Mutnuri Krishna Rao · Telugu History

Mutnuri Krishna Rao was the editor of the Krishna Patrika, a Telugu nationalist paper of Machilipatnam.¹ He was born in 1879 and died on 23 June 1945.¹ He took part in the national movement from the Vandemataram years of 1905–07 to the individual satyagraha of 1940–41.¹ Sarojini Regani names his paper among those that spread the new nationalism of those years.²

The Krishna Patrika and the Vandemataram movement

He was the son of Nagabhushana Rao and studied up to the Intermediate.¹ The Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh (1980) says he went to Bengal and worked with the nationalist leader Bipin Chandra Pal.¹ He then became editor of the Krishna Patrika.¹

In April 1907 Pal toured the Telugu districts.³⁴ Regani writes that Mutnuri Krishna Rao organised the tour.³ He went with Pal to Rajahmundry, where Pal spoke on 19, 20 and 23 April.⁴

Pal’s visit led to the founding of the National College at Machilipatnam.³ Regani says Krishna Rao helped to start the college and later worked to build it up.⁵ He also promoted handlooms and held swadeshi (Indian-made goods) fairs.⁵ Government intelligence (C.I.D.) reports of the time named him among those working against the government.⁶

Home Rule and non-cooperation, 1916–1920

Regani writes that the Krishna Patrika spread the ideas of the Home Rule movement in the Telugu districts.⁷ When Gandhi stopped at Vijayawada in 1920, Krishna Rao was among those who received him.⁸ On 1 August 1920 Gandhi announced there the policy of non-violent non-cooperation.⁸

Jail terms, 1930–1941

Krishna district was the first in the Telugu country to begin the salt satyagraha.⁹ On 6 April 1930 Krishna Rao, A. Kaleswara Rao and Pattabhi Sitaramayya went to the seashore and picked up salt.⁹ They gave it out at a public meeting that evening.⁹

On 24 June 1930 he was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment.¹ He was held in the Rajahmundry and Vellore jails and released on 3 February 1931.¹

In the civil disobedience of 1932 he was among the Congress leaders arrested.¹⁰ On 7 January 1932 he was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,100.¹ The fine was collected.¹ In the individual satyagraha of 1940–41 he spent six months in jail.¹

How he is remembered in the sources

The Who’s Who says he was a man of few words.¹ This earned him the title Mauna Mudralankar.¹ He was president of the East Krishna District Congress Committee.¹

Where the sources disagree

Regani’s history gives two different dates for his editorship of the Krishna Patrika:

In one place she says the paper was started in 1902 by Konda Venkatappayya and edited by Krishna Rao.¹¹
In another she says he took over as editor in 1907.⁵

Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 193 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 28 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 32 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 33 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 44 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 47 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 51 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 68 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 118 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 130 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

The Krishna Patrika and the Vandemataram movement

Home Rule and non-cooperation, 1916–1920

Jail terms, 1930–1941

How he is remembered in the sources

Where the sources disagree

Footnotes

References