Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy · Telugu History

Narasimha Reddy came from a family of former poligars (local chiefs who held land for military service) in the country around Kurnool.¹ In 1846 he led a short armed rising against the East India Company’s government.¹² He was captured that October and hanged at Koilkuntla.³ Most of what is known about him comes from two district manuals written for the government in 1875 and 1886.²⁴

The family and its pension

The Kurnool manual describes him as a pensioned poligar of Uyyalawada, in Koilkuntla taluk.⁴ In 1846 that taluk was part of Cuddapah district.⁴² The manual calls him a grandson of Jayaram Reddy, “the last powerful Zemindar of Nosam”.⁴

An older report printed in the same manual tells the Nossam family’s story to 1800.⁵ Jayaram Reddy held the estate from 1791 and died in 1795.⁵ His son, also called Narasimha Reddy, often refused to pay the yearly tribute.⁵⁶ General Campbell surprised and captured him, and the government then gave him a share of the estate’s revenue.⁶ The Cuddapah manual adds that his lands were taken over and he was given a pension.¹

According to the Cuddapah manual, the pension later passed down and was divided among several heirs.¹² Narasimha Reddy’s share was Rs. 11-10-8 a month.² The manual says he had a large family and spent freely, and that the sum was not enough for him.² The government also refused his claim to part of the old Nossam pension.⁴

The rising of 1846

At this time the government was revising the inams (rent-free land grants) of the district.² Narasimha Reddy went from village to village in his family’s old estates.² He told the kattubadis (village revenue peons who held such grants) that the Company meant to take their lands.² Many of them joined him.²

The Cuddapah manual says he also showed letters said to be signed by the “Rajah of Golconda”.² These called on landholders to help him.² Most of the neighbouring families of rank still refused to join.²

The tahsildar (taluk revenue officer) of Koilkuntla sent peons to arrest him.² Narasimha Reddy surprised the second, larger party and took its peons prisoner.² The 106 kattubadis with them went over to his side.² With about 300 men he then took and looted the Koilkuntla treasury.²

Giddalur and the end of the rising

His following grew as he crossed the Nallamala hills towards Cumbum.³ At Giddalur, Lieutenant Watson met him with 100 men.³ Watson held a ruined fort for six hours and then charged out and drove the rebels back.³ The tahsildar of Cumbum was shot dead on the rampart.³

In June 1846 a force under Captain Nott attacked and scattered his followers.³ Narasimha Reddy hid in the Nallamala jungles, and the troops went back to their stations.³ Six weeks later he reappeared near his family estate with about 400 men.³

On 6 October four companies of soldiers surrounded him on the Pairsomalla hill, where he had taken position in a temple.³ He was captured after a short fight.³ He was hanged at Koilkuntla, and his body was shown in chains in a cage.³

What the officials said about the causes

A special commissioner, Mr. Inglis, tried the men who were taken.⁷ He traced the rising to discontent among the kattubadis of the whole district.⁷ They feared they would lose their inams when a new police force came in.⁷

After the rising, the government sent Captain Harris to report on the hill forts of the Nallamalas and Erramalas.⁸ The rebel had used these forts as hiding places.⁸⁹ The government ordered that they should not be repaired.⁹

How he is remembered in the sources

The Cuddapah manual of 1875 says his bones were still in the cage “to this day”.³⁷ The Kurnool manual of 1886 says his head hung on the gibbet in the fort until 1877.¹⁰ That year the scaffold decayed and was not repaired.¹⁰

Both manuals were written by officials of the government he fought.²⁴ The Cuddapah manual calls the rising a “petty rebellion”.²⁷ In 1980 the Andhra Pradesh government’s Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle included him among the freedom fighters of Kurnool district.¹¹

Where the sources disagree

The sources differ on details of place and date:

The year. The Cuddapah manual dates the rising to 1846, with dates in June and October.¹³ The Kurnool manual speaks of “the disturbance in 1847”.⁴ In another place it says he took up his position at Giddalur in 1845.¹²
His grandfather. The Kurnool manual calls him a grandson of Jayaram Reddy of Nossam.⁴ The Cuddapah manual says his father, of the Uyyalawada family, married two sisters of the last Nossam chief.¹ In that account the Nossam chief was his mother’s father.¹²
His village. The Kurnool manual calls him a poligar of Uyyalawada.⁴ The Who’s Who calls him a resident of Nossam.¹¹
Where he was caught. The Cuddapah manual names the Pairsomalla hill.³ The Kurnool manual names a hill near “Pérusomala” in Koilkuntla taluk.¹⁰

J. D. B. Gribble, A Manual of the District of Cuddapah (1875), p. 112 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Gribble, Manual of Cuddapah (1875), p. 113 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰
Gribble, Manual of Cuddapah (1875), p. 114 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 41 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 66, quoting a report of 1801 on the poligars (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 67 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Gribble, Manual of Cuddapah (1875), p. 115 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 188 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 189 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 42 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 350 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Chetty, Kurnool Manual (1886), p. 190 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩