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Rani Chennamma of Kittur led a armed revolt against the British decades before 1857: Read about her valour and honour in face of abject oppression
Chennamma too had lost her son in 1824 and didn’t have any other children which further complicated the situation. However, she adopted an heir Shivalingappa to rectify the problem. Nevertheless, the British East India Company rejected Shivalingappa as the kingdom’s heir using the “doctrine of lapse.”
India has long been home to bravehearts who have never even thought twice about giving their life to defend their great country. They made their names as valiant leaders and freedom fighters by putting up an unprecedented fight against the invaders and colonisers.
Rani Chennamma of Kittur
India under British rule suffered two centuries of trauma and exploitation at the hands of its white colonisers which led to widespread unrest and distress among the people. Their plight drove them to raise their voices against the persistent cruelty and injustice which fell on deaf ears. As the discrimination and brutality intensified, the spark of protests soon took the shape of large-scale revolutions like that of the rebellion of 1857 which was started by Mangal Pandey. The same shortly turned into a nationwide freedom struggle in the wake of outrageous British tyranny aimed at curbing the growing voices of independence by whatever means necessary. However, the Indians finally succeeded in uprooting the Britishers from their land.
Unbeknownst to most people, South India was the starting point for most uprisings against the British. Puli Thevar and Veerapandi Kattaboman, Palayakkarars (Poligars) of the mid and late eighteenth centuries in Madras Presidency, the Marudu Pandyan brothers who revolted between 1799 and 1801, the Vellore Sepoy mutiny of 1806 and the revolt of Pazassi Raja of Kottayam in Kerala (1792 to 1805), are few instances of the revolts that occurred before 1857.
The mutineers were all mercilessly put to death by being blown from cannons, beheaded or hanging, a glaring bloody hallmark of British rule. However, they declined to issue an apology or be reinstated under the Britishers, There was a lot of discontent in South India because the British were annexing land without cause and eliminating thriving local industries like agriculture, metallurgy, and textiles in order to replace them with the profitable export of local resources to the United Kingdom to support the British economy. Unsurprisingly, similar policies were enforced throughout India to damage indigenous industries and deplete its coffers while strengthening the British economy as well as pursuing its expansionist agenda.
Who was Rani Chennamma:
Today, 23rd October is the birth anniversary of the queen of Kittur, Rani Chennamma. She was one of those nationalist warriors who helmed a war against British forces in the early 19th century as she was aware of the nefarious objectives of the British administration when many were oblivious. She launched an armed revolt against them and became the first Indian ruler to do so. The two battles of Kittur (in Karnataka) in 1824 were among the first armed pushback against the evil designs of the British East India Company in South India and Rani Channamma, commanded them against the British agent in Dharwad during October and November of 1824. She is renowned for spearheading the uprising against British authority in India, despite being outnumbered which didn’t deter her. The brave queen was later arrested.
She was born in Kagati, a small village in the present-day district of Belagavi in 1778. She belonged to a Panchamasali Lingayat family and learned archery and horse riding at a very young age. She was married to Kittur’s King Mallasarja of the Desai family, who ruled over the region until 1816 after ascending the throne in 1782, at the age of 15. She was his second wife. According to legend, the two met during a tiger hunt. Shivalingarudra Sarja, Mallasarja’s eldest son, succeeded to the throne upon his death in 1816. However, his health began to deteriorate shortly which resulted in a massive challenge before the kingdom that needed an heir to survive.
Chennamma too had lost her son in 1824 and didn’t have any other children which further complicated the situation. However, she adopted an heir Shivalingappa to rectify the problem. Nevertheless, the British East India Company rejected Shivalingappa as the kingdom’s heir using the “doctrine of lapse.” It alleged that if the monarch of a princely state or territory that was under the British East India Company’s paramountcy (direct influence) as a “vassal” under the British subsidiary system was “manifestly incompetent or died without a male heir,” the state or territory would be automatically annexed.
It is pertinent to remember that the same law was used by the Britishers to attack the kingdom of Jhansi and was meticulously utilised to extend the British Empire. The East India Company essentially deprived local rulers of their sovereignty when it conquered a number of princely territories under the Doctrine of Lapse, notably Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1854), and Nagpur (1854).
The long-standing right of an Indian monarch without an heir to select a successor was rejected by this doctrine. Indians considered the doctrine to be invalid. Kingdoms that had no direct heir were taken away by this arbitrary policy. It was imposed by the British East India Company in 1824 to seize the princely state of Kittur, even before Lord Dalhousie, had officially articulated it. He was employed as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. It was most likely the first time the policy was imposed. In 1848, Lord Dalhousie simply formalized it by putting it in writing. The doctrine and Dalhousie’s annexations infuriated India’s reigning princes, which contributed to the mutiny of 1857.
The British used the principle of paramountcy and absolute power to order Rani Chennamma to banish the adoptive child Shivalingappa. However, the defiant queen disobeyed the directive. Rani Chennamma wrote to Bombay Presidency Lieutenant-Governor Lord Elphinstone to support Kittur’s cause, but her request was denied which led to a war. The British attempted but were unsuccessful, to seize Kittur’s gems and riches, which were worth about Rs. 1.5 million. It was attacked by a force of 20,797 men and 437 guns, primarily from the Madras Native Horse Artillery’s third troop.
British soldiers suffered severe losses in the first engagement in October 1824, which was overseen by a British agent and collector in Dharwad, St. John Thackery, claiming that any princely state without a natural heir would fall and be absorbed by the Company. According to historian Queeny Pradhan’s book Ranis and the Raj, Thackery gave the order for a company of infantrymen and two cannons of horse artillery to enter the fort. Rani Chennamma led the Kittur troops in a counterattack that resulted in heavy fire. Her bravery was rewarded with a victory as Thackeray was slain.
Chennamma’s lieutenant, Amatur Balappa was behind the casualties and Thackeray’s demise. Sir Walter Elliot and Stevenson, two British officers, were also captured and were only freed after the Britishers assured her that they would end the conflict as the unbridled violence had also troubled her. However, like all good things, this triumph didn’t last long. True to their nature, they had tricked her and again began a campaign to capture Kittur as they couldn’t handle their humiliating defeat, especially from a woman.
British Commissioner and Governor of Bombay Chaplin entered the dispute with additional troops. Munro, a sub-collector of Solapur and the nephew of Sir Thomas Munro was killed by her. The Kittur Fort was attacked and taken by the British on 3rd December 1824. Rani Chennamma battled heroically, but she was betrayed by some of her people. The traitors Mallappa Shetty and Venkata Rao combined gunpowder and cow dung and fired it from cannons. She was also outnumbered and eventually taken prisoner at Bailhongal Fort with her family.
The queen prayed for her release during her final years by reading sacred scriptures and doing poojas. She eventually lost all hope and was unable to stand the miserable circumstances any longer due to which her health steadily declined and he passed away on 21st February 1829 inside the fort. She is buried in Bailhongal taluk.
Rani Chennamma’s legacy lives on:
Rani Chennamma’s life was ended soon, but her protests against the British gave the Kittur people the strength to resist persecution. Despite the unfortunate outcome, the nation will always remember Chennamma’s unparalleled strength and valour. Numerous Kannada Lavanis, or folk songs, honour Rani Chennamma as a guardian and defender. Her equestrian statue in the village of Kakati lies to the south of the Bengaluru-Pune national highway. Amatur Balappa, Sardar Gurusiddappa, Gajaveera Siddi, Avaradi Veerappa, Bichugatti Channabasappa and Sangoli Rayanna who were her close associates are also celebrated and their heroic tales are narrated in several Lavani songs.
The Kittur Utsav, which takes place every year from 22nd and 24th October honors Chennamma’s maiden win and her legacy. Her samadhi is located in a government-maintained little park. India’s first female president, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, unveiled a statue of Rani Chennamma of Kittur at the Parliament complex in New Delhi on September 11, 2007. Vijay Gaur created the sculpture, which was donated by the Kittur Rani Chennamma Memorial Committee. Other statues of Rani Chennamma revere the many Karnataka cities, with her eyes glimmering with intense passion, a silver sword gleaming in her hands, and a horse carrying her with pride. Her unwavering courage and stories of indomitable spirit continue to reverberate throughout the state and nation as well as inspire many, today and always.
