Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy: Rayalaseema’s 1846 Uprising

Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy was a chieftain on a small pension. In 1846 he became the face of a peasant revolt in Rayalaseema.

The revolt came about ten years before 1857. It was crushed, and its leader was hanged in public.

1Who was Narasimha Reddy?

He was a Palegar’s grandson, not a king.

• He was born on 24 November 1806 in Rupanagudi village.
• He belonged to the Motati clan of Reddys.
• His father was Mallareddy, and his mother was Seethamma.
• His family was linked to the Palegar family of Uyyalawada.
• Uyyalawada is in Koilakuntla taluk, in the Kurnool region.
• His mother came from the Palegar family of Nossam.
• He was the youngest of three sons.
• His grandfather, Jayarama Reddy, was the last powerful zamindar of Nossam.
• So he belonged to the old landed order of Rayalaseema.

2Why did he rebel?

The old order of land and status was falling apart.

• The Company changed how land revenue worked in the Madras Presidency.
• The new system included ryotwari.
• Palegars and village headmen lost their role as revenue collectors.
• Many lost their lands.
• Some got pensions, but at uneven rates.
• Some of those dispossessed had earlier fought the Company in the Palegar Wars.
• For them, the loss of land also worked as a punishment.
• Cultivators also suffered, as higher revenue left them poor.
• Narasimha Reddy’s family got only a small pension.
• It was about ₹11 a month, says an 1886 district manual.
• The Nossam family died out in 1821.
• The government refused to give him any part of its lapsed pension.
• A plan to resume Kattubadi inams also angered local men.
• Some of his relatives also faced a further cut in their land rights.
• A change to the village policing system was part of that.
• Pleas from the sufferers went unheard.
• The Palegars became the natural leaders of local anger.
• In 1846, the Company took over land rights of some dead villagers in his area.
• Those villages were Goodladurty, Koilakuntla and Nossum.

3How did the revolt unfold?

It began with a small armed band and then grew.

• An armed group formed around Koilakuntla in 1846.
• It included men who had lost their inam lands.
• Its leader in the field was Vadde Obanna.
• Peasants soon joined it.
• The band attacked the treasury at Koilakuntla.
• It killed several officers at Mittapally.
• It also plundered Rudravaram.
• The Acting Collector, Lord Cochrane, thought other dispossessed pensioners were helping.
• Company troops pursued the rebels and surrounded them near Almore.
• Obanna’s band of about 5,000 fought a smaller British force there.
• About 200 rebels were killed, and the others broke out.
• They moved on to Giddalur, where Reddy’s family lived.
• Then they went into the Nallamala Hills.
• Troops from Kadapa and Kurnool chased them.
• At Giddalur, the rebels fought a force under Lieutenant Watson.
• They also killed the Tahsildar of Cumbum.

4How did it end?

The Company hunted the rebels down and made an example of him.

• The British offered rewards for news of the rebels.
• They sent for reinforcements.
• In a later clash, 40 to 50 rebels were killed.
• About 90 were captured.
• Reddy was among those taken.
• He was caught near a hill called Perusomala in Koilakuntla taluk.
• The revolt took thousands of Company soldiers to put down.
• Warrants were issued for nearly 1,000 rebels.
• Of these, 412 were released without charge.
• A further 273 were bailed.
• And 112 were convicted.
• Reddy was sentenced to death.
• He was hanged at Koilakuntla on 22 February 1847.
• Over 2,000 people watched.
• His head stayed on the fort wall until 1877.

5How is he remembered?

Local memory kept his story alive.

• A committee in his home region works to preserve his memory.
• In 2015 it published a book called Renati Surya Chandrulu.
• On 25 March 2021, Kurnool airport was named after him.
• The airport is at Orvakal.
• The film Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy came out on 2 October 2019.
• Chiranjeevi played the title role.
• The revolt ran about a decade before 1857.
• So it is an early case of armed resistance to Company rule in the south.

6What are the exam traps?

Place, system and date are the usual traps.

• The revolt was in 1846–47, not 1857.
• The region is Rayalaseema, in today’s Andhra Pradesh.
• The key grievance was the new revenue system and lost land.
• It was not about the Doctrine of Lapse.
• He was a Palegar, not a prince.
• Vadde Obanna was his right-hand man.
• The revolt was crushed within months, not years.
• He was hanged, and his head was displayed.
• Group him with other early revolts, such as Kittur and Pazhassi.
• Read about British land revenue systems.
• Read about Kittur Chennamma.
• Read about Pazhassi Raja.