User:Pepper Black/sandbox

Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: അനിഴം തിരുനാൾ മാര്‍ത്താണ്ഡ വര്‍മ്മ ; 1706–1758) was king of Travancore (Trippappur Swaroopam) from 1729 till his death in 1758. He contributed substantially to the expansion of Travancore by annexing several neighboring states and unified the entire southern Kerala. Under his rule, Travancore rose to prominence as a powerful military state in southern India. He was succeeded by his nephew Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja").

Marthanda Varma, in his early twenties, ascended the throne of Venadu in 1729. He organized a substantial standing army of about fifty thousand, reduced the power of the Nair aristocracy (on which rulers of Kerala had earlier been dependent militarily) and fortified the northern limits of his kingdom at the Travancore line. He crushed the Dutch expansionist designs at the famous Battle of Kolachel in 1741. Marthanda Varma then adopted a European mode of martial discipline in his army and expanded the Venadu to north. His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin against the Zamorin of Calicut, enabled Cochin to survive.

Travancore under Martanda Varma (and later under Rama Varma) was one of the few native kingdoms in India determined to consolidate their power by the use of maritime outlets. In the complex political context, the only route remaining for Indian kingdoms was to build an elaborate and well-organized war machine while keeping external supply lines open. The control of trade was also seen as crucial in the statecraft of the period. These principles were put into practice in Travancore by Marthanda Varma.

It was also the policy of Marthanda Varma to extend patronage to the Syrian Christians, the large trading community within his domains, as a means of limiting European involvement in trade. The key commodity was pepper, but other goods also came to be defined as royal monopoly items, requiring a license for trade. The city of Trivandrum became prominent under Marthanda Varma, who made it the capital of Travancore in 1745.

These policies were continued in large measure by his successor, Rama Varma, who was able, moreover, to defend Travancore successfully against the Kingdom of Mysore.


 * திருவிதாங்கூர் அரசை உருவாக்கி அதனைப் பல ஆண்டுகள் வெற்றிகரமாக ஆண்டுவந்தவர் ஆவார். இவர் அட்டிங்கல் இளைய ராணியின் மகன்.

இந்தியாவின் தென்கோடியில் இருந்த சிறிய சிற்றரசான வேணாட்டின் அரசுரிமை இவரது மாமனாரான ராஜா ராம வர்மரிடம் இருந்து இவருக்குக் கிடைத்தது.

இத் தாய்க் கால்வழி மரபுரிமை நாயர்களிடம் இருந்து வருவது. மிகுந்த தந்திரமும், புத்தியும் நிறைந்த மார்த்தாண்ட வர்மர், முடிக்குரிய இளவரசராக இருந்தபோதே பிரித்தானியக் கிழக்கிந்தியக் கம்பனியாருடன் 1723 ஆம் ஆண்டில் ஒப்பந்தம் ஒன்றைச் செய்து கொண்டார்.