Chandrayya of Rampa

Chandrayya was one of the chief leaders of the Rampa rebellion of 1879–1880.¹² This was a rising of the hill people of the Rampa country, in the hills of Godavari district, against the mansabdar (hereditary chief) of Rampa and the government’s officers.³⁴ It spread over more than 5,000 square miles of hill and forest.¹ Chandrayya was killed after being betrayed by another rebel.²

Almost all that is known of him comes from two government books: the Godavari district gazetteer of 1907 and the police history of 1961.¹² Both tell the story from the government’s side.

The causes of the rising

The Rampa country was ruled by a mansabdar who controlled the muttadars (heads of groups of hill villages).³ The gazetteer says that from 1848 the mansabdar seized several muttas and doubled the rents on others.⁵ He also raised taxes on fuel and grazing that the government had never allowed.⁵

New excise rules then stopped the people from drawing toddy for their own use.⁴ Renters demanded fees for tapping, and the mansabdar threatened a further tax.⁴ The gazetteer calls this “the last straw”.⁴ It also blames the police, who helped bring in the toddy rules, and traders from the plains who seized the hill people’s cattle through the courts.⁴

The gazetteer reports what the people said at the time.⁴ They said they could not bear all the new taxes.⁴ As they “could not live, they might as well kill the constables and die”.⁴

The rebellion, 1879–1880

On 13 March 1879 armed hill men fired on the camp of the Sub-Collector and the police at Chodavaram.¹² The whole Rampa country soon rose.¹ The gazetteer names the chief leaders as Chandrayya, Jangam Pulicanta Sambayya, Tamman Dora and Ambul Reddi of Boduluru.¹

In May 1879 Chandrayya won several successes in the Yellavaram division and burnt the Addatigala police station.¹⁶ He was nearly captured that month.⁶ In June he shut up a police party under a European officer for some days in Addatigala.⁶

The government deposed the mansabdar and promised the muttadars that they would deal directly with it.⁶ By the end of August 1879, seventy of Chandrayya’s men had been captured.⁶ The remaining rebels were driven north into the hills of Golugonda and Jeypore.⁶

His death

The police history says that troops nearly captured Chandrayya in a clash at Bhimavaram, where six of his men were killed.² This broke up his band.² He was then betrayed and shot near Gurteru by Jampa Pandiah, another rebel.² Pandiah had escaped from police custody and hoped in this way to make terms with the government.²

The police history adds that his death did not end the rising at once.² His lieutenant, Yellazuri Jaggaiah, took over his following and looted the police station at Paderu.² Jaggaiah was shot by the police on 30 October 1880.⁷

Where the sources disagree

The sources give different dates for his death:

• The Godavari gazetteer (1907) says Chandrayya was killed in February 1880.⁶
• The Imperial Gazetteer (1908) says the rising was not finally put down until 1881, “when the leader Chendrayya was killed”.⁸
• The police history (1961) describes his death but gives no date.²

Footnotes

1. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 274 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. The History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1861–1961) (1961), p. 155 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 271 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

4. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 273 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 272 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

6. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 275 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

7. History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1961), p. 156 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

8. Imperial Gazetteer of India: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 297 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩