- The revolt of the Raja of Vizianagaram, which took place in July 1794, was a response to the British policy of land revenue in the region. The Raja openly rebelled against the British due to their reduction of his zamindari (landholding) and the increased revenue demands imposed on him.
- The British authorities, in an attempt to maintain control, confronted the Raja’s forces. In the ensuing conflict, the Raja of Vizianagaram was killed, along with approximately 300 of his armed men. This military encounter resulted in the suppression of the revolt.
- After the death of the Raja, the British adopted a conciliatory approach toward his son and successor, Narayan Rao. This shift in policy aimed to appease the successor and prevent further unrest in the region. The conciliatory measures were likely intended to stabilize the situation and maintain British authority in Vizianagaram.
- The revolt of the Raja of Vizianagaram illustrates the resistance of local rulers to British policies that affected their authority, land rights, and revenue obligations. It also demonstrates the British response to using force to quell uprisings while also seeking diplomatic solutions to maintain control in the aftermath of such conflicts.
POLIGARS REVOLT
South Indian warriors called themselves the Poligars. Between 1795 and 1805, they resisted the British forcefully. Tinneveli, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Sivagiri, Madurai, and North Arcot were the principal epicenters of these violent disturbances.
History
The Nayankara system, which was popular in the Vijayanagar administration, gave rise to the Poligars. The Rajputs of North India and the Poligars of South India were quite identical. They were the feudal lords who were granted land in return for their military services and designated as military chiefs. As they frequently acted as sovereigns and even went as far as to collect taxes from the populace, their sway and power expanded beyond the boundaries of the norm.
The issue started in 1781 when the Nawab of Arcot granted the British East India Company authority over Tirunelveli and the Carnatic Provinces. The government of the Company tried to exert control over the Poligars in order to increase its own revenue streams. The Poligars, who saw themselves as independent sovereign authorities within their various territories, were miffed by this arrangement.
First Phase
In September 1799, in what is now known as the Tirunelveli area, the First Poligar Rebellion, also known as the First Poligars Revolt, began (in modern Tamil Nadu). Kattabomman Nayak (Veerapandi Kattabomman), in command of Panchalankurichi, served as the leader of this uprising. He declined to submit to British suzerainty and pay taxes to them.
The British and Kattabomman had a quick conference in 1799 to discuss unpaid taxes. However, the meeting concluded in a bloody clash in which Kattabomman killed the British Forces Commander. The Poligars openly rebelled after Kattabomman’s head was placed on a price list.
The Company’s forces eventually succeeded in defeating Kattabomman after a string of battles in the Panchalankurichi fort with the help of additional reinforcements from Tiruchirapalli. Kattabomman, however, escaped into the Pudukottai woods. Ettappan, the King of Pudukottai, assisted the British in capturing him by making a secret deal with them. The public hanging of Kattabomman served as a caution to other Poligars.
A close friend of Kattaboman’s, Subramania Pillai, was also publicly hanged. Another rebel commander, Soundra Pandian, was brutally murdered by the British. Oamaithurai, Kattabomman’s sibling, was detained in the Palayamkottai prison as the army looted and destroyed the fort.
Second Phase
Even though the Brits put an end to the First Poligar War in 1799, a revolt erupted once more in 1800–1901. More bloodshed occurred during the Second Poligar War than the First. The Poligars held in the Palayamkottai fort managed to flee in February 1801, sparking the start of the second uprising. Many forts were taken over by the rebels, who were commanded by Oomaithurai (Kattabomman’s brother), who also managed to conquer Tuticorin. The British barracks in Coimbatore were attacked by a band of Poligar armies.
Oomaithurai joined forces with Maruthu Pandian to fight the East India Company in a broad coalition. Maruthu Pandian of Sivaganga, Dheeran Chinnamalai of Kongu Nadu, Gopala Nayak of Dindigul, Krishnappa Nayak and Dhoondaji of Mysore, Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma of Malabar, and others participated in this South Indian confederacy against the Company.
After a protracted, costly campaign, the British forces eventually prevailed in quelling the Poligar rebellion. They received quick reinforcements from Malabar. The Panchalankurichi Fort was besieged by Company troops under the command of Lt. Colonel Agnew, and it was finally taken in May 1801 after a protracted siege and artillery barrage.
After the Panchalankurichi Fort was destroyed, Oomaithurai fled to Sivaganga and joined the Maruthu siblings at their fort in the jungle at Kalayar Kovil. Thereafter, Kalayar Kovil was pursued by British forces, who finally captured him in October 1801. On November 16, 1801, the Maruthu siblings and Oomaithuri were hanged in the Sivaganga district at Tiruppathur.
Result
In July 1801, the Nawab of Arcot and the British inked the Carnatic Treaty. According to the terms of the Carnatic Treaty, the Nawab gave the East India Company exclusive control over the civil and military governance of all the Carnatic territories and dependencies for all time. After more than two centuries of prosperity, the Poligar regime abruptly came to an end. In its stead, the British established the Zamindari community.
The chieftains’ power was eliminated as a consequence of the Poligar rebellion’s suppression in 1799 and 1800–1801. The Poligars of North Arcot and Yedaragunta came up in revolt against the Company’s rule between 1803 and 1805. But the Brits had also put down these uprisings.
RAMPA REVOLT
- The Rampa Rebellion of 1922, also known as the Manyam Rebellion, was a tribal uprising led by Alluri Sitarama Raju in Godavari Agency.
- It began in August 1922 and lasted until the capture and killing of Raju in May 1924.
- Forced labour, embargoes on collecting minor forest produce and bans on tribal agriculture practices led to severe distress among the Koyas in the area.
- Sitarama Raju did not belong to the tribal community, but understood the restrictions that the British colonial administration placed on the tribal way of life.
Background of the revolt
- The Rampa administrative area comprised around 1,800 square km and had a mostly tribal population of approximately 28,000.
- They had traditionally been able to support their food requirements through the use, in particular, of the podu system, whereby each year some areas of jungle forest were burned to clear land for cultivation.
- The British Raj authorities had wanted to improve the economic usefulness of lands in Godavari Agency, an area that was noted for the prevalence of malaria and blackwater fever.
- The traditional cultivation methods were greatly hindered when the authorities took control of the forests, mostly for commercial purposes such as produce for building railways and ships.
- This was done regardless of the needs of the tribal people.
- The tribal people of the forested hills, who now faced starvation had long felt that the legal system favoured the muttadar (estate landowners) and merchants.
- This had also resulted in the earlier Rampa Rebellion of 1879.
- Now they objected also to the Raj laws and continued actions that hindered their economic position and meant they had to find alternate livelihood.
- They objected to attempts at that time to use them as forced labour in the construction of a road in the area.
Role of Raju
- Raju was a charismatic sanyasin, believed by many tribal people to possess magical abilities and to have an almost messianic status.
- He saw the overthrow of colonial rule in terms similar to a millenarian event and he harnessed the discontent of the tribal people to support his anti-colonial zeal.
Course of revolt
- Alluri Sitarama Raju, along with 500 tribal people, attacked the police stations of Chintapalli, Krishnadevipeta and Rajavommangi.
- They walked away with 26 police carbine rifles and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
- Legend has it that Alluri himself would forewarn the British officers of an imminent attack and would challenge them to stop him with the superior resources that they had at hand.
- He was finally captured, tied to a tree and shot dead.
