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Madapati Hanumantha Rao

Leader of the Telugu awakening in Hyderabad State. He was a founder and, from 1922, the secretary of the Nizam Rashtra Andhra Jana Sangham, which worked through libraries, schools and publications and became the Andhra Mahasabha in 1930. He organised the first Hyderabad political conference, held at Kakinada in 1923.

Madapati Hanumantha Rao was a leader of the Telugu awakening in Hyderabad State.1 From 1922 he was secretary of the Nizam’s State Andhra Jana Sangham, which became the Andhra Mahasabha in 1930.23 He also organised the first Hyderabad political conference, held at Kakinada in 1923.4

Early public life

The history of the freedom movement compiled by a Hyderabad State committee places his entry into public life in the years 1901–1908.1 In those years Telugu libraries were first opened in Hyderabad.1 The book describes him as the man who would become the pioneer of public awakening in Telangana.1

In 1921 he went from Telangana as an observer to the meeting of the All India Congress Committee at Vijayawada.5 In the same years he joined Rai Bisheshwar Nath, Barrister Sri Kishan, Raghavendra Sharma and Vaman Naik in starting a movement for the study of Hindi in Hyderabad.6

The Andhra Jana Sangham

On 11–12 November 1921 the Nizam’s State Social Reforms Conference met in Hyderabad, with proceedings mostly in English, Urdu and Marathi.7 One delegate, Alampalli Venkatarama Rao, tried to move a resolution in Telugu, but he was shouted down.7 Sarojini Regani relates that the Telugu members present took this as an insult.7 That night they formed the Andhra Jana Sangham with twelve members, among them Madapati Hanumantha Rao.7

The Sangham’s first meeting, on 14 February 1922, was chaired by Konda Venkat Ranga Reddy.2 At this meeting it was renamed the Nizam’s State Andhra Jana Sangham, and he was chosen secretary.2 Regani calls him its guiding spirit from then on.2 She notes that the Sangham set out to follow the example of Komarraju Lakshmana Rao.2

The Sangham worked for the social and cultural revival of Telangana.8 It opened Telugu libraries, reading rooms and private schools, and encouraged Telugu scholars.8 It collected inscriptions and books on the history of the Telugus, and published pamphlets on public questions.8

It held a conference on the history of the Kakatiyas at Warangal in 1930, and published a volume of research, the Kakatiya Sanchika.9 It campaigned against forced labour (vetti).9 In 1928 it helped found the Andhra Balika High School.9 The school’s first girls studying in Telugu sat their matriculation through the Karve institute, because Osmania University would not recognise the school.9

The Andhra Mahasabha

At its conference at Jogipet in Medak district in 1930, the Sangham became the Andhra Mahasabha.3 In 1929 the Nizam’s government had required ten days’ notice and the agenda of any public meeting, so that it could decide whether the meeting was political.10 Regani credits Hanumantha Rao’s moderating influence with keeping the Mahasabha’s meetings clear of that order.10

The government remained suspicious.10 The Mahasabha’s leaders described it as a non-political library movement.10 Regani reports that the Police Commissioner, Armstrong, replied that in his experience in Bengal a library movement meant a revolutionary one.10

Political meetings were barred inside the state, so Hanumantha Rao took the lead in holding a Hyderabad political conference outside it.4 The first met at Kakinada in 1923 under the presidency of Madhav Rao Aney, and called for representative government in the state.4 Later conferences were held at Bombay, Poona and Akola.4

In 1938 the government banned the Hyderabad State Congress.11 The Prime Minister, Sir Akbar Hydari, offered to lift the ban if Hanumantha Rao and other leaders undertook to postpone its first general meeting.11 He was among those who carried a draft application to the government asking for the ban to be lifted, but the negotiations failed.11 The later history of these movements is told on the page Reform, freedom & people’s movements.

Footnotes

  1. The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. III (1957), p. 169 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 178 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 179 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 181 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 72 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 175 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 177–178 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 178 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 178–179 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 180 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  11. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 188–189 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

References

Sources (2)
  1. Hyderabad State Committee Appointed for the Compilation of a History of the Freedom Movement, The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad: A Connected Account, Vol. III (1885-1920) (opens in a new tab), Hyderabad State Committee, Hyderabad, 1957, pp. 169. [Public domain in India]
  2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (opens in a new tab), Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1956, pp. 72, 175, 177–181, 188–189. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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