Marthanda Varma

Marthanda Varma മാർത്താണ്ഡ വർമ്മ
King of Travancore
A depiction of Marthanda Varma in A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times (1878) by P Shangunny Menon
Reign	1729– 7 July 1758
Predecessor	Rama Varma
Successor	Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja")
Born	Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma 1705 Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram
Died	7 July 1758 (aged 53) Padmanabhapuram, Kanyakumari
Regnal name Sree Padmanabhadasa Vanchipaala Maharajah Sree Anizham Thirunal Veerabaala Marthanda Varma Kulasekhara Perumal
Father	Raghava Varma, Kilimanur Palace
Mother	Karthika Thirunal Uma Devi, Queen of Attingal
Religion	Hinduism

Marthanda Varma (Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma) (1705 – 7 July 1758) was ruler of the southern Indian state of Travancore (Malayalam: തിരുവിതാംകൂർ Thiruvithaamkoor) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He is most celebrated for crushing the Dutch expansionist designs at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. Marthanda Varma, then adopted a European mode of martial discipline and expanded his domain to encompass what became the modern state of Travancore.

Marthanda Varma built a substantial standing army of about 50,000, reduced the power of the Nair aristocracy (on which rulers of Kerala had earlier been dependent militarily), and fortified the northern limits of his kingdom at the so-called Travancore Lines. His alliance in 1757 with the ruler of Cochin, against Kingdom of Calicut, enabled Cochin to survive.

Travancore under Marthanda Varma did make a determined bid to consolidate its power by the use of maritime outlets. At his accession to the throne in early 18th century, the only route remaining was Travancore to build an elaborate and well-organized war machine while keeping external supply lines open. The control of trade was also seen as crucial in the statecraft of the period. These principles were put into practice by Marthanda Varma.

It was also the policy of Marthanda Varma to extend patronage to the Syrian Christians, a large trading community in Travancore, as a means of limiting European involvement in trade. The key commodity was pepper, but other goods also came to be defined as Royal Monopoly Items, requiring a license for trade.Trivandrum (Malayalam:Thiruvananthapuram) became a prominent city in Kerala under Marthanda Varma. Prime ministers under Marthanda Varma - Arumukham Pillai (1729 – 36), Thanu Pillai (1736 – 37) and Ramayyan Dalawa (1737 – 56) - played a significant role in the raise of the Travancore state.

Marthanda Varma's policies were continued in large measure by his successor and nephew, Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98), who went on to successfully defend Travancore against the Kingdom of Mysore.