Umayamma Rani

Aswathi Thirunal Umayamma, popularly known as Umayamma Rani, was the Regent of Venad from 1677 to 1684 on behalf of her nephew Rajah Ravi Varma who ruled thereafter till 1718.

tate of Venad

Venad or Travancore was at that time in a state of turmoil. The two predecessors of Umayamma Rani, Rama Varma and Aditya Varma, had been adopted from the Vellarapally branch of the Cochin Royal Family in 1630, thereby offending the legitimate claims of the collateral branches of the Venad royal family to the musnud [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 202] . These collateral branches therefore started exercising independent authority in their domains. They were Elayadathu Swaroopam of Kottarakara, Peraka Thavazhi of Nedumangad and Desinganad Swaroopam of Quilon. Besides, even within the limited domains of the kingdom remaining with the chief branch, factions were rife due to the refractory nobles or "madempis", most famous of whom were the Ettuveetil Pillamar [Shungunny Menon History of Travancore] .

The Royal Family

Excluding the collateral branches, the members at the time of Umayamma Rani's rule in the Royal family of Venad were Makayiram Thirunal, the Senior Rani of Attingal, Umayamma Rani herself as Junior Rani of Attingal and Makayiram Thirunal's son, Rajah Ravi Varma. [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 226] . In 1677, Kerala Varma of Nedumangad laid claim to the musnud but his claim was rejected. Umayamma Rani also adopted in the same year two boys, solely for domestic purposes, with no claims to the throne, namely Raman Koyil Pandarathil, from Vellarapalli, Cochin and Kochu Raman Unni Pandarathil, a Brahmin boy [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 226] . Kerala Varma of Nedumangad along with the Kottarakara branch even attempted a military coup in 1882 [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 228] . On failure they tried to conciliate the Senior Rani of Attingal, Makayiram Thirunal but even this failed.

Adoption of Heirs

It is generally believed that Umayamma Rani had six sons of whom five were drowned by the Ettuveetil Pillamar and that Ravi Varma was her eldest and only surviving son [Shungunny Menon History of Travancore] . However with the help of the records of the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum and other credible sources, modern historians have not only disproved this fable but also positively concluded that Umayamma Rani did not have any children at all [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 225] [Sreedhara Menon Survey of Kerala History] .Similarly the story of the poisoning of Rajah Aditya Varma has also been disproved and it is now clear that he died a natural death in 1677 at Darpakulangara Palace [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 219] .

In 1882 the Senior Rani of Attingal died and Umayamma Rani succeeded as principal Queen of Venad. The Royal family followed Marumakkathayam or matrilineal system of inheritance and family for which presence of females in the royal family were essential. In 1682 Umayamma Rani adopted one male, Aditya Varma, and two females from the related Kolathunad Royal family [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 228] . This was followed by war with an enraged Kerala Varma of Nedumangad which the Rani won and the claims of the Nedumangad family were found to be untenable [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 229] . In 1684 Umayamma Rani also adopted an adult male from the related Royal family of Kottayam, Malabar, a branch of the Kolathunad house. This adopted male was Kerala Varma and was given the title of 'Prince of Hiranyasimhallur' (Eraniel) [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 229] . This prince took the reins of the kingdom into his hands by first silencing the collateral branches and asserting the power of the chief branch. He also successfully defeated and killed a Mughal raider who attacked Venad in 1684, sometime after his adoption. He also abolished certain abhorrent customs known as "Pulappedi", "Mannapedi" etc in 1695. He was however haughty in his bearing and offended the nobles and lords of the land and was subsequently murdered in 1695 and his obsequies were performed by Aditya Varma [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 235] . Meanwhile Ravi Varma became the Rajah and in 1688 adopted two males, Unni Kerala Varma and Rajah Rama Varma from Kolathunad, and two princesses from Kolathunad [Velu Pillai Travancore Manual Vol II page 233] . The succession continued in these lines and again adoptions were made in 1705, 1718 and so on.

Description of Umayamma Rani

The Dutch representative William Van Nieuhoff describes the Rani as:

ee also

* Rajah Rama Varma
* Marthanda Varma
* Travancore
* Attingal

References