Kunniyur estate

Kunniyur estate is a mirasdari estate in the Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu, India. Previously located in Tanjore district, it is one of the four largest estates in the district. Headquarters in the town of Kunniyur, the estate covered more than 6,000 acres.

The most well-known among the mirasdars was Kunniyur Sambasiva Iyer who was a member of the Indian National Congress from the early 1930s.[1] He was elected to the Madras Legislative Council and served as a member of the legislature until his defeat in the 1952 elections.[2] He was also an ardent devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi.

Kunniyur was also the center of a large-scale peasant uprising in 1944.[2] The agricultural workers in the estate joined the Communists agriculturists union and agitated for more wages and facilities.[2] Twenty-three people were arrested and in 1945, a law was passed outlawing Communist meeting in Mannargudi taluk.[2] The strike turned violent and aggressive when in 1948, most lands in the eastern part of Thanjavur district were seized by labourers supported by Communists.[3] A special law reinforcing the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act of 1848 was enacted and the rebellion was quelled through large-scale arrests under the new law.[4] Consequently, an understanding was reached between the landlords and labourers by the Mayuram Agreement of October 1948 and the Tanjore Tenants and Pannaiyals Ordinance of 1952.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gough, Pg 141
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Gough, Pg 148
  3. ↑ Gough, Pg 149
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gough, Pg 150

References