Ramnad Kingdom

Origins

The Maravar chief Sadaikka Thevar was recognised as Sethupathi, protector of the causeway to Rameswaram, by the Madurai Nayak dynasty around 1605. His successors ruled the dry coastal region of Ramnad as vassals of Madurai until Kizhavan Sethupathi asserted independence in the late 17th century.

Rule and society

The Sethupathis led a warrior society of Maravar clans and controlled the pilgrim route and pearl fisheries of the Palk Strait. They endowed the Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram, building its long corridors. Kizhavan Sethupathi persecuted Jesuit converts and executed the missionary John de Britto in 1693.

Decline and legacy

Ramnad lost territory to Thanjavur and the Sivaganga chiefdom in the 18th century. After the Nawabs of Arcot and then the British took control, the British East India Company deposed the Sethupathi in the 1790s and turned Ramnad into a zamindari estate in 1803.