explain the role of sangolli rayanna in the struggle of kittur against the British
Answers
Answer:
Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna was a freedom fighter from Karnataka, whose valiant fight was not recognized as much as it deserved.
Krantiveera is a Kannada word used to describe Sangolli Rayanna, an army chief of the Kittur Kingdom that was then ruled by the heroic queen Kittur Rani Chennamma. Krantiveera means “Legendary Warrior” and there couldn’t be a better description than this for a Hero such as Sangolli Rayanna. He was one of the prominent leaders who fought the British East India Company until his last breath.
Explanation:
Sangolli Rayanna initially started his fight with the British for his queen Kittur Chennamma who wanted her adopted son Shivalingappa on the throne, since the king of Kittur had passed away and it was ruled by the King’s widow with no heir. However the British wanted to annex the kingdom following their infamous rule “Doctrine of Lapse” according to which a kingdom with no heir will fall under the British rule and the rulers were not allowed to hand over their kingdom to an adopted heir as well.
Thus the British wanted the Kittur Kingdom to themselves by forcing the rule on Indian kings. As the British noticed that the queen Chennamma and her subjects were not yielding to their pressure they were planning to take over the city under their rule forcibly. Kittur Chennamma was adamant as to not let her kingdom fall under the greedy rule of the British and wanted her adopted son Shivalingappa to be the king’s heir to take over the throne.
The British tried to claim the throne and the war of freedom started thereby. Sangolli Rayanna’s efficiently trained army was ready to take over the British soldiers to save their land from being enslaved. Sangolli Rayanna fought valiantly in the front row until they lost the war and their brave queen was captured. Once they lost the war Rayanna went into hiding, taking Shivalingappa along with him and fought for his queen and his land.
The British started capturing each of the lands that belonged to the kingdom of Kittur and the land they were not able to capture were levied with heavy taxes. The British were also recurring losses continuously due to various revolutionary movements conducted under the leadership of Sangolli Rayanna whose willpower was not shattered and was ready to pounce like a hungry lion even during his hiding.
Sangolli Rayanna started strengthening his forces and recruiting local people and used their expertise and the local knowledge to his advantage. He vandalized British government offices and looted treasuries. He turned into a big menace to the British to such an extent that they started plotting elaborate ways to capture Sangolli Rayanna.
Since they couldn’t capture him directly they tried treacherous ways by befriending his uncle Lakshmanraya and captured him by creating a trap through a false ruse. They imprisoned him at the Bailuhongala Prison and hanged him to death on a banyan tree at Nandagad on 26th January 1831. His last words are very famous and often included in the ballads sung in the villages of North Karnataka. He said, ”I may die now but I will soon take birth again and come back to fight for my kingdom and the people until it is free from the clutches of British.”