Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Sir Frederick Adam

Sir Frederick Adam was Governor of Madras from 1832 to 1837. He toured the Northern Circars, landing at Machilipatnam on 6 January 1835, where the Amaravati marbles in the market square caught his notice. On the tour he persuaded the young zamindars of Nuzvidu and Nidadavolu to settle with their relatives, and thanked the zamindar of Bobbili for his help against outlaws. His minute on the hill zamindaris was an early step towards the special law of 1839 for the Agency tracts.

Sir Frederick Adam was one of the few Governors of the Company’s time who travelled through the Telugu coast himself. His tour of the Northern Circars is remembered in three district books.123 On it he dealt with zamindars’ quarrels, and thought about how the hill country should be ruled.42 See East India Company.

Governor of Madras

Maclean’s list of Governors shows Adam in office from 25 October 1832 to 4 March 1837.5

Landing at Machilipatnam

Adam landed at Machilipatnam (then Masulipatam) on 6 January 1835.6 His surgeon, Dr. Benza, wrote an account of the tour.1 In 1830 the Collector, Mr. Robertson, had brought 33 of the Amaravati marbles to the town.6 He placed them in the market square, which was named Robertsonpet after him.61

The Kistna manual says that the marbles caught the Governor’s attention there.6 Benza wrote that a famous Sicilian carver, Gaggino, might have been proud to claim the work as his own.6 See Amaravati stupa and Machilipatnam.

The Nuzvidu zamindars

The Nuzvidu estates had been divided, and other members of the family had claims on them.4 In 1835 two young zamindars had just come of age: Sobhanadri Appa Rao of Nuzvidu and Narayya Appa Rao of Nidadavolu.4 On his tour, the Kistna manual says, Adam “persuaded the two young Zemindars to come to some terms with their relatives”.4 After long talks, the relatives Simhadri and Venkatadri received the villages of Raicherla and Sriramavaram from the government in 1840.4

The zamindar of Bobbili

The Bobbili family history prints part of Adam’s minute (official note) of 30 June 1835.3 The zamindar of Bobbili had visited him several times at Palakonda (then Palkonda).3 He had caught Kambara Venkatrayudu and his nephew, the reputed murderers of a former diwan (chief minister) of Palakonda.37 Adam praised him for refusing the reward, because, the zamindar said, he had only done his duty.37 See Bobbili.

The hill zamindaris

In 1834 a special commissioner, Mr. Russell, reported on the disturbances in Visakhapatnam and Ganjam.27 In his minute, Carmichael says, Adam suggested that the hill zamindaris might be exempted from the general regulations.2 Carmichael thinks nothing would have been done, but for the Gumsur disturbances in Ganjam at the end of 1835.2 The result was Act XXIV of 1839, which created the Agency tracts.2 See Visakhapatnam.

Where the sources disagree

  • The year of the tour. The Kistna manual dates Adam’s landing at Machilipatnam to 6 January 1835, and Carmichael also puts his visit to the Circars in 1835.62 Maclean’s Manual of the Administration says he visited the Northern Circars in 1836.8

Footnotes

  1. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), p. 118 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. D. F. Carmichael, A Manual of the District of Vizagapatam (1869), p. 234 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Venkata Swetachalapati Ranga Rao, Maharaja of Bobbili, A Revised and Enlarged Account of the Bobbili Zemindari (1907), p. 110 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 304 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1885), p. 269, list of Governors of Fort St. George (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 165 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. Ranga Rao, Bobbili Zemindari (1907), p. 111 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration, Vol. I (1885), p. 68, “Special Agencies” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

East India Company

1759–1858 CE

The English East India Company in the Telugu country, from its first landing on the coast in 1611 to the Crown's take-over in 1858. For a century and a half it traded through factories at Masulipatam, Nizampatnam, Madapollam, Viravasaram, Vizagapatam, Injaram and Bendamurlanka, under farmans of the Golconda kings and the Mughals. Its fort at Madras stood on land granted in 1639 through the Nayaka Damarla Venkatadri. After Forde drove out the French it received the Masulipatam country (1759), the five Northern Circars by the emperor's grant of 1765 and the treaties with the Nizam of 1766 and 1768, Guntur (1788), the Ceded Districts of Rayalaseema (1800) and Nellore with the Carnatic (1801). It governed through Chiefs and Councils, then Collectors. It fixed the coastal zamindars' land revenue permanently in 1802–03, and assessed the Rayalaseema cultivators under Thomas Munro's ryotwari system. It broke the power of the Vizianagaram raja at Padmanabham (1794) and of the poligars. After the Guntur famine of 1832–33 it built the Godavari and Krishna anicuts.

References

Sources (5)
  1. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (Appendices) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1885, pp. 269. [Public domain]
  2. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras (Lawrence Asylum Press), 1883, pp. 118, 165, 304. [Public domain]
  3. Venkata Swetachalapati Ranga Rao, Maharaja of Bobbili, A Revised and Enlarged Account of the Bobbili Zemindari (opens in a new tab), Addison & Co., Madras, 1907, pp. 110–111. [Public domain]
  4. D. F. Carmichael, A Manual of the District of Vizagapatam in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras (Asylum Press), 1869, pp. 234. [Public domain]
  5. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (Digital Library of India scan) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1885, pp. 68. [Public domain]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: