
by Travancore king MarthandaVarma. After this humiliating defeat, Dutch military commanders were taken hostage by MarthandaVarma, and they were forced...
military strategist and commander of the Travancore army, under Maharaja MarthandaVarma. De Lannoy, originally a Dutch naval officer, arrived with a Dutch...
Boothapandi. In the novel, while Rama Varma and Thirumukhathu Pilla headed to Tiruchirappalli, prince MarthandaVarma and Ananthapadmanabhan were staying...
namely Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi in 1916 and Uthradom Thirunal MarthandaVarma in 1922. Her second child was still born. In 1923, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi...
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