Bandagi (Shaik Bandagi) · Telugu History

Bandagi was a young Muslim farmer of Kamareddygudem, a hamlet of Devaruppala in Jangaon taluk.¹² He fought a long land case against a relative who had the backing of the deshmukh (hereditary revenue chief and landlord) of Visnur, and won it.³⁴ He was then murdered near his village.⁵ Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, a Communist leader of the Telangana struggle, calls him a martyr (amarudu).⁶

The only source used here is Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao’s Telugu history, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988).¹ Devulapalli was a Communist leader of the struggle.¹ For Bandagi’s story he quotes at length a booklet of 1945, Janagama Prajala Veerochita Poratalu (The heroic struggles of the people of Jangaon).¹⁷ The booklet’s author is not named in his text.¹

The land case

According to the booklet, Shaik Bandagi was one of five brothers.¹ When they divided the family land, they gave the eldest, Abbas Ali, an extra share out of respect.¹ Abbas Ali sold that share and then, with the deshmukh’s support, claimed a second eldest’s share from the others.³ Bandagi, then about 25, led his younger brothers in a court case that lasted three years, and they won.³

The booklet says the deshmukh then backed another relative, Fakir Ahmed, who had entered his service.³⁸ A new case followed over the land on which Bandagi’s family lived, about four acres.⁸ Bandagi was poor and walked everywhere, even the 16 miles to Jangaon for the hearings.⁸ The booklet says that the villagers, who suffered under the deshmukh, backed him, and that he won case after case.⁸⁴

It also says that a man once came at Bandagi with a knife, and that he caught the blade in his hand and survived with cut fingers.⁴ At last the court decided finally in favour of Bandagi and his brothers.⁴

His murder

The booklet tells that the deshmukh’s men then planned to kill him.⁴⁹ Early one morning Bandagi walked to the road to catch the bus to Jangaon, to collect the High Court’s order in his favour.⁹⁵ Two men hiding behind a hedge attacked him with a sickle and an axe and killed him.⁵ The booklet says he was about thirty.⁵

There was a trial, but there were no witnesses and no one to pursue the case.⁵ The accused were released after two years.⁵

His grave

Bandagi’s brothers buried him near the bus stop and built a grave there.⁵ The booklet says the deshmukh’s men threatened anyone who gave stones for it, but the farmers of Kamareddygudem each brought a stone in their own carts.⁵ An urs (yearly festival at a Muslim saint’s tomb) was held there every year.⁵⁷ The booklet says Hindus and Muslims took part alike, and that Hindus walked round the grave before setting out on important work.⁷

Devulapalli’s comments

Devulapalli writes that, by the booklet’s account, Bandagi’s struggle lasted about ten years and was cut short by his murder in 1942.⁷ It began again, he says, under the Andhra Mahasabha and the Communist Party from 1944.⁷ He notes that the quarrel was a family dispute over land, but that it was bound up with the deshmukh’s power.⁷ He also stresses that Hindus and Muslims stood together against the deshmukh, and that several Muslim families supported Bandagi.²

Where the sources disagree

The booklet and Devulapalli’s summary of it give different figures:

How long the fight lasted. The booklet speaks of twelve years of struggle between the deshmukh and Bandagi.⁸ Devulapalli sums up the struggle as about ten years.⁷
His age. The booklet says he was about 25 when the first case began, and about 30 when he was killed.³⁵

Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 124 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 131 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 125 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 127 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 129 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 370 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 130 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 126 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 128 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²