In Telengana, the Deshmukhs survived as local
chiefs whose sphere of power often spread to a Paragana which consisted of 20
to 60 villages. They were primarily Revenue Collectors and when Magisterial and
Judicial powers were added to their function, they have become Dehmukhs. Gradually
their territory became a ‘Watan” or hereditary lease. No ruler at the top dared
to tamper with this arrangement. The Deshmukhs presided over meetings known as
the Got Sabha which decided and confirmed claims over inheritance, purchase and
transfer of lands. The Deshmukhs could not be displaced easily from authority
from above.
When the British arrived they made them revenue
contractors. Some of the Deshmukhs became “Tahuddars” & “ Sarbasatadars. Now
they only had the revenue recovery role for specific periods and were dispensed
of the Magisterial and Judicial powers. The British had to fight at many places
to bring the Deshmukhs under their rule.
The Aswaraopet Deshmukh for example occupied
the “Gadi” a neat and strong structure of 1000 yards and maintained at his own
expenses, a retinue of 100 peons (sepoys) besides a few horses. In Telengana
payment of taxes in kind is prevalent which gave them a chance of taking the
revenue in kind and paying cash to the state. This role enlarged their power
and made them merchants and usurer’s restricting the local bania.
Due to usurious rates of interest the peasants
started deserting their lands and Salarjung I created pro farmer policies. During
the period of Salarjungs reforms, the Dehsmukhs got absorbed as landlords and
the Deshmukh Watans were practically abolished and the farmers had Ryotwari
tenure. In this process the Deshmukh became big landlords with ownership rights
over their land. They were also allowed to lease the government land to bring
not only deserted lands under cultivation, but also forest lands for conversion
to cultivation. In return for these services, they again got more patta land
for cultivation.
Large tracts of land in Telangana were thorn
and bush and it required great labour and money to convert those lands into
cultivable lands. Ordinary farmers had no means of doing this and the officials
naturally preferred landlords who had the capital to do so. Thus the historical
and ecological reasons did not allow the small peasant holdings in Telengana. There
was abundant labour in Telengana which enabled the landlord class to make them
serve and enlarge their holdings.
The group that helped the landlords in
Telengana were the “ Patels” &
“Patwaris”. The Patel could belong to any caste and undertook police
duties, but Patwari is always a Niyogi Brahmin and undertook revenue duties.
They too lived in big bulglows in the fashion of Deshmukhs and were served by
many servants. The Patwaris were essentially considered as mischievous and
dishonest and known for promoting conspiracies in villages.
The landlords and the officials were at
loggerheads but when it came to subduing the population and exploiting them,
they became one.
The 3rd group in the village
hierarchy are the “Kapus” “Pedda Rytus” or “Pedda Kapus” (they can be of any
caste) who are the village landholders with patta rights and had considerable
size of landholdings. They became a separate group and distanced themselves
from the lower caste Sudras. These guys lived in big type pucca houses, had
enough cattle, stocks of grain and agricultural instruments. They dressed like
peasants but were educated, but not educated enough to know the ways of the
government laws etc. They also did not know Urdu. But they lived with a lot of
prestige in the village. They collaborated with the Dora efforts in enforcing
caste based labor exploitation.
The Doras in the process have taken over the
authority of the state and kept the whole countryside in their possession. The
word Dora in Telengana does not denote Velamas as we believe. Any upper caste
person with land, money, ruthlessness and their proximity to local government
officials is a Dora. There were Reddy’s, Velama’s and some Brahmins and Muslims
were Doras in Telengana.
There was tremendous exploitation of the lower
castes by the Doras. In some cases even wearing a shirt by a farmer was
punished.
The most notorious Dora families of Nalgonda
and Warangal districts were Rapaka or Visnur, Janna Reddy, Nukala Ramasahayam,
Pingali and Lingala. Their authority spread over a Paragana. The Dora families
increased from the last quarter of the 19th century through
acquisition of lands and through ruthless exploitation.
The later Dora families were Kundur, Nayani,
Kondur, Katukuru, Pushkuri, Karhar, Kallur, Tadikamalla, Akkiraju, Boinapalli,
Gaddam, Gandra and Bandi. By the time of Telengana People’s struggle for
Independence almost every village had a Dora. In almost every village and
sometimes in a group of hamlets could be found a palatial Gadi. A huge fort
like house with wide compound enclosed by a wall with tall gates where the Dora
lived with his family members. It also had his dasis and their children. The
Dora is served by a large number of Vetti chakiri workers.
The Doras also assumed magisterial powers and
exercised them. Although the Patwari controlled the Police, the Doras supervised
him. This was not granted by any government but got by virtue of their money
and prestige. The Dora’s also started maintaining records of all the activities
in the village.
Those landlords by establishing control over
Government property (usurped and not given) controlled village resources, and people’s
activity were elevated to Doras. All the Poramboku lands in the village were
controlled by the Doras.
The Dora’s had usurped the right of enforcing
the law and delivering judgments. In the settlement of disputes, the Dora’s
authority was unchallenged. In any other village dispute, the Dora’s order is
final. It is surprising to see that all these powers were appropriated by the Dora’s
without being granted by the state. The Dora’s language, tone and behaviour was
infused with arrogance, authority and abuse in order to impose his decisions on
the people. Beating, tying the hands behind, and hanging from a branch of the
tree became customary and commonplace. The very thought of Gadi evoked terror
in the rural masses. A labourer cannot stand erect in presence of the Dora. He
has to bend and talk.
The labourers were not permitted to wear a
shirt, talapaga, tilak or chappals. When the Dora goes out from the Gadi,
people have to bow their heads and move to the side to give way. Women had to
run into their houses.
As you can see, these systems are entirely
different from what the Jamindars employed in Andhra area. The Jamindars were
granted right to collect revenue by the Government but this they rarely did
with any oppression. Also the people of
the Andhra area under the British were not as rigidly feudal as the people of
Telengana were then.
This peasant oppression by the Doras in
Telengana was the highest in India compared to any other state. On account of
this finally on 4th July 1946 when a peasant leader was killed by
the men of a Dora in Warangal district, a revolution broke out. Beginning in the districts of Nalgonda
and Warangal, the rebellion became a revolution all over Telangana. This was
aggravated by the activities of the Nizam and Kasim Rizvi and the Razakars. The
peasants then turned to communism and at
one point 4000 villages of Telangana had communes. As a result of this, all the
Doras had to run away to Hyderabad. Ultimately, the Indian army after taking
over Telangana attacked the communes and overpowered them.
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