Alluri Sitarama Raju

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the 1974 film, see Alluri Seetharama Raju (film).
Alluri Sita Rama Raju
Alluri Sita Rama Raju statue.jpg
Aggi Pidugu Alluri
Bornca. 1897
Possibly Bhimavaram taluk, West Godavari district
Died7 May 1924
Mampa village in the Visakhapatnam District
TitleManyam Veerudu
Alluri Sitarama Raju (ca. 1897 – died 7 May 1924) (also known as Aluri Rampa Rama Raju, Rama Chandra Raju, and Alluri Seetharama Raju) was an Indian revolutionary involved in the independence movement.
Raju led the ill-fated "Rampa Rebellion" of 1922–24, during which a band of tribal leaders and other sympathizers fought against the British Raj. He was referred to as "Manyam Veerudu" ("Hero of the Jungles") by the local people.

Early life[edit]

Details of Alluri Sita Rama's early life vary. An official report suggests that he was born in 1897 in Bhimavaram taluk, west Godavari district.[1] His mother was from Visakhapatnam and his father was a native of Mogallu, near Bhimavaram, and was an official photographer in the central jail at Rajahmundry. The young Raju lived mainly in Mogallu[2] and was educated in Rajamundry at the Vullithota Bangarayya school, as well as in Kakinada, Tuni andRamachandrapuram in the East Godavari district.[citation needed]
Raju's father died when he was in school and he grew up in the care of his uncle, Rama Krishnam Raju, a tehsildar inNarsapur in the West Godavari district. He studied at Taylor High School in Narsapur then moved to Tuni along with his mother, brother and sister. While there, Alluri visited areas of the Visakhapatnam district and became familiar with the needs of the indigenous people.[citation needed]
When Raju turned 15, he moved to his mother's home town of Vishakhapatnam and enrolled at Mrs. A.V.N. College.[3] He dropped out of college after failing in the fourth form (Std. IX).[citation needed]

Rampa Rebellion of 1922[edit]

After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act, its restrictions on the free movement of tribal peoples in the forest prevented them from engaging in their traditional "Podu" agricultural system, which involved shifting cultivation.[citation needed]
Raju led a protest movement in the border areas of the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.[4]Inspired by the patriotic zeal of revolutionaries in Bengal, Raju raided police stations in and around Chintapalle,Rampachodavaram, Dammanapalli, Krishna-devi-peta, Rajavommangi, Addateegala, Narsipatnam andAnnavaram.[citation needed]
Raju and his followers stole guns and ammunition and killed several British army officers, including Scott Coward near Dammanapalli.[5]
In December 1922, the British deployed a company of Assam Rifles, near Pegadapalle under the leadership of Saunders. Raju, who had by then gone underground, resurfaced after about four months and continued the fight, strengthened by tribal volunteers using bows and arrows under the leadership of Gam Mallu Dora and Gantam Dora.[citation needed]
Following a raid led by Raju on the Annavaram police outpost on 18 September 1923, Gam Mallu Dora was arrested. The Government entrusted the task of containing Raju's activities to the District Collector of Visakhapatnam district, Rutherford, who fired the first salvo when his forces arrested Surya Narayana Raju Pericherla, popularly known as Aggiraju, a devoted follower of Raju.[citation needed]
The British campaign lasted for nearly a year from December 1922. Rama Raju was eventually trapped by the British in the forests of Chintapalli then tied to a tree and shot dead with a rifle in Mampa village. Following the martyrdom of Alluri, the tribal revolt lost its momentum and petered out by October 1923. Police officer Mr. N. Gnaneswara Rao responsible for Raju's entrapment was awarded Rao Bahadur.[citation needed]
Alluri Sita Ramaraju tomb is present in Krishna devi peta village.[citation needed]

Legacy[edit]

Alluri Statue at Beach road in Visakhapatnam
Today a statue of Raju stands at Seethammadhara Junction and another on the beach road near The Park Hotel in Visakhapatnam. A statue was erected in Pandringi, his maternal grand mother's village near Bheemili, about 28 kilometres (17 mi) from Visakhapatnam.
In 1986 the Indian Postal Department issued a commemorative stamp featuring Raju in the series 'India's struggle for freedom'.[6]
The Telugu movie Alluri Seetharama Raju was made about Raju's life directed by V. Rama Chandra Rao and starring Krishna (actor) as Raju. The popular song 'Telugu Veera Levara' from the film written by Sahitya Akademi Award winning poet Sri Sriwon the National Film Award for Best Lyrics.
Andhra Pradesh is to celebrate his birthday, 4 July, annually as a state festival[7]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Guha, Ranajit (1982). Subaltern studies: writings on South Asian history and society. Oxford University Press. p. 134. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  2. Jump up^ "Vi(zag)nettes". The Hindu. 26 January 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  3. Jump up^ "Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju memorial stamp at Indian Post.com". Indian Post. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  4. Jump up^ Citation Needed
  5. Jump up^ Balakrishna, V.G. "Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh". Government of India Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  6. Jump up^ "Indian Post"
  7. Jump up^ "AP to celebrate 117th birthday of Sri Alluri Sitarama Raju". 2 July 2014.

External links[edit]

Authority control