Telangana Rebellion

The Telangana Rebellion was a Communist led peasant revolt that took place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951.

The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers revolted against the Nizam and the local feudal landlords ("jagirdars" and "deshmukhs"). The initial modest aims were to do away with the illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these feudal lords. The most strident demand was for the writing off of all debts of the peasants.

At the same time the Nizam was resisting the government's efforts to bring the Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. The government sent in the army in September 1948 to quell the rebellion but faced armed resistance. The Communist party instigated the peasants to use guerrilla tactics and around 3000 villages (about 41000 sq. kilometres) came under peasant-rule. The landlords were either killed or driven out and the land was redistributed. These victorious villages established communes reminiscent of Soviet mir (social)s to administer their region. These community governments were integrated regionally into a central organization. The rebellion was lead by the Communist Party of India under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha. Among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement was the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin (d. 1969).The violent phase of the movement ended in 1951 after the accession of Hyderabad into the Indian Union in 1949.

Consequences

The rebellion and the subsequent police action lead to the liberation of hyderabad state from the Nizam's rule on 17 September 1948 and the dominion was merged into Indian Union eventually. Elections of 1952 lead to the victory of Congress party in Hyderabad state. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was first chief minister of the Hyderabad state from 1952 to 1956 when the region was merged with the Andhra state to form present day Andhra Pradesh State.

Trivia

Bandenka Bandi Katti is a famous song of the rebellion, written by Suddala Hanmanthu (Father of Suddala Ashok Teja, National award winner), and was known more as Bandi Hanmanthu

References

* cite journal
last = Elliot
first = Carolyn M.
title = Decline of a Patrimonial Regime: The Telengana Rebellion in India, 1946-51
journal = Journal of Asian Studies
volume = 34
issue = 1
pages = 24-47
date = November 1974

* cite book
last = Sanghatana
first = Stree Shakti
title = We Were Making History: Life Stories of Women in the Telangana People's Struggle
publisher = St. Martin's Press
date = 1989
id = ISBN 0862326796

* cite book
last = Puchalapalli
first = Sundarayya
title = Telangana people's armed struggle, 1946-51
publisher = NBC
date = 1985
* cite book
last = Arutla
first = Ramachandra Reddy
title = Telangana Struggle Memoirs,(New Delhi: 1984)
Publisher = people s publishing house
id = ISBN 03987-2723 http://books.rediff.com/bookshop/bkproductdisplay.jsp

ee also

*Peasant revolts
* Hyderabad State