Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Lord Ampthill

Lord Ampthill was Governor of Madras from 1900 to 1906, and acted as Viceroy for part of 1904. In 1903 he made long tours of the Telugu districts, first Anantapur and Kurnool, then Nellore, Krishna and Godavari, and his replies to the addresses he received were printed. He told the ryots of Velgode in Kurnool that their petition to open the reserved forests was 'foolish and ill-considered'. At Kakinada he told the Godavari District Board that the rural people were not yet ready to elect taluk boards, and told the town that the redrawn district would keep the name Godavari.

Lord Ampthill’s speeches on his tours of the Telugu districts were printed in full.12 They show a Governor answering petitions about forests, irrigation, local boards and district boundaries, often bluntly.34 See British Crown (Madras Presidency).

Governor of Madras

The India Office List shows that Ampthill took charge as Governor of Madras on 28 December 1900.5 From 30 April to 13 December 1904 he acted as Viceroy and Governor-General of India.5 Sir Arthur Lawley succeeded him on 28 March 1906.5

Anantapur and Kurnool, 1903

His twelfth tour, from 23 July to 15 August 1903, took him through Anantapur, Kurnool and Bellary.1 At Anantapur the Municipal Council asked again for the Bukkacherla irrigation project, first planned in 1857.6 Ampthill promised it early consideration with the larger scheme for using the surplus water of the Tungabhadra.6 But he warned that repeated inquiries had failed to make a good case for it, because its water supply was uncertain.67 See Anantapur.

At Kambalapalle in the Kurnool district, ryots of Velgode and nearby villages met him at night with a petition in Telugu.8 They wanted grazing land taken back from the reserved forest, free grazing for plough cattle, and leave to cut timber.9 They also asked for the Velgode irrigation project, then under study.10 Ampthill called the petition “a very foolish and ill-considered one”.10 He told them that forests were “for the good of all people for all time”, and would be destroyed if all were let in.3 See Kurnool.

Nellore, Krishna and Godavari, 1903

In his fourteenth tour, from 25 November to 9 December 1903, he went through the Nellore, Krishna and Godavari districts.2 At Kakinada (then Cocanada) the Godavari District Board asked for elected members on the taluk boards.4 Ampthill refused.4 The people of the rural tracts, he said, were “not yet sufficiently advanced to appreciate and avail themselves of the elective franchise”.4

The Kakinada Municipal Council expected the Godavari and Krishna districts to be divided into three.11 It asked that Kakinada stay the district headquarters, and that the larger districts keep the old river names.1112 Ampthill replied that the government had decided to keep the headquarters at Kakinada, and that the new district would still be called Godavari.13

The change came in 1904.14 The Godavari taluks south and west of the river went to Krishna, and the new Guntur district was formed.14 See Kakinada and Guntur.

Footnotes

  1. The Twelfth Tour of His Excellency Lord Ampthill to the Anantapur, Kurnool and Bellary Districts (23rd July – 15th August 1903) (1903), title page (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  2. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Tours of His Excellency Lord Ampthill (1904), title page (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  3. Twelfth Tour of Lord Ampthill (1903), p. 921 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Tours of His Excellency Lord Ampthill (1904), p. 1247, reply to the Godavari District Board (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. The India Office and Burma Office List for 1939, p. 109, “Governors of Madras” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cited, not reproduced. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. The Twelfth Tour of His Excellency Lord Ampthill to the Anantapur, Kurnool and Bellary Districts (1903), p. 849 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Twelfth Tour of Lord Ampthill (1903), p. 850 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. Twelfth Tour of Lord Ampthill (1903), p. 918 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Twelfth Tour of Lord Ampthill (1903), p. 919 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. Twelfth Tour of Lord Ampthill (1903), p. 920 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  11. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Tours of Lord Ampthill (1904), p. 1249, address of the Cocanada Municipal Council (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  12. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Tours of Lord Ampthill (1904), p. 1250 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Tours of Lord Ampthill (1904), p. 1256, reply to the Cocanada Municipal Council (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  14. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 178 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

Dynasties

British Crown (Madras Presidency)

1858–1947 CE

The government of the Telugu districts of the Madras Presidency by the British Crown, from the transfer of the East India Company's territories in 1858 to independence in 1947. Under a Governor in Council at Madras, the coast and Rayalaseema were ruled through Collectors, a Board of Revenue, district and taluk boards and municipalities. The districts were redrawn (Godavari and Kistna in 1859, Anantapur in 1882, Guntur in 1904, Chittoor in 1911, West Godavari in 1925), and the Nizam ceded the Bhadrachalam and Rekapalli taluks in 1860. The ryotwari lands were surveyed and settled, and the inams registered by the Inam Commission. The great zamindaris of Vizianagaram, Bobbili, Pithapuram, Venkatagiri, Kalahasti and Karvetinagar kept their permanent settlements. The Godavari and Krishna deltas were irrigated, and railways reached Bezwada and Waltair. The great famine of 1876–78 emptied the Ceded Districts. The Rampa rising of 1879–80 was the last that needed regular troops in the Presidency.

References

Sources (4)
  1. India Office, The India Office and Burma Office List for 1939 (opens in a new tab), Harrison and Sons, London, 1939, pp. 109. Cited, not reproduced. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  2. N.A, The twelfth tour of His Excellency lord ampthill to the Anantapur, Kurnool and Bellary Districts (23rd July - 15th August 1903) (opens in a new tab), 1903, pp. 849–850, 918–921. [Public domain]
  3. The thirteen and fourteenth tours of His Exellency Lord Ampthill, to the Anamalai hills (10th to 23rd October 1903) and to the Nellore, Kistna and Godavari Districts (25th November to 9th December 1903) (opens in a new tab), 1904, pp. 1247, 1249–1250, 1256. [Public domain]
  4. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1907, pp. 178. [Public domain]

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