Marthanda Varma
Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: Anižaṁ tirunāḷ mārttāṇḍavarm'ma); 1706 – 7 July 1758, known as the “Maker of Modern Travancore”, was ruler of the Indian kingdom of Travancore (Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).

Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch (VOC) forces at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. He then adopted a European mode of discipline for his army and expanded his kingdom northward (to what became the modern state of Travancore). He built a sizeable standing army of about 50,000 men, as part of designing an "elaborate and well-organised" war machine, with the role of the Nair nobility (on which kings of Kerala had earlier been dependent for battles), and fortified the northern boundary of his kingdom (Travancore Lines). His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of Kochi (Cochin), against the northern Kingdom of Calicut, enabled the kingdom of Kochi to survive.

Travancore under Marthanda Varma made a deliberate attempt to consolidate its power by the use of Indian Ocean trade. It was the policy of Marthanda Varma to offer assistance to Syrian Christian traders (as a means of limiting European involvement in ocean trade). The principal merchandise was black pepper, but other goods also came to be defined as royal monopoly items (requiring a license for trade) between the 1740s and the 1780s. Eventually, Travancore challenged and broke the Dutch blockade of the Kerala coast.

Trivandrum became a prominent city in Kerala under Marthanda Varma. He undertook many irrigational works, built roads and canals for communication and gave active encouragement to foreign trade. In January, 1750, Marthanda Varma decided to "donate" his kingdom to Sri Padmanabha (Vishnu) and thereafter rule as the deity's "vice-regent" (Sri Padmanabha Dasa). Marthanda Varma's policies were continued in large measure by his successor, Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).
Q36236
Malayalam
Concept
Q150058
Travancore (Venadu)
LOC
Q5269245
Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja")
PER
Q159766
Dutch (VOC)
ORG
Q2663849
Battle of Colachel
EVE
Q1255534
Nair
LOC
Q12063660
Travancore Lines
UNK
Q150056
Kochi (Cochin)
LOC
Q2122988
Kingdom of Calicut
LOC
Q648601
Syrian Christian
MEDIA
Q167715
Trivandrum
LOC
Q11380
Vishnu
MISC
Q5269245
Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja")
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
Q2596305
Marthanda Varma
PER
1706-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1706
DATE
1758-07-07T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
7 July 1758
DATE
1729-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1729
DATE
1758-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1758
DATE
1741-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1741
DATE
1757-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1757
DATE
1740-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1740
DATE
1780-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1780
DATE
1750-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1750
DATE
+1758^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1758
NUMBER
+98^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
98
NUMBER
+1758^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1758
NUMBER
+98^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
98
NUMBER
date of birth
date of death
head of government