SANGOLI RAYANNA THE ARMY CHIEF OF KITTUR.. BRAVE SON OF KARNATAKA AND INDIA

SANGOLI  RAYANNA  THE ARMY CHIEF OF  KITTUR....... BRAVE SON OF          
                                     KARNATAKA AND INDIA

                                         Dr K Prabhakar Rao

                  Sangolli Rayanna   (15 August 1798 – 26 January 1831)  has gone down the annals of Indian  history as a very brave warrior  who  fought the  East India Company with great determination till his death.  Rayanna was born on 15th Aug 1798. He was the army chief of the Kingdom of Kittur ruled at the time by Rani Chennamma and fought the British East India Company till his death. Rayanna belonged to Kuruba caste.   
                  The East India Company promulgated that the kingdoms  without a recognized successor would be annexed. Kittur was being ruled by Shivalinga Raja and Rani Chennamma was his valiant queen. They had a son  but he died young.Shivalinga Raja also  died soon without any  further issue. Therefore the  royalty adopted a boy and this was not accepted by the company and demanded that the kingdom be handed over to them. However When the British wanted to annex the kingdom to their empire in 1824, the queen of Kittur, Rani Chennamma, refused to secede her kingdom.   Chennamma fought the British bitterly and   defeated them - causing huge damage - and killed  Collector Thackeray of Dhrawar who led the attack.    Two British officers were also taken  as prisoners.  The British renewed their attack  with further reinforcements and cannons and annexed the kingdom of Chennamma in 1824.  The British arrested Rani Chennamma and Veeramma and imprisoned them at Bylahongal fort, where Chennamma died in 1829.  
             Sangolli Rayanna also participated in the 1824  Kittur war and was arrested by the British, who released him later. He continued to fight the British and wanted to install adopted son Shivalingappa as the ruler of Kittur.  He mobilised local people and started a guerilla type war against the British  He and his "army" moved from place to place, burnt government offices, waylaid British troops and plundered treasuries  Most of his land was confiscated and what remained of it was heavily taxed. He taxed the landlords and built up an army from the masses. Rayanna is considered by many historians to be the pioneer of guerilla warfare in India much before Tantya Tope of 1857 war.  The British troops could not defeat him in open battle. Hence, by treachery, he was caught in April 1830 and tried by the British; and sentenced to death.  Shivalingappa, the boy who was supposed to be the new ruler, was also arrested by the British. Rayanna was executed by hanging to death from a Banyan tree about 4 kilometers from Nandagad in Belgaum district on 26th Jan 1831.  It is an irony that  we celebrate Republic Day on the same day . He was helped by Gajaveera a Siddi warrior in his rebellion. Ryanna's mortal remains were buried near Nandagad. Legend says that a close associate of Rayanna planted a Banyan sapling on his grave. Unlike the usual 6 foot grave, Rayanna's grave is 8 feet long because Rayanna was tall - more than 7 feet. The tree is fully grown and stands to this day. An Ashoka Stambha was installed near the tree. A small temple in the name of Sangolli Rayanna was constructed at Sangolli village, in which stands a statue of Rayanna flanked by two wooden weights used for body building. One of the wooden weights is original, i.e., it was used by Rayanna himself for body building. A community hall, built in commemoration of Rayanna at Sangolli serves the villagers of Sangolli .
         It is a fact that Indian  history  books  are silent on the  valiant deeds and contributions of Rayanna  and Kittur war as whole and  are side lined. Infact  contributions of South Indian heroes in Indian  history and freedom movement goes unnoticed by historians. Contributiosn of Velu thambi of Travancore Cochin,  Veerapandya Katta Bomman of tamil nadu are not known to most of the Indians. How shameful it is!