[4][5] While Ravi Varma ruled as the king of Trippapoor (1684-1718), Umayamma continued retention of the sovereign power over his swaroopam.

[4][3] The English East India Company secured factory sites at Vilinjam (Brinhjohn), and Ruttera (either Valiyathura or Vettoor) from Umayamma in 1688.

[5] Dutch commander Henrik van Rheede (who met Umayamma in 1677) writing in 1694, concludes that Attingal could summon an army of 30,000 men at the time.

[6] Besides, even within the limited domains of the Trippappoor branch, by 17th century, factions were rife due to the refractory Nair nobles (madampis), most powerful of whom were the Barons of the Eight Houses.

The Queen of Attingal was also allowed to reign as full sovereigns in the Trippapoor (Travancore) and Desinganad (Kollam) branches of Venad in the absence of male heirs.

[7] By the time of Umayamma, the seat of the Attingal queen was sufficiently strong to intervene in the internal affairs of the Trippappoor Swaroopam.

[3] Umayamma, the Junior/Second Queen of Attingal, was the niece (a daughter of brother or sister) of Venad king Aditya Varma.

[7] Excluding the collateral branches, the other important members of the royal family at the time were Makayiram Thirunal, the Senior Queen of Attingal, and her young son, Ravi Varma.

Nedumangad Vira Kerala Varma put forward the claims of his younger brother against the proposed adoption.

[5][4][3] Umayamma re-established regular performance of pujas in Sri Padmnabhaswami Temple at Thiruvananthapuram, after a gap of five years, in 1678.

Henrik van Rheede, the Dutch Governor in Ceylon, met with Umayamma in 1677 AD:The Senior Queen of Attingal, who is not alone the mother of the prince of Trippappur but the eldest of the entire royal family has a territory of her own, independent of Travancore, which was in alliance with the Company.

[7] Umayamma (the only female member in the royal family as per Menon) was residing in a mud fort complex called Puthenkotta, on the western side of the river Killiar, at the time.

[7] However, according to the records of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram and other sources, some historians have challenged the version given by Menon and claim that Umayamma did not have any children at all.

[11][12] Similarly the story of the poisoning of Aditya Varma, the predecessor to Umayamma, has also been challenged and it is now assumed that he died a natural death in 1677 at Darpakulangara Palace.

By insisting upon proper accounts and the strict collection of all arrears and current dues, she converted the deficit into a surplus, and provided regular income for the Trippappoor.

[5] Vira Kerala Varma allying with the Kottarakara branch (Elayadathu Muttavar), and the warriors of Kalakkad Chidambaranatha Pillai, advanced against Umayamma at Thiruvananthapuram via Kalkulam and Neyyattinkara.

[1][13] In 1680 Nanjanad (southern Travancore) was overrun by the troops (known locally as Mughilin pada- mughal army) led by a Muslim general (whose name has been lost).

[7][15] It is said that the Barons and the temple trustees (Ettara Yogam) assassinated Kerala Varma in front of Valiya Koikkal.

As early as 1680s, rumours circulated that the Madurai rulers intended to invade Travancore in order to forcibly collect arrears in tribute.

In fact, this incursion was to be the precursor of an almost annual invasion of southern Travancore by Madurai forces after 1689 (via Kottar or the Aramboli Pass).

Next year, the factory broker Verdamon Beca, was sent to her with a letter for the purpose of making inquiries as to the resources of Attingal for supplying spices.

[3] Umayamma wrote; ...they [the English] were troublesome to my people and therefore I ordered that they should go from there and make no more contracts in my land[3] In 1693, Acworth and Brabourn reopened negotiations with the Queen.

[8] In 1695 Umayamma agreed to supply all her pepper to the English Company, only to withdraw from the contract and give it away to the Danes by a deal (1695) concluded with them at Edava, near Attingal.

When the English Company strengthened the defences of Fort Anjengo without Attingal's sanction, she attempted to unite a military alliance against them.

She had a guard of above seven hundred Nair soldiers about her, all clad after the Malabar (Kerala) fashion; the queen's attire being no more than a piece of callicoe (calico) wrapt around her middle, the upper part of her body appearing for the most part naked, with a piece of calico hanging carelessly round her shoulders.

Her ears, which were very long, her neck and arms were adorned with precious stones, gold rings and bracelets and her head covered with a piece of white calico.

She was past her middle age, of a brown complexion, with black hair tied in a knot behind, but of majestic mien, she being a princess who shew'd a great deal of good conduct in the management of her affairs[19]