Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was born in 1706 to Karthika Thirunal and Raghava Varma. His mother was the sister of Rama Varma, who became King of Venad in 1721. Venad was one of the many successor states of the Chera Kingdom in the South West of the Indian subcontinent. 1/10
Protected by the Western Ghats in its east, the Cheras had flourished till the 12th century. After its collapse, many city states with varying power over its neighbours had come up, with the southernmost Ay Kingdom breaking away and forging connections with the Pandyas. 2/10
By the end of the 15th century, Kozhikode (Calicut) had emerged as the most powerful of the city states, attaining suzerainty over the rest. Venad was an offshoot of Ay, centred around Kollam (Quilon) within Kozhikode's sphere of influence. 3/10
The Venad that young Marthanda Varma lived in was a heavily fractured one and was controlled by the nobles. But Marthanda Varma sought to change that on his accession to throne in 1729. He also had to deal with his cousins (predecessor's sons), though right to rule was his. 4/10
King Marthanda Varma arranged for soldiers from the east and with their support got rid of his opponents. He then went on to claim other city states in the erstwhile Chera Kingdom. By 1739, he had gained supremacy over Kollam, Kottarakkara and Kayamkulam. 5/10
But this brought another player into the field. The Dutch had gained monopolistic access to trade from many of these city states, but King Marthanda Varma's intervention spoiled their plans. The Dutch gathered up their local allies and went to war. 6/10
But it was the King who won the day in 1741 at Colachel. The following Treaty of Mavelikkara effectively ended Dutch interests in the Indian subcontinent. But the King of Thiruvithaamkoor (Travancore), as Venad came to be known, was not done yet. 7/10
Having upgraded his army and conquered the southern half of the former Chera Kingdom, he allied with Kochi (Cochin), the rump state remaining after Chera's collapse, against Kozhikode and defeated them. But Kozhikode also had other problems to worry about. 8/10
On his deathbed in 1758, King Marthanda Varma saw to that the alliance with the English East India Company held. He was succeeded by his nephew Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma, who withstood the attack by Mysore as it swallowed up Kozhikode and made Kochi a tributary. 9/10
Thiruvithaamkoor, along with Kochi, retained their independence as princely states of the British Empire until 1947 when the British left the subcontinent, while Kozhikode became part of British India after the East India Company annexed it when they defeated Mysore. 10/10
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India will never recognize the capacity of its citizens. Now it is the time for @socialepfo 🤷
Managed to reach till Step 8 and then instead of receiving OTP gets redirected to Aadhar site for a Virtual ID. But once that is entered, EPFO becomes non-responsive. Same process has continued multiple times. 🤦
Very odd day. Site seems to be working okay overall now. But not much luck in getting the last step done, though other things appear to be working fine. Even managed to change the intended nomination. The date appears to have been extended thankfully.
François-Dominique Toussaint Bréda was born around 1743. His father or grandfather may have been Gaou Guinou, a Prince of the Kingdom of Ardra in the African continent. Gaou Guinou was captured, perhaps during a civil war, and sold as a slave in the Caribbean. 1/10
Toussaint grew up in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which was on the western part of the island of Hispaniola. Earlier dominated by the Spanish, Hispaniola's western part had become dominated by the French in the 17th century, who formally acquired it in 1697. 2/10
Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides was born in 1594 to Martim de Sá and Marie de Mendoza Benevides. His maternal family were prominent nobles of Cadiz in Spain, while his paternal ancestors played a significant role in Portuguese Brazil. 1/10
In 1565, Estácio de Sá had founded Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Both Salvador's father and grandfather, Salvador de Sá, had been Governors of Rio de Janeiro on different occasions and the younger Salvador followed them becoming Governor of the southern captaincies of Brazil. 2/10
Jan Pieterszoon Coen was born in the city of Hoorn, Holland in 1587. Raised as a Calvinist, he grew up in a time when the Dutch were fighting for their independence from the Spanish King, who was also the Count of Holland and ruled over most parts of the Low Countries. 1/10
The Spanish King ruled over a vast realm across continents and had a strong say in global trade. In 1602, the Dutch started Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company) partly to counter the Spanish might. 2/10
It is kinda odd to listen to the @TheRestHistory presenter (Not sure if it was Holland or Sandbrook) talk of reading about the Burgundians when they were 17 or Bart van Loo talk of not studying about them in school earlier.
Recaredo was born around 560 to Leovigildo. They lived in the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. The Visigoths held rule over a large part of the peninsula after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in 476. 1/10
The 550s saw the Visigoths in a state of civil war, with the King Agila struggling against Atanagildo. With help from Constantinople, Atanagildo deposed Agila and became King. But this also led to Constantinople acquiring area in the peninsula. 2/10