Chakali Ilamma · Telugu History

Chakali Ilamma was a woman of the rajaka (washerman) caste in Palakurthi, a village of Jangaon taluk.¹² In the mid-1940s her family stood with the Andhra Mahasabha’s village sangham (association) against the deshmukh (hereditary revenue chief and landlord) of Visnur.²³ The deshmukh’s men tried to take the crop of the land she farmed, and the sangham’s volunteers came to defend it.¹⁴

Her story is told in two histories written by leaders of the Communist Party, which led the Telangana armed struggle.¹² Both are in Telugu: P. Sundarayya’s Veera Telangana Viplava Poratam (1973) and Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao’s Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988).¹² They agree on the outline but differ on what happened at her field.⁵⁶

Her family and the Palakurthi case

Devulapalli writes that the family were respected washer folk who also farmed land leased from the makhtedar (holder of a village grant) of nearby Mallampalli.² Her husband, Narsimha, was one of the sangham’s leaders, and her two sons were among its volunteers.² The sons had guarded a public meeting held by Arutla Ramachandra Reddy.²

After that meeting the deshmukh’s men were beaten off, and he brought a case of attempted murder against the sangham’s leaders.¹⁷ Devulapalli calls it the most serious of the cases of that time, brought against about 20 people.⁷ Ilamma’s husband and both her sons were arrested in it.²⁷ Devulapalli writes that this left only Ilamma, her two daughters-in-law, a daughter and the small children at home.²

The fight over her crop

With the men in jail, the deshmukh hoped to break the family.⁴ Devulapalli writes that Ilamma was farming about two or three acres of wet land and some dry land, with help from local farmers.⁴ When the first crop was ready, the deshmukh’s men let it be known that they would seize it.⁴

Sundarayya’s account. He writes that the deshmukh sent a hundred of his servants, men and women, and a hundred armed men to cut her crop.⁵ The sangham’s leaders came with 28 volunteers carrying sticks, and the armed men fled.⁵ The volunteers cut the crop and carried it to her house, and the police from Visnur did not dare to touch it.⁵ The next day the police arrested six leaders, among them Bhimireddy Narasimha Reddy and Chakilam Yadagiri Rao, and beat them badly at the Visnur police station.⁵ Sundarayya writes that the deshmukh still could not take her land or her crop.⁵

Devulapalli’s account. He writes that he sent workers and volunteers from Suryapet, who cut the crop and stacked it.⁴⁶ No armed men appeared at first, so they grew careless.⁶ Then the deshmukh’s men came suddenly at night and carried off the leading workers at the heap.⁶ He names Bhimireddy Narasimha Reddy, Katukuri Ramachandra Reddy and Chakilam Yadagiri Rao among them.⁶ They were held and tortured at the Visnur police station before being produced in court.⁶

Volunteers in her house

Devulapalli tells of a later visit to Palakurthi by about 60 volunteers.⁸⁹ At first the frightened villagers would not feed them, and they camped at nearby Bammera.⁹ They then returned to Palakurthi, and Ilamma gave them one part of her house to live and eat in.¹⁰ When a police inspector tried to make them leave her house and search it, they refused, and the police went away.¹⁰

How the sources describe her

Sundarayya writes that she fought with the help of the Andhra Mahasabha and the Communist Party to keep her land from the deshmukh.³ She urged her sons and daughters to stand by the party whatever the hardship.³ He says her house became the centre of the sangham’s work in the village, and calls her a symbol of the first phase of the Telangana farmer’s fight for land.³ He also says that people told stories and sang songs about the fight over her crop long afterwards.⁵

Where the sources disagree

The two histories differ on the fight at her field:

Who won it. Sundarayya says the volunteers drove off the deshmukh’s men and brought the crop to her house.⁵ Devulapalli says the deshmukh’s men surprised the volunteers at night and carried off their leaders, and does not say in this passage what became of the crop.⁶
The Palakurthi case. Sundarayya says fourteen sangham leaders were arrested after the meeting.¹ Devulapalli says the case was brought against about 20 people.⁷
How the leaders were taken. Sundarayya says the police arrested six leaders the next day.⁵ Devulapalli says the deshmukh’s men seized them at the heap.⁶

P. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana Viplava Poratam: Gunapathalu (1973), p. 43 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 297 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Sundarayya, Veera Telangana (1973), p. 402 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 307 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Sundarayya, Veera Telangana (1973), p. 44 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 308 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 299 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 335 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 336 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 337 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²