PRESENT RULER: Rani Rajeswari Nachiyar, 11th Zamindarani of Ramnad since 1979

she assumed the hereditary title of the ruler of Ramnad on the death of her father, in opposition to her cousin ^(#1), and is the managing trustee of a number of temples and the palaces owned by the family.

PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY: The Kingdom, founded in 1590, became a Zamindari Estate under the Perminent Settlement of 1801, and thus became non-sovereign (along with all other Estates which survived until 1948 in Madras Presidency, India). Ramnad was one of the largest and most populous estates in the Madras Presidency and was a permanently settled Zamindari in the Ramnad subdivision of the Madura district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency in British India. It comprises the southern and eastern parts of Madura district. The first historical reference to the Sethupati (= protector of the bridge or Lord of the Sethu, a region now in Tamil Naidu) comes in the 11th century AD, when Chola king Rajaraja made the head of Marava community (also known as the Kingdom of the Greater Marava) as Sethupati to protect the pilgrims to Rameshwaram temple and the Rama Sethu, later he was officially recognized as Sethupathi by the Nayak king of Madurai, and in return, the Chief of Ramnad recognized the sovereignty of the Nayak king over his lands. When the power of the Nayak kings of Madurai began to decline in the late 17th century, the chieftains of Ramnad asserted their independence. The British took control of the administration of Ramanathapuram in 1795. It was demoted to a Zamindari in 1803 and Rani Mangaleswari Nachchiyar was made a Zamindarani. Ramnad and Sivaganga continued to be Zamins till the system of Zamindari was abolished in 1948 after India attained Independence. Rulers and estate holders were....

• Raja SADASIVA THEVAR SETHUPATI, 1st Raja of Ramnad 1590/1623, he was officially named as the 1st Sethupati.

• Raja KOOTEN SETHUPATI, 2nd Raja of Ramnad 1623/1637

• Raja DALAVAI SETHUPATI, 3rd Raja of Ramnad 1637/1638 (deposed)(first time)

Unknown 1638/1640

• Raja Dalavai Sethupati. Raja of Ramnad 1640/- (second time)

• Raja DANO KANTHA SETHUPATI, 4th Raja of Ramnad -/1659

• Raja RAGHUNATHA SETHUPATI I, 5th Raja of Ramnad 1659/1685, he declared the estate independent in 1670.

• Raja (name unknown) SETHUPATI, 6th Raja of Ramnad in 1685 (he reigned about 2 months)

• Raja (name unknown) SETHUPATI, 7th Raja of Ramnad 1685/1686 (he reigned 3 months)

• Raja RAGHUNATHA SETHUPATI II [Kilavan Sethupati], 7th (8th) Raja of Ramnad 1673/1710 or 1670/1708 or 1686/1710, he crowned himself Raja of Ramnad and changed his seat from Pogalur to Ramnad close to the east coast, where he erected massive fortifications to protect his capital; it was during his rule, that the magnificent still existing palace of Ramlingavilasam was created as the residence of the Sethupati Dynasty; he supported the Nayak King of Madurai against Rustam Khan, later he was granted the title of Para Rajakesari (Lion to alien kings) by Raja Chokkanatha Nayak; he constructed a dam across the Vaigai River; married Rani Kathali Nachiyar, sister of Raja Raghunatha Raya, 1st Tondaiman Raja of Pudukottai, and had adoptive issue.

  • (A) Raja Muthu Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupati (qv)

• Raja MUTHU VIJAYA RAGHUNATHA SETHUPATI, 8th (9th) Raja of Ramnad 1710/1725 or 1708/1720, married and had issue.

  • Akilandeshwari Nachiyar, married Sasivarna Thevar, 1st Zamindar of Sivaganga, and the son of Nalukottai Peria Oodaya Thevar.

• Raja SUNDARESWARA RAGHUNATHA SETHUPATI, 9th Raja of Ramnad 1725/1726, during his reign he lost the Aranthangi region in the northern part of Ramnad in 1725, to the Raja of Tanjore, and later the Sivaganga region in the western part of Ramnad was also lost.

• Raja BHAVANI SANKARAN SETHUPATI, 10th Raja of Ramnad 1726/1729 or 1720/1728

• Kumara Muthu Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi (1728-1734)

• Muthukumara Raghunatha Sethupathi (1734-1747)

• Rakka Thevar (1747-1748)

• Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi II (1748-1760)

• Raja KATTAYA THEVAN SETHUPATI, 11th Raja of Ramnad 1730/1761 (brother of Raja Sundareswara Raghunatha Sethupati)

REGENT 1761/1772, Rani Muthu Tiruveya Naiker, she was deposed and placed in jail, where she died.

• Raja MUTHU RAMALINGA SETHUPATI I, 12th (13th) Raja of Ramnad 1761/1772 (first time), deposed by the British authorities for misrule in 1772 and jailed for eight years, and his sister was placed in charge of the state, but it was no longer sovereign.

REGENT 1772/1780, sister of the Raja

• Raja Muthu Ramalinga Setupati I, Raja of Ramnad 1780/1795 (deposed) (second time)

BRITISH OCCUPATION 1795/1803

• Rani Mangaleswari Nachiyar, 13th Rani of Ramnad 1795/1803 and 1st Zamindarani of Ramnad 1803/1807, by a sanad of 1803, the state was reduced to the status of a zamindari.

• Raja ANNASAMI SETHUPATI, 2nd Zamindar of Ramnad 1807/1820

• Raja RAMASWAMI SETHUPATI, 3rd Zamindar of Ramnad 1820/1830, married Rani Parvata Vardhani Nachhiyar [Parvathivardhini] (qv), sister of Kottasami Thevar, and had adoptive issue. He died sp in 1830.

  • (A) Ponnuswami Thevar, Zamindar of Palavanatham, born 1837, he acted as estate manager during the minority of his younger brother, married and had issue, three sons. He died 1870.

    • (name unknown) Thevar, married and had issue.

      • (name unknown) Thevar, he was adopted by the Rani of Raja Bhaskara Sethupati, and succeeded as Rajarajeswara Muthu Ramalinga Sethupati III (see below)

    • Pandithurai Thevar [Ukkira Pandya] (third son), Zamindar of Palavanatham/Pazhavanattam 1884/1911, born 21st March 1867 in Palavanatham, a zamin in the then Ramanathapuram district, educated privately by English and indian tutors, he founded the 4th Tamil Sangam at Madurai; he constructed Somasundara Vilasam Mansion in Ramnad. He died 2nd December 1911.

  • (A) Raja Muthu Ramalinga Sethupati II (qv)

• Raja DORAI RAJA MUTHU CHELLA THEVAR SETHUPATI, 4th Zamindar of Ramnad 1830/1845

• Rani Parvatha Vardhani Ammal Nachchiyar, 5th Zamindarani of Ramnad 1845/1862, she adopted the younger son of her sister; married Raja Ramaswami Sethupati, Zamindar of Ramnad, and had adoptive issue.

  • (A) Raja Muthu Ramalinga Sethupati II (qv)

• Raja MUTHU RAMALINGA SETHUPATI II, 6th Zamindar of Ramnad 1862/1873, born 1841, he was accomplished in the arts and a great lover of music; married, Rani Muthathaal Nacciyar, and had issue. He died 15th March 1873.

  • Raja Bhaskara Sethupati (qv)

COURT OF WARDS [15.3.1873] - [xx.10.1889]

• Raja BHASKARA SETHUPATI [Hiranyagarbhayaji Ravikula Muthuvijaya Raghunatha Bhaskara], 7th Zamindar of Ramnad [xx.10.1889] - [27.12.1903], born 3rd November 1868, installed 3rd April 1889, Manager of Rameswaram 1895/1901 and a leader of the Maravar community; he was educated in Madras in both the English language and in Western manners by his English tutor who also taught him English literature and music; his great philanthropy (he funded many charitable activities and events), combined with inherited debts and costs of litigation, bankrupted the estate, forcing the Raja to place the estate in a trust for his son in 1895; married 1888, Rani Sivabhagyam Nacciar, daughter of one of his kinsmen, and had issue, two sons. He died 27th December 1903.

  • Raja Rajeswara Sethupati III [aka Muthuramalinga Dorai Avergal] (qv)

• Raja RAJESWARA SETHUPATI III, 8th Zamindar of Ramnad 1903/1929, married and had issue. He died 1929.

  • The Hon. Sri. Raja Sri Shanmugha Rajeswara [Naganatha] Sethupati (qv)

• The Hon. Sri. Raja Sri SHANMUGHA RAJESWARA SETHUPATI, 9th Zamindar of Ramnad 1929/1967, born 9th November 1909, graduated in Law; he joined politics at an early age and was elected M.L.C. (Madras) 1930/1937 and 1946/1951; M.L.A. (Madras) 1952/1967; Minister, House Rent Control (Madras State) [10.4.1952] - [13.9.1953]; Minister, Public Works, Accomodation Control (Madras State) [9.10.1953] - [12.4.1954]; Minister, Public Works, Accomodation Control, Engineering Colleges, Stationery and Printing, [1.3.1956] - [31.3.1957]; a passionate thoroughbred race-horse owner with a stable of over 50 horses in Calcutta (the Shanmugha Sethupathi Cup for horse racing has been instituted in his memory); owner of an extensive car collection of Bentleys and Rolls Royces; a First Class cricketer for the Madras Cricket Team during the 1941/42 and 1943/44 seasons; married Rani Leela, and had issue as well as further issue. He died 4th March 1967.

  • Raja Ramanatha Sethupati (qv)

  • Rajkumari Latha Nachiyar (by a secondary union), born 1957, she is a well-known film actress, starring in over 100 Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies, and who was ancouraged by her aunt, actress Kamala Kotnis, to enter films at a young age, her first film being Ulagam Sutram Valiban, (1973); she won a Filmfare Award for her performance in Vattathukkul Sadhuram and the Kalaimamani award was bestowed upon her by the State Government of Tamil Nadu for her achievements in the film industry; married and has issue.

  • Rajkumar Rajakumar Sethupati (by Rani Leela), born in Chennai, he is an Indian actor, and has acted in around 50 Malayalam films; his movie career began with the Tamil film, Soolam, followed by the Malaylam film, Mammotty in Thrishna, in 1981; he produced the Tamil movie, Malini 22 Palayamkottai, in 2013, which was directed by his wife; married 1988, Sipriya, Tamil actress, and has issue, one son and one daughter.

    • Kumari Sneha Nachiyar

    • Kumar Nagarjun Sethupati

COURT OF WARDS 1935/1945 due to a number of disputes and lengthy court cases.

• Raja RAMANATHA SETHUPATI, 10th Zamindar of Ramnad 1967/1979, married Rani Indira Devi, and had issue. He died 1979.

  • Rajkumari Rajeswari Nachiyar (qv)

• Rajkumari Rajeswari Nachiyar, 11th Zamindarani of Ramnad (see above)