Alluri Seetarama Raju

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The word Gudem in Andhra Pradesh in general means a village but it is also the proper name of an area in the hills of Visakhapatnam. The rebellion of 1922-24 in this area is also referred to as the Manyam or Rampa rebellion. The hill area of Visakhapatnam is called Manyam by the local people. Rampa is a part of Godavari agency while the area involved in this rebellion is in the Visakhapatnam Agency. It was transferred to Godavari district for administrative purposes just before the rebellion actually broke out and hence the records speak of it as Rampa rebellion. A similar rebellion had taken place in the Rampa area in 1879 and a reference to the 1922 event also as Rampa Rebellion causes confusion. The villages involved in the former area are totally different from those of the latter. This is called Gudem rebellion though no book or record has done so till now. The name Golugonda rebellion is also avoided because there had been two such events in the Golugonda area previously.

Being comparatively a recent event, it is also a contemporary happening for some. Telugu people of every nook and corner of the State have become more aware of this rebellion after the release of the film 'Alluri Sitarama Raju. Very little research has been done on this topic and the handful of books available are all in Telugu Thus a work in English became all the more necessary so that non-Telugus would also get acquainted with details of the struggle in the Agency area. Outside Andhra Pradesh, people hardly know about Sitarama Raju and the brave fight he put up in the hills for twenty one months leading the hillmen against the British. In the absence of any scientific study of the why and wherefore of the problem, the authors in Telugu have given all credit or discredit to only Sitarama Raju as an individual.

To mention some of the previous works on this subject will not be out of place here. A committee set up under Nalam Krishna Rao wrote a book in which Sitarama Raju's parentage, childhood and personality are described in detail. Ponnaluru Radha Krishna's book entitled, 'The 1922 Ryot Revolt in Manyam (Alluri Sitarama Raju) gives a detailed account of the life of Raju but not many details. about the rebellion itself The latter book describes the rebellion as a class war. Since the Government of Madras banned the book in 1938, copies are not easily available. This was the first publication of the "Athivada Grandhamandali at Guntur. The book speaks of the origin of muttadars, oppression of the poor, fight with the British and so on. The author travelled in the Agency and collected material for his book. Communist ideology was just entering the country at the time of the rebellion but the circumstances prevailing in the hills are interpreted on the basis of well developed communist ideas.

There are one or two burrakathas (ballads) which sing in praise of Sitarama Raju. Andhra Sri' is a novel based on this movement wherein the story is woven around a few well known incidents. All these novels, poems and works are in Telugu.

The most historical of the works, hitherto brought about, are based on newspaper reports prepared by the Government and the report of A.J. Happell, Commissioner of Operations in the Agency area in 1922-23. Some incidents have recorded proof but many are based on heresay. Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya in his work, History of the Indian National Congress has made a mention of the Gudem rebellion, and there are some passing references to the trouble in the hills. In the Telugu Vignana Servasvam there is a poem which is in the form of a question posed to Sitarama Raju. The followers of Raju do not seem to agree with the withdrawal of non-co-operation and they say that Gandhism was for those who could not fight it out and who were like the bangle wearers (women) and Gandhiji was God for those who would not take to violence. How could foreign domination came to an end under such circumstances? Sitarama Raju was in the hills when the non-co-operation idea was formulated. The latest book, mentioning about the rebellion is the 'Freedom struggle in Andhra Pradesh' Vol. III covering the years 1922-1931, edited by Prof. M. Venkatarangiah and the source material was collected by Dr: N. Venkataramanayya and Sri A. Jagannadham the present Assistant Director at the State Archives, Hyderabad. A chapter in the book on the uprising of Sitarama Raju is based on Happell's Reports, published books in Telugu and the newspaper reports prepared for official purposes. The chapter gives a gist of what happened in the agency area after Sitarama Raju went over there, till he was shot dead. I happened to see this work after preparing my book for the press.