Kuyili, the first Tamil suicide fighter of the freedom struggle

A "suicide fighter" is defined as an individual who sacrifices their life for a cause— whether to defeat adversaries or to spark an uprising within an apathetic society. Recorded history traces the origins of suicide fighters to the Second World War, specifically citing the suicidal tactics employed by Japanese soldiers during naval warfare involving submarines. However, it is a little-known fact that the first "suicide fighter" emerged on Tamil soil—in a battle against the British—fully 150 years before the Second World War. That warrior was a heroic woman named Kuyili. The year was 1776; Velu Nachiyar had lost her husband, Muthu Vaduganatha—the King of Sivagangai—in the resistance against the British and had been living in hiding for eight years. During this period, she was staying in the town of Virupatchi. Kuyili—that was her name. She was eighteen years old and held her homeland and the heroic Velu Nachiyar dearer than life itself.