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Rani Meenakshi took over the Madurai Nayak kingdom after the death of her husband, Vijayaranga Chokkanathar.Her husband’s relatives tried to usurp the kingdom from her & invited Chanda sahib of Arcot for assistance.Desperate to save the her & country, she paid Rs 1 cr to him and
asked him to swear on his ‘Holy Book’ that he won’t harm her & the Kingdom. Chanda Sahib made the promise accordingly on the Holy book in a place known as Dalavai Mandapam in Trichy. Meenakshi allowed him to enter the Trichy fort based on the promise but Chanda Sahib didn’t
keep his word. He jailed her & annexed her kingdom by force. When she asked about the promise, Chanda Sahib told her that he did the swearing on a brick & not on the book. Dejected by this & to save her from disgrace, she committed suicide by consuming poison.
Years later, Chanda Sahib was attacked by British & Thanjavur forces during the siege of Trichy. He was defeated & executed by Thanjavur generals. He was beheaded on the very place, Dalavai Mandapam, where he made the promise to Meenakshi. Providence.
These details were mentioned in an obscure book, History of Hyder Nayak. Making use of this note, Sandilyan wrote a brilliant historical novel ‘Raja Berigai’ with lot of historicity. Such was the depth of his research abilities. Today is the Remembrance Day of this great writer.
