11/22/2020 Alluri Sitarama Raju - Wikipedia

Alluri Sitarama Raju

Alluri Seetarama Raju (1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924)[1] was an
Alluri Seetarama Raju
Indian revolutionary involved in the Indian independence
movement. After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act, its
restrictions on the free movement of tribal people in the forest
prevented them from engaging in their traditional podu
agricultural system, which involved shifting cultivation. Alluri led
the Rampa Rebellion of 1922, during which a band of tribal
people and other sympathisers fought in the border areas of the
East Godavari and Visakhapatnam regions of Madras Presidency,
in present-day Andhra Pradesh, against the British Raj, which
had passed the law. He was referred to as "Manyam Veerudu"
(transl. 'Hero of the Jungle') by the local people.

Harnessing some aspects of the earlier non-cooperation

movement and with widespread support among the tribal people,
Alluri led raids on police stations in and around Chintapalle,
Rampachodavaram, Dammanapalli, Krishna Devi Peta,
Rajavommangi, Addateegala, Narsipatnam and Annavaram.
With his followers, he stole guns and ammunition and killed Born 1897 or 1898
several British police officers, including two near Dammanapalli. Pandrangi , Madras
Alluri was eventually trapped by the British in the forests of Presidency, British
Chintapalle, then tied to a tree and was executed by gunfire in India (present-day
Koyyuru village. His tomb is in Krishnadevipeta village. Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died 7 May 1924 (aged 25–
27)
Contents Koyyuru, Madras
Presidency, British
Life
India (present-day
Rampa Rebellion of 1922 Andhra Pradesh, India)
Origins
Cause of Executed by the British
Actions
death
Death Resting Krishnadevipeta,
In popular culture place Andhra Pradesh, India
References Known for Rampa Rebellion of
Further reading 1922
Title Manyam Veerudu

Life
Details of Alluri's early life vary. An official report suggests that he was born in Bhimavaram taluk,[2]
and several sources locate it as village of Mogallu, in West Godavari District.[3][4][5] More recent news
stories name the village of Pandrangi, which lies in the Bheemunipatnam legislative assembly
constituency, as his precise place of birth.[6]

His birthdate is also disputed. Several sources report it as 4 July 1897,[3][5][7] but others claim he was
born in 1898[2] and, more specifically, his date of birth as 4 July 1898.[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluri_Sitarama_Raju 1/5
11/22/2020 Alluri Sitarama Raju - Wikipedia

Alluri was born in a Telugu-speaking family to Venkata Rama Raju and Suryanarayanamma.[2][9][10]
Contemporary reports indicate that he had an undistinguished education but took a particular
interest in astrology, herbalism, palmistry and horse-riding before becoming a sannyasi at the age of
18. His father died when he was in school and he grew up in the care of his uncle 'Rama Krishnam
Raju', a tehsildar in Narsapur 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.[11]
At the age of 15, he moved to his mother's home town of Vishakhapatnam and enrolled at Mrs. A.V.N.
College. He was dropped out of college after failing in the fourth form They note that as he then
wandered around the Godavari Agency, these interests and his charismatic nature gained him a
reputation among the tribal people as being someone possessed of magical powers and holy, even
messianic, status - a reputation that was bolstered both by myths he created about himself and by his
acceptance of ones about him that were established by others, including ones concerning his reputed
invincibility. Combined with his desire to overcome the colonial presence, expressed almost as if it
were millenarian certainty, this was a powerful mixture.[4]

Rampa Rebellion of 1922

Origins

After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act in an attempt to exploit the economic value of
wooded areas, its restrictions on the free movement of tribal peoples in the forests prevented them
from engaging in their traditional podu agricultural system, a subsistence economy which involved
shifting cultivation.[12] The changes meant that they faced starvation and their main means of
avoiding it was the demeaning, arduous, foreign and exploitative coolie system use by the
government and its contractors for such things as road construction.[4][13]

Around the same time as the Act, the Raj authorities had also emasculated the traditional hereditary
role of the muttadars, who had been de facto rulers in the hills as tax collectors for the plains-living
rajas.[14] These people were now reduced to the role of mere civil servants with no overarching
powers, no ability to levy taxes at will and no right to inherit their position. Thus, the cultivators and
the tax collectors, who once would have been in opposition to each other, were instead now broadly
aligned in their disaffection with colonial power.[4]

Alluri harnessed the discontent of the tribal people to support his anti-colonial zeal, whilst also
accommodating the grievances of those muttadars who were sympathetic to his aim rather than
merely narrow-minded in their pursuit of a revived status for themselves. This meant that his
followers were mostly from the tribal communities but did include some significant people from the
muttadar class that at one time had exploited them, although many muttadars were ambivalent about
fighting for what Alluri perceived to be the greater good.[4]

Alluri adopted aspects of the Gandhian non-cooperation movement, such as promoting temperance
and the boycott of colonial courts in favour of local justice administered by panchayat courts, to
attract support. Although the movement died out in early 1922, it had reached the plains area and he
had been involved in propagation of some of its methods among the hill people as a means to raise
their political consciousness and desire for change. It was these actions that caused him to be put
under police surveillance from around February of that year, although the fact that he was using them
as a camouflage to foment armed uprising seems not to have been recognised by either the
movement's political leadership or the British.[4]

Actions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluri_Sitarama_Raju 2/5
11/22/2020 Alluri Sitarama Raju - Wikipedia

The armed rebellion began in August when Alluri led a mob of 500 people in the looting, on
consecutive days, of police stations at Chintapalle, Krishna Devi Peta and Rajavommangi, from which
he gained possession of guns and ammunition. He subsequently toured the area, getting more
recruits and killing a member of a British police force that had been sent to find him. The British
struggled in their pursuit, in part because of the unfamiliar terrain and also because the local people
in this sparsely populated area were generally unwilling to help them and often outright keen to
materially assist Alluri, including with shelter and intelligence. While based in the hills,
contemporary official reports suggested that the core group of rebels dwindled to between 80 and 100
but this figure rose dramatically whenever they moved to take action against the British because of
the involvement of people in the villages.[4][15]

Further deaths occurred on 23 September when Alluri ambushed a police party from a high position
as they went through the Dammanapalli Ghat, killing two officers and cementing his reputation
among the disaffected people. There were a further two successful attacks against the police forces
during the month, after which the British realised that his style of guerilla warfare would have to be
matched with a similar response, for which they drafted in members of the Special Malabar Police
who were trained in such methods.[4][16]

Attempts to persuade local people to inform on or withdraw their support for Alluri, through both
incentives and reprisals, did nothing but encourage them to further their actions.[4] Further raids
were later made on police stations at Rampachodavaram, Addateegala, Narsipatnam and
Annavaram.[17]

Death
Alluri was eventually trapped by the British in the forests of
Chintapalle. He was tied to a tree and shot dead in Koyyuru
village.[18][19] His tomb is in Krishna Devi Peta village.[20]

In popular culture
The Telugu-language movie Alluri Seetharama Raju (1974),
featuring actor Krishna, depicted Alluri's life.
In 1986 the Indian Postal Department issued a
commemorative stamp featuring Alluri in the series 'India's
struggle for freedom'.[21]
Andhra Pradesh is to celebrate his birthday, 4 July, annually
as a state festival.[22]
Alluri Sitarama Raju Cricket Stadium in Eluru is named after
him.[23]
On 9 October 2017, at the request of members of parliament,
Thota Narasimham and V. Vijayasai Reddy, the Government Alluri Sitarama Raju on a 1986
of India decided to install a statue of Alluri at the precincts of stamp of India
the Parliament of India in recognition of his work as a
freedom fighter, and for the welfare of the tribal people.[24]
RRR (2021) is a fictional story directed by S. S. Rajamouli based on the lives of Komaram Bheem
and Alluri Sita Ramaraju. The film deals with a figment of imagination added to construct the
undocumented life of both the rebels who fought British in India, set in 1920.

References
1. NCERT 2008, p. 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluri_Sitarama_Raju 3/5
11/22/2020 Alluri Sitarama Raju - Wikipedia

2. Guha, Ranajit (1982). Subaltern studies: writings on South Asian history and society (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=8gxuAAAAMAAJ&q=Bhimavaram+%22Alluri+Sita+Rama+Raju). Oxford
University Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780195613551.
3. Rao, P. Rajeswar (1991). The Great Indian Patriots (https://books.google.com/books?id=04tDyxm
NOhsC&pg=PA12). Mittal Publications. p. 12. ISBN 978-81-7099-288-2.
4. Murali, Atlury (April 1984). "Alluri Sitarama Raju and the Manyam Rebellion of 1922-1924". Social
Scientist. 12 (4): 3–33. doi:10.2307/3517081 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3517081).
JSTOR 3517081 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517081).
5. Singh, M. K. (2009). Encyclopaedia Of Indian War Of Independence (1857-1947) (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=IlYwAQAAIAAJ). Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 127. ISBN 978-81-261-
3745-9.
6. "Pandrangi, Alluri's birthplace, selected under 'adarsh gram' " (http://www.thehindu.com/news/citie
s/Visakhapatnam/Pandrangi-Alluri%E2%80%99s-birthplace-selected-under-%E2%80%98adarsh-
gram%E2%80%99/article17037943.ece). The Hindu. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
7. Kesavanarayana, B. (1976). Political and Social Factors in Andhra, 1900-1956 (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=gI0BAAAAMAAJ). Navodaya Publishers.
8. Pfeffer, Georg; Behera, Deepak Kumar, eds. (1999). Contemporary society: tribal studies :
Professor Satya Narayana Ratha felicitation volumes (https://books.google.com/books?id=oFmB
AAAAMAAJ). 4. Concept Pub. Co. p. 151. ISBN 978-81-7022-738-0.
9. Seshadri, K. (1993). Struggle for National Liberation: Role of the Telugu People from Early Days
to 1947 (https://books.google.com/books?id=klJuAAAAMAAJ&q=Alluri+sita+rama+raju). Uppal
Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-85565-34-7.
10. Sharma, I. Mallikarjuna (1987). Role of Revolutionaries in the Freedom Struggle: A Critical
History of the Indian Revolutionary Movements, 1918–1934 (https://books.google.com/books?id=
OVwiAAAAMAAJ). Marxist Study Forum. p. 140.
11. Rao 2006, p. 35.
12. Murali, Atlury (2017). "Tribal Armed Rebellion of 1922-1924 in the Madras Presidency: A Study of
Causation as Colonial Legitimation". In Bates, Crispin (ed.). Savage Attack: Tribal Insurgency in
India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-35158-744-0.
13. NCERT 2008, p. 11.
14. NCERT 2008, p. 10.
15. Mukherjee 2004, p. 74.
16. Bommala 2001, p. 182.
17. Mukherjee 2004, p. 137.
18. V. BalakrishnaG. "Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh" (https://web.archive.org/web/2002011
3172701/http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0798/PIBF0707982.html). Government of India Press
Information Bureau. Archived from the original (http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0798/PIBF070798
2.html) on 13 January 2002. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
19. Bommala 2001, p. 176.
20. "Birth anniversary of Alluri celebrated" (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andh
rapradesh/birth-anniversary-of-alluri-celebrated/article3604750.ece). The Hindu. 5 July 2012.
Retrieved 2 February 2015.
21. A. S. RAJU (http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Alpha/A/A.%20S.%20RAJU). "Indian
Post" (26 December 2016). Retrieved on 11 December 2018.
22. "AP to celebrate 117th birthday of Sri Alluri Sitarama Raju" (https://web.archive.org/web/2014071
4164252/http://www.indtoday.com/ap-celebrate-117th-birthday-sri-alluri-sitarama-raju-indtoday-co
m/). 2 July 2014. Archived from the original (http://www.indtoday.com/ap-celebrate-117th-birthday-
sri-alluri-sitarama-raju-indtoday-com/) on 14 July 2014.
23. Nagaraja, G (23 May 2014). "ASR Stadium to get facelift" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa
l/andhra-pradesh/asr-stadium-to-get-facelift/article6041083.ece). The Hindu. Eluru. Retrieved
27 September 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluri_Sitarama_Raju 4/5
11/22/2020 Alluri Sitarama Raju - Wikipedia

24. "Nod for installing Alluri's statue in Parliament" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pr

adesh/nod-for-installing-alluris-statue-in-parliament/article19825110.ece). The Hindu. 9 October
2017.

Further reading
Mukherjee, Mridula (2004). Peasants in India's Non-Violent Revolution: Practice and Theory (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=7pUJ0qmvYDkC). SAGE. ISBN 978-0-76199-686-6.
Rao, P. D. (2006). Alluri Sitarama Raju (https://archive.org/details/allurisitaramara025767mbp).
Narsapuram, Andhra Pradesh. ISBN 9786132698858.
Bommala, Pillala (2001). Alluri Sitarama Raju (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5763200835391443
52/). Pinterest. ISBN 613269885X.
NCERT, Jess (2008). Chapter-2 Nationalism in India (https://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/jess303.pdf)
(PDF). History book (NCERT) Class-10. New Delhi, India: CBSE. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-81-7450-
489-0.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alluri_Sitarama_Raju&oldid=987621069"

This page was last edited on 8 November 2020, at 06:37 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluri_Sitarama_Raju 5/5