Muthuramalinga Sethupathi was the 12th king of the Ramanathapuram kingdom.

Muthuramalinga Sethupathi was the 12th king of the Ramanathapuram kingdom.

Refusing to served under the occupying forces of the Nawab of Arcot and the British empire, he was imprisoned for 24 years and died in 1809.

Upon refusing to pay royalty to the occupying forces of Nawab of Arcot and the British empire. The Ramanathapuram fort was besieged by the forces of the Tawaf & the English East India company. Over 3.000 soldiers from the kingdom died defending at the gate of the fort. Sethupathi’s mother and his two daughters, aged 12 were arrested & imprisoned at Trichy Fort. In 1781, King Muthuramalinga Sethupathi was allowed to continue his rule and reign under the watchful eye of the British empire.

Upon returning to his reign & rule, King Sethupathi decided to made contact with the Dutch. Whereby he created opportunities to improve the economy of his kingdom & also commanded the start of building his artillery forces in the Ramanathapuram forest. With the improving economy, King Sethupathi was demanded by the British empire to pay royalties and he refused again.

In 1794, Tirunelveli Collector Bowney demanded that the king of the Ramanathapuram kingdom appear in front of him in person and king gracefully refused. The refusal was viewed unacceptable, on 8 February, 1795, the occupying English troops from Palayankottai, led by Commander Stevenson, besieged Ramanathapuram Fort and captured Sethupathi . He was imprisoned at Tiruchirappalli.

The people from the kingdom of Sethupathi demanding his freedom revolted and raided the occupying police stations, looting the weapons in the police stations. The English empires decided to annihilate the uprising by restocking their troops from other occupied nations namely from Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The uprising from Sethupathi kingdom were vanquished.

Upon vanquishing the uprising, King Sethupathi was forcefully removed from Trichy and send to Chennai and locked in a dark room in St. George Fort  where he spent 14 years. King Muthuramalinga Sethupathi spend 24 of his 48 years of life in the occupying British empire’s prison and died in prison on 23rd January 1809.