The name that frightened the notorious Britishers.

The name that inspired freedom's struggle and stood as

epitome for freedom. The name that felt courage in the hearts of the tribals the starting from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari. The name that stood as the symbolic rendition of vigorous valour. And the name that people of
Andhra Pradesh would immediately bow for his legacy sacrifice and heroic deeds.
A mere sight of him reminds you of a burning ember. When he fights, it seems as if a comet is hurtling down.
Confronted by him, even Death breaks into a cold sweat. Rifles and bows surrender to him in allegiance.
The surname's Alluri. Raised by the river Godavari. The lord of the forest. He is Rama Raju none other than the
great Alluri Sitarama Raju. He exists in the collective psych of public as hero tribal leader. The story of Alluri
Sitarama Raju is the story of freedom's struggle. Let us go back to the history to understand the context India the
sacred knowledge the land that is the source for western and the country that is bestowed with riches India had
been the target for the foreign conspiracies right from the alexander to Britishers everyone's aim was to loot the
riches and topple the social order of the country the foreign invasion started with Vasco Da Gama when he first
landed at the port of Calico on 20th may 1498. Later the Dutch East India company and consequently French East
India Company finally conquest continued till British East India company entered India and started grabbing
India's rich natural resources by creating the social and cultural differences among people with a consequent
conquests and depriving social order India had entered the dark ages of slavery under the rule of British the
ancestry of Rama Raju who popularly known as Alluri Sitarama Raju hail from Bupadi village in Guntur district of
Andhra Pradesh over time they settled in the place called Moghalu of present-day west Godavari district Sri Rama
Raju was the first child of Alluri Venkita Rama Raju and Narayanama Srirama Raju was born on July 4 1897, at 4
pm in Pandarangi Vishakhapatnam district. Rama Raju spent most of his childhood in Moglu Rama Raju's father
was a good photographer however when he died of cholera, in the Godavari Pushkars in 1908 the family became
devastated Sri Rama Raju was educated at Narasapuram Taylor school in Ramachandrapuram and Kakinada
Pitapuram Rajawari high school. During his education days in Kakinada Rama Raja's love for art came to light.
Shashi Reika Paranyam was acclaimed by the audience for his performance as
Shashi Rekha and Narada in the play. Madhuri Annapurnaya a well-known patriot was also a colleague of Rama
Raju. Sri Rama Raju had a rebellious nature from a young age. He protested the exploitation of the British
government from a young age the independence of our country was what he deeply longed for. So he learned to
use a stick fight sword fight weapon education and a gun he also mastered palmistry and herbal medicine he
also mastered fluency in Hindi and English the young Sri Rama Raju travelled throughout the country and
travelled all the way to Brahma Kapalam he was heartbroken to see the plight of the Indians under the British rule
he seriously thought of expelling the foreign powers that have invaded our India through fraud and deceit that
was on his conscience this was his will and his profound desire. The fight that started to free mother India from
the clutches of Britishers had been rampant for decades out of oppression great leaders were born
and initiated revolutionary methods to achieve freedom the world had witnessed the great Indian
freedom struggle and the sacrifices of courageous men in the span of 190 years Indian freedom struggle started
with Plassey War, Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 and many more revolutionary moments that paved the way to help the
movement fall the great leaders like Siraj Ud-Daulah, Jhansi Lakshmi Bai, Tantia Tope, Gopala Krishna Gokhale,
Bala Gangadar Tilak, Annie Besant and many more every leader had the same goal to free mother India one
among such great heroes was Alluri Sitarama Raju. The one that made English quiver with fear trampled with
meekness whose sole aim was to free the tribes of Andhra Pradesh he is one of the great tribal leaders ever lived
and will be remembered for the generations to come.
His Golden Roar was
“Land is ours
Wind is ours
Forest is ours
Mother nature is ours
How can you own them
What right do you have to exploit our land
We can't tolerate anymore
No more slavery and no more drudgery”.

The mother of India had been in the clutches of Britishers and had been ruthlessly exploited by them. Tribes of
India were not an exception either. Their plight was devastating the lives of tribals in the serene woods had been
exploited looted and thrashed the struggle to earn the daily bread had become so intense and hardly they
procured enough food for the survival tribals who trusted forest for their livelihood were constantly looted by
zamindars financials and authorities the constant disparities in the weights of the goods procured by the tribals
lowest prices and conspiracies to exploit them made the lives of tribals appalling looting had become common
phenomena. Everywhere they neither had the education to question nor leadership to rebel they just surrendered
meekness prevailed. In 1822 able British officer madras governor Thomas Mano concentrated on the issues of
tribals to save them from the shackles of zamindars and financiers as a result lots of revenue reformations had
been made yet the lives of tribal had not changed. Exploitation continued group politics sufficed few of the
villages in tribal area used to form and to grow and had started paying taxes to the British government due to this
middlemen dynamics situations had become worse those who failed to pay the taxes had been confiscated.
Gradually agency laws had been emerged tribals had been exploited everywhere and been the victims of
conspiracy since centuries. The forest tanks that were proposed proved fatal to the existence of tribals the reign
of Britishers had been preposterous and violence existed everywhere. Lots of cheaters who held Britishers for
their selfish needs started exploiting tribals. They did not even spare calm early
tribal women. Many highness incidents shook the tribal areas and women had been the victims of physical and
sexual abuse.
That was the year 1822 the lives of tribals had been deteriorating day by day. The years of freedom
cherished by them began to lose its lustre. Farming had become crime as a result tribals suffered. Daily bread
was threatened. The forest act prohibited chopping trees tribals lost their livelihood Britishers prohibited
procurement hence tribals lost their financial source financials looted tribals with exorbitant interest rates.
Traditional “vipassana” locally made alcohol was prohibited too. To summer tribals had been exploited financially
physically and psychologically their existence had been threatened lives were trashed those who rebelled were
confiscated or tortured brutally gloominess prevailed everywhere. Out of the oppression and exploitation sparked
rebelling to heal the hearts mend the souls and free the tribals from the shackles of slavery treachery and
drudgery rebellion had started to stop oppression revolution had begun against drudgery, a hero was born to
question the conspiracies of nuisance and exploitation by Britishers he is none other than Dhwara Bandala
Chandrayaa who is known for his bravery in Mampa revolution in 1879. Mampa revolution had started in the
forest of Godavari district and extended up to Golkhanda forest in Vishakapatnam district till Reykja Pali near
Badrachshalam. The tribal's fate had toppled on February 12, 1880, Chandrayaa died. The British Britishers had
started to arrest his followers and slowly began to suppress the revolution by inhuman methods finally the
revolution disappeared into the oblivion tribals ended up at ground zero. The history was resurfaced and the
British started to oppress, exploit and torture tribals the tribals prefer serenity they are usually calm and give
importance to integrity having had enough with constant treachery they decided to revolt again. The group of
tribals looted Guden police station in the year 1886 and this was conspired by Kondadoras. The British arrested
30 tribals who involved in this looting in the year 1916.

Komuram Bheem, who belonged to Gond tribe, and was born in Sankepalli of Adilabad
district, Telangana in 22 October 1901. Adilabad district is located in North Telangana, making border with the
state of Maharashtra. The region was predominantly populated by Gonds. Tax were collected forcefully,
otherwise false cases were registered. After being left with nothing in hand from farming, Gonds had started
moving out of their villages. One day, Nizam Siddique came along with 10 people and started abusing and
harassing Gonds to pay the taxes, at the time of harvesting. Komuram Bheem and his tribal group decided to
complain about their sufferings to Siddique. Bheem and his tribal group were ill-treated at the Nizam’s office.
Komuram Bheem looks out for a person who would fight against the Britishers and who would free them from
the slavery and drudgery. Bheem comes to know about Alluri Sitarama Raju. Filled with a heart full of passion for
independence Sri Rama Raju walked towards Sankepalli with a heavy heart and intense thought. Rama Raju
gradually with his medical knowledge , palmistry and friendliness, Sri Rama Raju gained a good place in the
minds of the tribes. British government began to fear about Raju's growing popularity in the forest area. They
offered 50 acres of land and cattle in Periputra village to surrender him. Sri Rama Raju was waiting for the right
time for the right context to revolt by gradually observing the situation and doing temporary farming with flames
in his heart, a wild fire in his mind. Komuram Bheem’s anger against the Nizam and the ruling Britishers, made
him hold hands with Alluri Sitarama Raju in creating a mighty troops of tribal people including the Gonds and
many other tribes to suppress the ill-activities of the Nizam and the Britishers.

This sparked change in the tribal villages, he started night schools and inspired people with legendary struggles
of great heroes. The disparities among the villagers were shunned by introducing Panchayat Raj welfare system
and educated villages about alcohol addiction. Sitarama Raju managed to inspire tribals to get rid of alcohol.
Cleanliness was taught. Discipline had become the norm. Everybody got trained in archery sword fight and
artillery. And finally tribals had become a might force to rebel against the Britishers. Alluri Sitarama Raju hailed as
one of the greatest tribal heroes ever lived.
21 April 1920, it was the day of another revolution in the tribal forest area also known as Maniyam after
enduring hardships and torches. This was the day when tribal heroes fought against slavery it was one of the
most significant days in the history of the nation. The wings of the revolution started to blow in Maniyam. Every
single police station surrendered before the heroism of the tribal heroes under the leadership of Alluri Sitarama
Raju. The revolutionaries robbed rifles and ammunition the Sankepalli police station. On the other hand the British
government sent many British officials along with the Nizam to suppress the Maniyam revolution. And this
seemed to be the right time to start the revolt. Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komuram Bheem’s ever lasted flame in
their hearts was going to burn their rivals down. Sitarama Raju took the Guerilla Warfare which was never
expected by the British army. During this revolt Komuram Bheem shot the Nizam dead and got his people’s
revenge paid. At the end the tribal heroes under the leadership of Alluri Sitarama Raju won the great revolt and
was successful in ending the British rule in the village of Sankepalli. As a result the British government was
horrified by the bravery of the Sitarama Raju and his tribal heroes. Gradually the victories of the Maniyam
revolution became well known all over India many were inspired to hear about the prowess of the tribal heroes
and the success of Sitarama Raju's leadership all over the country.
On 17 April 1924, Rutherford was appointed as special commissioner of the agency. Rutherford who had earlier
suppressed the day-to-day struggle as Guntur district collector mobilized all forces to end the Maniyam
revolution root of thought whose sole aim was to crush the revolutionaries organized a large meeting in Krishna
Devi Peta and frightened the people in many ways to surrender Sitarama Raju for a reward of ten thousand. If
they opposed this, Rutherford tthreatened the tribes that they would be tied to the trees and burnt alive. Words
cannot describe the atrocities committed by the British government to suppress the Maniyam revolution the
whole agency area was mourning and all the tibal villages were set on fire to destroy everything. Rama Raju was
deeply saddened by that situation. He decided to self-sacrifice and felt that the hardships of the tribal people
would be removed and peace would prevail in the tribal villages. With his sacrifice Rama Raju decided to end the
movement and save the lives of the tribals. It was the village of mamba in Vishakapatnam district on the night of
May 6 1924, on the top of this great mountain Sitarama Raju with aggrieved heart spent counting the moments.
At dawn as Rama Raju came down from the mountains and was about to bathe in the pool. Some malevolent
person notices that and passed that information to the evil British authorities the unarmed sita rama raju was
captured and handcuffed to a mattress and taken to Major Goldhall in Koyyuru. Ramaraju was tied to a tree. The
Indian sepoys refused to shoot Rama Raju due to his immense helps for their tribes. Finally Goldhall shot
Sitarama Raju several times in his legs and shot dead with a bullet in his chest. Sitarama Raju fell down dead with
the roar of “Vande Mataram…Vande Mataram”.
On 7th May 1924, at the age of 27, to the east a bright star fell to the ground. It was a superhero's
supreme sacrifice who just gave up his precious life. A daring young man who fought valiantly unto death to
break the shackles of Bharata Matha from slavery. The ground was anointed with the blood of that great warrior.
Rama Raju's dead body was tied to a robe on cot and sent to Krishna Devi peta and was cremated in the early
hours of the day the physical body of Alluri Sitarama Raju was buried on the Tandava river bank. The victory song
of Alluri Sitarama Raju continues to resonate in the hills forests and in the memories of tribal life. After the
sacrifice of Sitarama Raju, the tribal warriors fought courageously with the British government. Many were killed
in that fight and many more were hanged. Komuram Bheem who was deeply inspired by Alluri Sitarama Raju,
provided him the proper motivation to revive the rebel with him. He fought for the rights of many tribes of
Telengana. He was killed by armed policemen in 1940 and subsequently lionised as a symbol of rebellion and
eulogised in Adivasi and Telugu folklore. He gave the slogan "Jal, Jungle Jameen" which means the people living
in the forests should have the full fledged rights on all the forest resources. The Maniyam revolution which lasted
for almost two years was a great chapter in the history of the Indian independence. Although the revolution failed
their sacrifices were not in vain. The whole country followed their footsteps in the path they had provided and
took part in the satyagraha struggle. On August 15, 1947, India became independent after overthrowing British
rule. The tri-colour flag was flying high against the wind. A tribal museum was opened commemorating the
Maniyam revolution will be a true tribute to pay to those freedom fighters. Mahatma Gandhi the Father of the
Nation, praised Alluri Sitarama Raju and he says “We should all practice Alluri Sitarama Raju's unwavering
courage, focus, concentration and good character. Sri Rama Raju is a true hero”.