Marthanda Varma

This article is about the 18th century Indian king. For other uses, see Marthanda Varma (disambiguation).

Marthanda Varma
King of Travancore
A depiction of Marthanda Varma
Reign1729 – 7 July 1758
PredecessorRama Varma
SuccessorRama Varma ("Dharma Raja")
BornAnizham Thirunal
1706
Attingal, Venad
Died7 July 1758 (aged 53)
Padmanabhapuram, Kingdom of Travancore
Regnal name
Sri Padmanabhadasa Vanchipala Maharajah Sri Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma Kulasekhara Perumal
Kulasekhara DynastyHouse Of Venad
FatherRaghava Varma Koyil Thampuran of Kilimanoor
MotherKarthika Thirunal Umadevi of Attingal
ReligionHinduism

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]

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").

  1. ^ a b c Noble, William G., Kerala at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ a b c d e Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. The south: Travancore and Mysore "India". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  3. ^ a b Subrahmanyam, S. (1988). Commerce and State Power in Eighteenth-Century India: Some Reflections. South Asia Research, 8(2), 97–110.
  4. ^ Thiruvananthapuram at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  5. ^ Bipan Chandra "History of modern India"
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chaitanya1983 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aswathy Thirunal 1998 168–170, 179–180, 595–602 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).