Kittur Chennamma
Also called: Rani Chennamma · Topic: Peasant and Tribal Resistance under Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Kittur Chennamma was the queen (rani) of Kittur, a small kingdom in present-day Karnataka. She was one of the earliest women rulers to take up arms against the East India Company. She fought because the Company refused to accept her adopted son as the heir to the throne. Without that heir, the Company could take over the kingdom.
Example
In 1824 Chennamma's forces fought off a Company attack on Kittur, and the British collector Thackeray was killed. A larger British force then took the fort. She was imprisoned and died in captivity in 1829. Today she is remembered as a symbol of resistance in Karnataka.
Don't confuse with
- Doctrine of Lapse: Dalhousie's formal rule from the late 1840s for taking over states that had no natural heir. Kittur's case in 1824 came before this doctrine, though the issue of an adopted heir was similar.
Related concepts
- Criminal Tribes Act
- Rangpur uprising 1783
- Poligar wars
- Veerapandiya Kattabomman
- Velu Thampi Dalawa
- Paika rebellion 1817
- Ahom revolt 1828