The equestrian statue of Rani Channamma in the village of Kakati lies to the south of the Bengaluru-Pune national highway. Those driving past hurriedly can miss the statue. A detour into the service road leads to the gram panchayat office on whose premises stands the tall metal statue. A metal board proclaims Kakati to be the birth place of Channamma.
A walk of around one kilometre into the small street on the right leads to an empty ground with a couple of mud domes. This used to be the family home of Dhoolappa Gouda, Channamma’s father. There is nothing else to remind visitors of the significance of the place where the warrior queen spent the first 15 years of her life.
The fort of Rani Channamma at Kittur. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
No plaque, no guides
Similarly neglected is the public garden in Bailhongal town that houses her grave. The park has no plaque with details of the queen’s life or death. The grave stone remains unclean and the paint is coming off. There are no guides to show visitors around the park or the prison that she was kept in.
A statue of Mallasarja Desai, Rani Channammas husband in Sangolli village in Belagavi district. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
Fewer people know of the Deshanoor palace, the summer hunting lodge of King Mallasarja Desai, her husband. It is unmarked. One has to walk down the valley to reach the place, which is surrounded by lantana and other weeds. The only stories one hears are those by cowherds who speak of the kings and queens of Kittur.
The majestic fort of Kittur is maintained by the ASI and the government of Karnataka, but there are no guides here either.
Grand plans of building a replica of the fort in a 52-acre plot in Bacchanakeri village along the national highway, or in situ development of the Kittur fort have not taken off yet.
A statue of Sangolli Rayanna in Sangolli village in Belagavi district. | Photo Credit: BADIGER P K
A fascinating history
The two battles of Kittur of 1824 were among the earliest armed battles against the British East India Company in south India after the Anglo-Mysuru wars fought by Tipu Sultan. They were led by Rani Channamma, queen of Kittur, who rallied against the British agent in Dharwad in October and November 1824.
Hailing from a Panchamasali Lingayat family in Kakati in Belagavi taluk, Channamma was married to King Mallasarja Desai. After his death, she opposed the British and waged a war. She died in the Bailhongal prison in 1829. Writer and scholar, the late M.M. Kalaburgi called Channamma ‘the pole star of the Indian freedom struggle’.
“Kittur was one of the first cases where the company tried to take over the reigns of the kingdom by dismissing attempts by the king to adopt a male heir,” says Mahesh Channangi, a historian.
The Doctrine of Lapse was enforced by James Ramsay of Dalhousie in 1848. But the company’s court of directors had informally enforced a similar policy in 1834. Company officers Mount Stuart Elphinstone, Lieutenant-Governor of the Bombay presidency, and St. John Thackeray, the agent at Dharwad, refused to accept an adoption deed submitted by the queen in 1823, claiming that it was either fake or forged. Mr. Thackeray suspected that it was not signed by the King Shivalinga Sarja Desai, the former ruler of Kittur, and was fudged by the courtiers. The company did not honour an 1818 agreement between the company officer in Dharwad granting functional autonomy to the princely state of Kittur.
“Thackeray laid siege to the town and locked the State’s treasury. He also stationed troops around the town. This angered Channamma who declared war,’‘ says Channangi.
Rani Chennamma adopted Shivalingappa Savai Sarja after her husband Mallasarja Desai and his son Shivalinga Sarja Desai died. But the company rejected the adoption deed. The queen’s letter to Mount Stuart Elphinstone was sent back.
The Statue of Sangoli Rayanna unveiled in front of Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
The lieutenants
The most famous of the queen’s lieutenants was Sangolli Rayanna. The government of Karnataka has built a fort in is honour in Sangolli village, and started a Sainik school. He was born in a shepherd’s family in Sangolli near Bailhongal. His forefathers had served in the Kittur army.
After the second battle of Kittur, he escaped, along with a few supporters, to the jungles of Khanapur. He gathered an army of peasants and led a guerrilla war against the company till he was betrayed by a local zamindar, which led to his capture in 1829. He was tried and publicly hanged from a tree in Nandagad near Khanapur in 1830.
File photo of a statue of Sangolli Rayanna unveiled near City Railway Station in Bangalore. | Photo Credit: SREENIVASA MURTHY V
There were other lesser-known lieutenants like Amatur Balappa, Sardar Gurusiddappa, Gajaveera Siddi, Avaradi Veerappa, and Bichugatti Channabasappa whose stories are featured in several Lavani songs.
A statue of Amatur Balappa carrying a double barrel gun greets visitors at the entrance to Kittur. However, his identity is contested. While some believe he was a Lingayat from the Sadhunavar family, some others argue he belonged to the Hanabar Yadav community. Writer A.N. Krishna Rao believes he was a Muslim named Balasaheb Sadnavar.
“I was charmed by his courage. I never thought about his caste,” says Balasaheb Lokapur, veteran writer who has authored a book on Amatur Balappa.
According to the Lavanis, the notorious traitors, who are believed to have betrayed Channamma and Rayanna, are Haveri Govindrao, Mallappa Shetty, Kallur Karibasappa, Hurakadli Shivabasappa, Shivalingiah Swami, Govind Bhatt and Gejji Mahantavva.
A scene of Rani Channammas court recreated in Sangolli village in Belagavi district. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
The celebrations
The government of Karnataka plans to celebrate the bicentenary in a grand manner. District in-charge minister Satish Jarkiholi has held two meetings with officials to review preparations for a three-day Kittur Utsav in October.
A series of programmes, including rural sports, folk art performances and discussions, would be held. A lecture series on the history of the royal house of Kittur and the freedom struggle would be organised. A committee will be formed to launch a commemorative edition about the bi-centenary.
A replica of a fort in Sangolli village, the native place of Sangolli Rayanna, who fought in the Kittur battles. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
The descendants of freedom fighters, like Srimant Uday Desai, will be invited to the celebrations. Women achievers from various walks of life will be felicitated. A request will be sent to the Department of Posts to release special stamps, said the Minister.
The Karnataka Jaanapada Vishwavidyalaya (Karnataka Folklore University) will design a logo for the event. Officials of the Education Department will organise essay and quiz competitions for students at the State level. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan said an air show is also being planned.
A scene from the life of Sangolli Rayanna recreated in Sangolli village in Belagavi district. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK
Other efforts
Some women’s organisations celebrated the Kittur victory by releasing a Kittur declaration in the town in February 2024.
The declaration, which was drafted by members of around 75 organisations across India, urges women to fight for the land and rights of people of the country, women’s dignity and livelihood. It asks women to dedicate themselves to secure the rights enshrined in the Constitution, to preserve the social fabric, restore communal harmony, and to stand up for the rights of citizens to reclaim India and reject authoritarianism.
The declaration was read out by women delegates, led by rights advocate Varsha Deshpande, at ‘I too am Rani Channamma’, an event held to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 1824 battle. Delegates from across India participated in the event.
A campaign song, written by Gauhar Raza, was released on the occasion. Artists Saba Azad, Samar Grewal, Tony Peter, Pankaj H. Gupta, Lina Krishnan, and M. Pervez were involved in making of an audio-visual biography of Rani Chennamma called ‘The Feisty Rani Chennamma’.
Shabnam Hashmi, activist who addressed a rally, said that the Kittur Declaration was translated into 10 Indian languages, and would be taken to every part of India by women activists. “Women can not remain mute spectators to these threats to our democracy, freedom, and the Constitution. This declaration is a call to all women in the country to speak up, to come out on the roads, and march for our dignity and our rights,’‘ she said.
Published - September 13, 2024 09:00 am IST
