Telangana Rebellion
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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.
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[edit] Consequences
The rebellion did lead to the victory of the Communist party of India in the 1952 elections. The demand for a separate Telangana state was considered but not accepted and in 1953, the region was merged into the emergent Andhra Pradesh. Land reforms were recognized as important and various acts were passed to implement them. There was also a demand for decentralization of government control and according more power to the regions. This demand too did not meet with much success.
[edit] Trivia
Bandenka Bandi Katti is a famous song of the rebellion.
[edit] References
- Elliot, Carolyn M. (November 1974). "Decline of a Patrimonial Regime: The Telengana Rebellion in India, 1946-51". Journal of Asian Studies 34 (1): 24-47.
- Sanghatana, Stree Shakti (1989). We Were Making History: Life Stories of Women in the Telangana People's Struggle. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0862326796.
- Puchalapalli, Sundarayya (1985). Telangana people's armed struggle, 1946-51. NBC.
- Arutla, Ramachandra Reddy. Telangana Struggle Memoirs,(New Delhi: 1984). ISBN 03987-2723 http://books.rediff.com/bookshop/bkproductdisplay.jsp.
