Gam Gantam Dora

Gam Gantam Dora was a Koya leader of the hill tracts of Visakhapatnam district.¹² With his younger brother Gam Mallu Dora, he was one of the two chief lieutenants of Alluri Sitarama Raju in the Rampa rebellion of 1922–1924.³² He was killed by the police on 7 June 1924, a month after Sitarama Raju’s death.⁴

Before the rising

The police history of 1961 says the brothers belonged to the Makaram mutha (group of hill villages).¹ It says Gantam Dora was the village munsif (headman) of Battapanukulu.¹

Sarojini Regani writes that the government dismissed Mallu Dora from that post and took the lands of both brothers.² She counts this among the grievances behind the rising, with the government’s limits on podu (shifting) cultivation.² In her account the brothers helped to persuade Sitarama Raju to lead the hill people against the British.²

The rebellion, 1922–1924

The rising began on 22 August 1922 with a raid on the police station at Chintapalli.² Regani writes that the Gam brothers helped Sitarama Raju to gather men and ammunition.² The government offered a reward of Rs. 1,000 each for the capture of the two brothers.⁵

His brother Mallu Dora was captured in September 1923.³ Sitarama Raju was captured and shot dead in May 1924.⁴⁶

The last months, 1924

After Sitarama Raju’s death most of the rebels scattered.⁴ The police history says that Gantam Dora, a leading figure under Sitarama Raju, still kept a small party with him.⁴ By the end of May about 26 rebels were left.⁴

On 7 June 1924 a patrol of the East Coast Special Police killed Gantam Dora and another rebel.⁴ Regani writes that he lost his life that day in a fight with the police.⁶ With his death, she says, the rebellion had come to an end by the middle of 1924.⁶

Where the sources disagree

The police history and Regani differ on who held the office of village munsif:

• The police history says it was Gantam Dora.¹
• Regani says Mallu Dora was dismissed from it.²

Footnotes

1. History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1961), p. 212 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 96 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. The History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1861–1961) (1961), p. 211 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

4. History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1961), p. 214 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

5. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 98 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

6. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 100 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³