Tirunelveli is one of the districts of Tamilnadu, India. This is the most important district of South Tamilnadu and it has over 200 years of history. Tirunelveli is a district rich in natural resources, water resources, and land resources. And also it is one of the main trading places in south Tamilnadu.
History of Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli was formed on Sept 1, 1970, by the British Govt and make Palayamkottai as headquarters. The main reason for the creation of this city was that the British had to manage their army. At that time British was fighting against Palayar who was ruling Tirunelveli at that time. So they made this city the headquarters of their forces. British won the battle against Palayar, so the whole district came under the control of the British.
Rulers of Tirunelveli
No one rules Tirunelveli alone. They are the kings who ruled Tamil Nadu as a whole along with Tirunelveli. Tamil Nadu was ruled by the Tamil Kings (local kings) till 300 AD. The great history of those Tamil kings is not available. Then after 300 AD the reign of the Kallabrah kings, who are considered to be the flag bearers and dark ages of Tamil Nadu, began.
The Kallabrah kings began to defeat each of the Tamil kings and after a while, they began to rule fully in Tamil Nadu. They were considered evil rulers. There is no great history about them in Tamil but there are some Buddhist texts.
Their rule began to decline after the sixth century AD. After the defeat of the Kallabrah kings by the Pallavas and the Pandyas, the rule of the Pandyas, known as the Golden Age in Tamil Nadu, began to flourish. The iconic Nellaiyappar Temple in Tirunelveli was built by the Pandyas during this period.
Later, following the Pandyas, the Cholas began to rule in Tamil Nadu. The Tanjore Great Temple, one of the most important temples in the iconic history of Tamil Nadu, was built during their time. After the fall of the Cholas, the Pandyas again conquered Tamil Nadu. It is noteworthy that the Cholas ruled during the intervening period of the Pandyas.
This time the Pandyas ruled Tamil Nadu for 400 to 600 years like last time.
British rule began after the fall of the Pandyas. They ruled Tamil Nadu for more than 200 years and they considered Tirunelveli as an important place and declared Tirunelveli as the headquarters of one of their forces. They also made Tirunelveli a separate district.
Names of Tirunelveli
In ancient times Tirunelveli was known as Thenpandiya Nadu by Pandyas then Tirunelveli Seemai and Nellai Seemai by Nayaks. It was so-called during the reign of Nawaz Sharif and Nayaks. Later the English changed the name to the same.
So the meaning of Tirunelveli is, Tiru + nel + veli = Tirunelveli. Thiru stands for the respect and specialty of that district. Nel means Paddy, which indicates that more rice is produced here. Veli means Fence, it indicates the land of rice produce was surrounding the district like a fence. Together with these three, it is called Tirunelveli.
It has also names of Saalivaadi, SaaliNagar, Saali Veli and Venuvanam. Venu means Bamboo. In ancient times it was surrounded by a large amount of Bamboo so they called Venuvanam.
Separation of Tirunelveli
The present Tirunelveli district is not the same as it was when it was formed. Today Tirunelveli includes Palyamkottai, Manur, Cheranmahadevi, Ambasamuthiram, Radhapuram, Thisaiyanvilai Taluks. But Tirunelveli had a large area at the time of its formation but is now divided into Tirunelveli districts to facilitate governance.
On October 20, 1986, the Government of Tamil Nadu separated Thoothukudi from Tirunelveli and transformed it into a new district. Then on 12, November 2019 again the Government of Tamil Nadu separated Tenkasi from Tirunelveli and declared Tenkasi as a new district. Although the people there are divided by the name of the district, they are all together claiming that we are Nellai people.
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