Kuyili
In the seventeenth century, the British Empire had already begun its bid to take over the Indian subcontinent under the auspices of the East India Company. The Company was busy annexing Indian territories through trade- and force. Many Indian kingdoms fell to British rule in such a way. But not everyone submitted easily -or indeed gave up even when it seemed that they had lost. As in the case of Kuyili, they were willing to give their lives for the cause-literally.
Kuyili was a female warrior in the forces of Rani Velu Nachiar, the queen of Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu. The Queen’s husband had died in battle against the East Indian Company, and for eight years she and her daughter had lived under the protection of a neighboring King. But Rani Velu Nachiar did not spend her time idly. She was determined to reclaim her kingdom from the British. So she mustered an army to avenge her dead spouse and liberate her Kingdom.
By 1780, the queen and her allies, Gopala Nayaketr and Hyder Ali were ready to move. But they had a problem: British guns. They knew that British ammunition could take out their forces before they had even reached the city, so they needed to destroy them. The question was how. The Queen knew that the British stored the ammunition in the back room of a local temple, a temple still open for worship to women. So the Queen sent women in to destroy it. Kuyili was her weapon.
Kuyili and a group of female warriors entered the temple disguised as local women. Each carried a lamp of oil or ghee, ostensibly as offerings to the god. But once inside, they put their plan into action. The women poured the contents of the lamp on the unresisting Kuyili. The warrior then set herself alight and walked into the ammunition room, blowing it, the weapons and herself up. By turning herself willingly into a human bomb, Kuyili lost her life- but helped win back her homeland for her Queen and her people.