SAERA NARASIMHAREDDY.

Generally, movies dramatize the actual happenings and create heroes, when there were none. The movie made on the life of Uyyalawada Narasimhareddy is releasing on October 2^nd , and it is one such. It distorts history and presents him as a freedom fighter. As per history he simply rebelled against the English only because he was granted a measly pension by them. Let us have a look at his life and the background.

In a kingdom or a Nawabaite as in the case of Nizam, those who served as vassals of the king, his commanders, and his rich and influential courtiers who owned lands were used by the Kings as intermediaries between him and the farmers. The intermediaries also had administrative powers and functioned as virtual kings of their small areas. In the coastal Andhra area, those functionaries were known as Jamindars, in Telengana as Sardesmukhs, Deshmukhs & Jagirdars and in Rayalaseema  as Polygars.

When the kingdoms disintegrated, and the British took over, initially they continued with the same set of Jamindars. However, later some changes were made in the revenue system that worked against these classes. In the Rayalaseema area Thomas Munro came in 1800 AD as the collector and introduced revenue reforms.

Till then as there was no central authority the Polygars, and Jamindars had no check as to what is extent of tax that is to be paid. Some of the Jamindars and most of the Polygars were indulging to it in excess and made the people suffer. When Munro tried to bring in a new set of rules to check them, these Jamindars rebelled.

Another big problem is the way in which the Jamindars have been treated by the English. The English had no idea of the local customs or the language and offended the Jamindars often. On top of that they looked at most of the Indians with a condescending and insulting attitude which made matters worse, and there was discontent even among the common people. This made the Jamindars more antagonistic to the British.

There were a series of uprisings against the British in the Circar areas.  The first one was by the Jamindars of Parlakimidi from 1765 onwards, and then by the Jamindar of Ghumsur, Bhanjadeo in 1778. Then came the turn of the Raja of Vijayanagaram, Vijayaramaraju in 1794.

When the Circars were ceded to the English in 1802 by the Nizam there were over 80 Polygars in Rayalaseema with about 30,000 soldiers between them. Their rule however, was very oppressive and they were exploiting the people badly. As their areas were given to the company, they defied its authority and refused to pay the Peshcush.

At that time the Collector of Rayalaseema was Sir Thomas Munro who was to later become the Governor of Madras Presidency in 1820. He was an extremely able man who could converse freely in Telugu and is very sympathetic towards the oppressed farmers. The Polygars unitedly tried to defy the British but Munro brought them to heel in 2 years time, demolished all their forts and pensioned them off. Even the oppressed farmers aided Munro in this war. By the time Munro relinquished his office in 1807 as the Collector of Rayalseema, it became totally free from Polygars.  

But the descendant of Uyyalawada family Narasimhareddy of Cuddapah was not satisfied with the pension of just Rs 11 per month given to him by the company and rebelled in 1846. He assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers and looted the villages of Rudravaram, Krishnamsettipalle, Mundlapadu etc. as well as the Koilkuntla taluqa treasury. After that his army marched on to Giddalur where he was defeated by the British but Reddy escaped into the Nallamala hills with a small band of followers. Ultimately the English caught him at Persomella hill and imprisoned him. He was hanged in 1847.

So Narasimhareddy fought for his own problems and not for freeing India as the movie depicts him to be. It is to be noted that his loot did not stop with the English but it also encompassed villages where poor farmers lived. Not only that, Narasimhareddy did not die in battle and escaped but was caught later. But to his credit he troubled the English till he was killed.