KITTUR CHENNAMMA , FREEDOM FIGHTER AGAIST BRITISH BORN OCTOBER 23,1778

KITTUR CHENNAMMA ,

FREEDOM FIGHTER  AGAIST BRITISH 

BORN OCTOBER 23,1778

Kittur Chennamma (23 October 1778 – 02 February 1829) was the Queen of Kittur, a princely state in Karnataka. She was one of the Indian female ruler to lead an armed rebellion against the British East India Company in 1824 because of the effect of doctrine of lapse. The resistance ended with her arrest and she became a symbol of the independence movement in India. In the state of Karnataka, she is celebrated along with Abbakka Rani, Keladi Chennamma and Onake Obavva, as the foremost women warriors and patriots. Chennamma was a member of the Lingayat sect.[citation needed]
Early life[edit source]
Chennamma was born in Kakati, a small village in what is now the Belagavi District of the Indian state of Karnataka.

Rebellion against the British[edit source]

She became queen of her native kingdom and married Raja Mallasarja, of the Desai family at the age of 15, and had one son. After their son's death in 1824 she adopted Shivalingappa, and made him heir to the throne. The British East India Company did not accept this and ordered Shivalingappa's expulsion, using a policy of paramountcy and complete authority (doctrine of lapse officially codified between 1848 and 1856 by Lord Dalhousie), but Chennamma defied the order.

Killing of Rayanna[edit source]

Rani Chennamma sent a letter to Mountstuart Elphinstone, Lieutenant-Governor of the Bombay Presidency pleading the cause of Kittur, but her request was turned down, and war broke out.[1] The British tried to confiscate the treasure and jewels of Kittur, valued at around 1.5 million rupees.[2] They attacked with a force of 20,797 men and 437 guns, mainly from the third troop of Madras Native Horse Artillery.[3] In the first round of war, during October 1824, British forces lost heavily and St John Thackeray, collector and political agent,[4] was killed in the war.[1] Amatur Balappa, a lieutenant of Chennamma, was mainly responsible for his killing and losses to British forces.[5] Two British officers, Sir Walter Elliot and Mr. Stevenson[4] were also taken as hostages.[1] Rani Chennamma released them with an understanding with Chaplin that the war would be terminated but Chaplin continued the war with more forces.[1] During the second assault, Subcollector of Solapur, Mr. Munro, nephew of Thomas Munro was killed.[4] Rani Chennamma fought fiercely with the aid of her lieutenant, Sangolli Rayanna, but was ultimately captured and imprisoned at Bailhongal Fort, where she died on 02 February 1829.[1] Chennamma was also helped by her lieutenant Gurusiddappa in the war against British.[6]

Sangolli Rayanna continued the guerrilla war to 1829, in vain, until his capture.[1] He wanted to install the adopted boy Shivalingappa as the ruler of Kittur, but Sangolli Rayanna was caught and hanged. Shivalingappa was arrested by the British.[1] Chennamma's legacy and first victory are still commemorated in Kittur, during the Kittur Utsava held on 22–24 October annually.

Statue at Parliament House complex, New Delhi[edit source]
On 11 September 2007 a statue of Rani Chennamma was unveiled at the Indian Parliament Complex by Pratibha Patil, the first woman President of India.[7] On the occasion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Lok Sabha Speaker Somanath Chatarjee, BJP leader L.K.Advani, Karnataka Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy and others were present, marking the importance of the function.[8] The statue was donated by Kittur Rani Chennamma Memorial Committee and sculpted by Vijay Gaur.[8]

Rani Chennamma's statues are installed at Bangalore and Kittur also.[9]

Burial place[edit source]

Rani Chennamma's samadhi or burial place is in Bailhongal taluk, but is in neglected state with poor maintenance and the place is surrounded by a small park maintained by Government agencies.[9]

In popular culture[edit source]
The heroics of Kittur Rani Chennamma are sung by folk in the form of ballads, lavani and GiGi pada.[10]
Kittur Chennamma is a 1962 film in Kannada, directed by B. Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu.[11]
Coast guard ship "Kittur Chennamma" was commissioned in 1983 and decommissioned in 2011.[12]
The popular daily Indian Railways train Rani Chennamma Express connecting Bangalore and Kolhapur is named after her.
Raiganj University Assistant Professor Pinaki Roy's essay “Alternative History: A Postcolonial Rereading of Naikar’s The Queen of Kittur”, published in the Indian Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Research (ISSN 2347-9884), 1(2), August 2014: 105-15, offers several instances of critical references to literary representations of the Queen of Kittur

Rani Chennamma  (October 23, 1778 – February 21, 1829) was the Queen of Kittur in Karnataka, southern India. In her youth she received training in horse riding, sword fighting and archery. She became queen of her native kingdom and married Raja Mallasarja, of the Desai family, and had one son; after her son’s death in 1824 she adopted Shivalingappa, and made him heir to the throne. The British East India Company did not accept this and ordered Shivalingappa’s expulsion, using a policy of paramountcy and complete authority (doctrine of lapse officially codified between 1848 and 1856 by Lord Dalhousie), but Chennamma defied the order.

Rani Chennamma sent a letter to Governor at Bombay to plead the cause of Kittur, but Lord Elphinstone turned down the request leading to all out war. The British tried to confiscate the treasure and jewels of Kittur (valued around Fifteen Lakhs of rupees) and attacked with a force of 200 men and four guns, mainly from the third troop of Madras Native Horse Artillery. In the first round of war, during October 1824, British forces lost heavily with St John Thackeray, Collector and Political agent, killed by the Rani’s forces. Two British officers, Sir Walter Elliot and Mr. Stevenson[ were also taken as hostages.

Rani Chennamma released the hostages with an understanding with Chaplin that the war would be terminated. But Chaplin treacherously continued the war with even more soldiers. Chennamma fought fiercely with the aid of her lieutenant, Sangolli Rayanna, but was ultimately captured and imprisoned at Bailhongal Fort, where she died on 21 February 1829. Sangolli Rayanna continued the guerrilla war up to 1829 until his capture, but it was in vain, and was caught due to treachery and hanged.

Chennamma was born 56 years before the 1857 rebel Rani of Jhansi, and was thus the first woman to fight against British governance and the kappa tax. Her legacy and first victory are still commemorated in Kittur, during the Kittur Utsava of every 22–24 October. On 11 September 2007 a statue of Rani Chennamma was unveiled at the Indian Parliament Complex by Pratibha Patil, the first woman President of India. Her statues are installed at Bangalore and Kittur also. Rani Chennamma’s samadhi or burial place is in Bailhongal taluk, but is in neglected state with poor maintenance and the place is surrounded by a small park maintained by Government agencies.

Rani Chennamma’s samadhi or burial place

ராணி சென்னம்மா இந்திய நாட்டில் 1778 அக்டோபர் 23ஆம் வருடம் பிறந்தார். தனது சிறு வயதிலேயே சென்னம்மா குதிரையேற்றம், வாள் வீச்சு, வில்வித்தை போன்றவற்றில் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றார். கர்நாடக மாநிலத்தில், பெல்காம் என்ற ராஜ்ஜியத்தில், கித்தூர் என்ற ஊரின் அரசரான முல்லசர்ஜா என்பவருடன் சென்னம்மாவுக்குத் திருமணம் நடந்தது. அவரது கணவர் 1816இல் இறந்து விட்டார். அவர்களது ஒரே மகனும் 1824இல் இறந்து விடவே, சென்னம்மா சிவலிங்கப்பா என்பவரைத் தன் மகனாக தத்து எடுத்துக் கொண்டு, அவருக்கே முடிசூட்டினார். ஆங்கிலேயர்களுக்கு இது பிடிக்கவில்லை. ஆகவே, அவர்கள் சிவலிங்கப்பாவை நாடு கடத்த ஆணையிட்டார்கள். 

ராணி சென்னம்மா இந்த ஆணையை மதிக்கவில்லை. ஒரு மிகப்பெரிய போர் மூண்டது. ஆங்கிலேயர்களை மிகவும் துணிச்சலுடனும், தைரியத்துடனும், பெரும் ஆற்றலுடனும் எதிர்த்துப் போரிட்டாள், சென்னம்மா. ஆனால், அவர்களை எதிர்த்து அதிக நேரம் தாக்குப் பிடிக்க முடியாமல், அவர்களால் சிறைப்பிடிக்கப்பட்டு பைல்ஹோங்கல் கோட்டையில் கைதியாக வைக்கப்பட்டாள். அங்கு 1829 ஆம் வருடம், பிப்ரவரி மாதம் 21ஆம் தேதி சென்னம்மாவின் மரணம் நேர்ந்தது [1].

ஆங்கிலேயர் ஆட்சியை எதிர்த்துப் போரிட்டு வீரமரணம் அடைந்த சென்னம்மா கர்நாடக மாநிலத்தில் ஒரு பெரும் வீராங்கனையாக இன்றும் போற்றப் படுகிறார்.