Series: Lesser Known Female Warriors who Made Their Mark on History
It is often said that History is written by the Winners. Some valiant warriors have been immortalized in the pages of history owing to their deeds of valour. However, there are several others who were denied their rightful place in the pages of popular history.
In this series, an effort has been made to summarize the lives of lesser known female warriors who fought valiantly against a more powerful enemy to protect their kingdom and people.
The Life of Queen Keladi Chennamma
Keladi was a small state in Southern India. The Keladi Nayaka Kingdom was established by King Chowdappa Nayaka in 1499. He was succeeded to the throne by his younger son Somashekhara Nayaka in 1664.
Keladi Chennamma was daughter of Siddappa Shetty of Kotepura. It is popularly believed that King Somashekhara saw her at a fair in Rameshwara and decided to get married to her. It was a custom amongst the Kings to marry one with royal blood, which the young king superseded and got married to Chennamma. The royal wedding was held in the capital Bidanur with great splendour.
It is popularly believed that soon after, the King fell under the spell of black magician Bharame Mavute and her beautiful daughter Kalavathi, the royal dancer.
Now an unmindful King provided a golden opportunity to the enemies and they began to make plans of attacking and conquering the kingdom of Keladi. On the forefront of this was Sultan of Bijapur. Queen Chennamma decided to face the enemies on the behalf of the King. She started ruling the kingdom with the help of her profound wisdom and began wielding the sword. Since she was childless, she adopted a boy called Basappa Nayak, as a measure to ensure an heir to the throne.
Now the Sultan of Bijapur got news of the Queen ruling her kingdom well and her prowess in war craft. He decided to employ stealth and sent his messenger Jannopant to negotiate with the Queen. Under the pretext of negotiation, Jannopant arrived in Bidanur, conspired with Bharame Mavute and murdered King Somashekhara. Following which the Sultan’s army marched in to capture the fort of Bidanur and the Queen was forced to retreat to Bhuvanagiri. She removed the treasury and all other valuables to Bhuvanagiri and secured this fort with the help of her able chieftains.
Even though Chennamma was forced to retreat, she was not the one to take defeat lying down. She began to build an army with the help of her Chief Minister Thimmanna Nayaka and other able Generals.
Soon after, Chennamma marched with her army towards Bidanur to avenge her King and save her kingdom. The Sultan’s army aware of her plans had already started moving towards Bhuvanagari. The two armies met in a dense forest midway and a great battle ensued, at the end of which the Sultan’s army faced a great defeat.
Keladi Chennamma was crowned the Queen of the state in 1671 and Jannopant and Bharame were sentenced to death for their treachery against the throne.
The Queen proved to be an able ruler and the Kingdom of Keladi began to regain its lost grandeur under her reign.
Around this time Rajaram, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji reached Keladi and sought asylum from Queen Chennamma. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had killed his brother Sambhaji and now wanted to capture him. Chennamma on hearing Rajaram’s plight offered him shelter in the fort of Jinji, which was considered to be an act of great courage since many Kings had refused to give him shelter in the fear of inviting Aurungzeb’s wrath.
Aurungzeb soon sent his messenger to Queen Chennamma asking her to hand over Rajaram which she refused. As a consequence the Mughals declared war against Chennamma and a huge Mughal army attacked Keladi. The Keladi army though small in number was well versed with the local terrain. The Mughal army not accustomed to the rainy climate and the terrain found it difficult to sustain in the battle. The Keladi army seized the opportunity and fought with all their might, thus forcing the Mughal army to retreat.
Apart from these major victories, Chennamma also had to fight against the neighbouring states of Mysore. The Mysore ruler Chikkadevaraya Wodeyar declared war on Keladi in an attempt to capture the throne. The Queen succeeded in defeating the Mysore army twice. However, she treated the captured soldiers with great respect and set them free. Following this Chikkadevaraya, developed a high regard for the Queen and the two kingdoms signed a treaty of friendship.
Chennamma hailed from a humble background and rose to become the Queen and fulfilled her duty of protecting the kingdom of Keladi. She ruled for twenty eight years (1671-1696) and under her administration the kingdom flourished and reached great heights. She is remembered by the people as a valiant Queen whose life was a tale of great courage and honour.
Source: freeindia.org; News18; hindunet.org; Other Free Sources
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