Alluri Sitarama Raju, Rampa Rebellion or Manyam Rebellion (1922 to 1924)

Alluri Sitarama Raju

Context (PIB): The 125th birth anniversary of Alluri Sitarama Raju is being observed.
Sitarama Raju was born on July 4, 1897, into a middle-class family in a village near Visakhapatnam.
The 4^th of July, the individual’s birth date, is celebrated as a state festival of Andhra Pradesh.
He was a sanyasi and a firm believer in justice who waged many battles against unlawful British policies.
Sitarama Raju, under the influence of Gandhiji’s Non-cooperation movement, inspired the tribals to seek justice in the local panchayat courts and boycott the colonial courts.

In 1882, the British government introduced the Madras Forest Act,1882, which prohibited the traditional shifting cultivation practice known as Podu cultivation.
This act compelled villagers to cultivate specific crops and imposed strict restrictions on their movement within forest areas.
Alluri Seetarama Raju led the renowned Rampa Rebellion or Manyam Rebellion (1922 to 1924) in the Visakhapatnam-Godavari agency region of the former Madras Presidency.
Seetarama Raju employed guerilla tactics during the rebellion.
He fought against the British using traditional weapons like bows, arrows, and spears.
He also established effective means of communication among the rebels by using whistles and drums.
After an intense struggle spanning almost two years, he was apprehended by the British in the Chintapalli forests. He was subsequently executed by a firing squad at 27.