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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Nyapathi Subba Rao

Lawyer of Rajahmundry and a leader of the moderate wing of the Congress in the Telugu districts. During the Vandemataram years of 1905–1908 he led the Swadeshi movement at Rajahmundry, interceded for expelled students, defended the men charged after the Kakinada club riot of 1907 and opened the National High School at Rajahmundry. In 1917 he signed the Madras Congress call for passive resistance to free the Home Rule leaders.

Nyapathi Subba Rao was a lawyer of Rajahmundry.1 Sarojini Regani counts him among the moderate leaders of the Congress in the years after 1905.2 In Rajahmundry he was one of the leaders of the Swadeshi movement.3 The source for this page is Regani’s Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh.2

A moderate in the Swadeshi years, 1905–1907

The partition of Bengal in 1905 split the Congress into two camps.2 Regani names “Nyapati Subbarao Pantulu” with Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and other leaders of the moderate camp.2 The other camp, the nationalists, was led by Tilak, Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal.2

At Rajahmundry the Swadeshi movement was led by Ganti Lakshmanna, Nyapathi Subba Rao and others.3 Regani writes that he presided over a meeting that planned Swadeshi work: national scholarships, small loans to poor weavers, and student volunteers selling Indian goods.4

Students, the Kakinada riot and the national school, 1907

In 1907 the principal of the Government Arts College at Rajahmundry punished students who wore Vandemataram badges.5 Regani writes that Nyapathi Subba Rao and B. N. Sarma of Visakhapatnam tried to intercede for the students, without success.5

In the same year a crowd attacked the European club at Kakinada, and twenty people were arrested.1 Regani calls Nyapathi Subba Rao a leading lawyer of Rajahmundry and says he took up their case.1 Some of the accused were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and others to ten months.1

A National High School was started at Rajahmundry in these years.6 Regani writes that Nyapathi Subba Rao declared the institution open and compared it to a national temple of learning.6

Home Rule, 1917

In 1917 three Home Rule leaders, among them Annie Besant, were interned.7 On 14 August 1917 the Madras Provincial Congress Committee supported passive resistance to secure their release.7 Regani names Nyapathi Subba Rao among those who signed this resolution.7

Footnotes

  1. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 40 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 24 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 44 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 46 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 38 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 43 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 54 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

References

Sources (1)
  1. 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. 24, 38, 40, 43–44, 46, 54. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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