Komaram Bheem
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Komaram Bheem (1901–1940), alternatively Kumram Bheem, was a
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
leader in
Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...
of
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
from the Gond tribes. Bheem, in association with other Gond leaders, led a protracted low intensity rebellion against the feudal Nizams of Hyderabad in the eastern part of the princely state during the 1930s, which contributed in the culmination of the Telangana Rebellion of 1946. He was killed by armed policemen in 1940, subsequently lionised as a symbol of rebellion, and eulogised in
Adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...
and Telugu folklore. Bheem is deified as a ''pen'' in Gond culture and is credited for coining the slogan ''Jal, Jangal, Zameen'' () which, symbolising a sentiment against encroachment and exploitation, has been adopted by Adivasi movements as a call to action. He is also associated with the early part of the movement for Telangana statehood.


Life

Komaram Bheem was born in Sankepalli, near Asifabad in
Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
to a family in the Gondi tribal community, on 22 October 1901. Bheem grew up in the tribal populated forests within the traditional kingdoms of Chanda and Ballalpur, isolated from the rest of the world and received no formal education. He kept moving from place to place throughout his life as the Gondi people were being increasingly victimised and exploited by '' zamindars'' () and businessmen, and through extortion by the ''jangaalat'' police (). During the 1900s, there was expansion of mining activities and strengthening of state authority in the Gondi region. Regulations introduced and enforced hampered the subsistence activities of the Gondis. ''Zamindars'' were granted lands in their regions and imposed taxes on Gondi podu farming activities, non-compliance often resulting in severe measures including forced amputations. Gondis began migrating from their traditional villages, the situation led to occasional retaliations and protests; Bheem's father was killed by forest officials in one such incident. Following the death of his father, Bheem and his family moved out to Sankepalli to Sardapur near
Karimnagar Karimnagar, also informally known as Elagandula, is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration in the state. It is third largest City in the state and Municipal Corporation and i ...
. The Gonds who had migrated to Sardapur settled in barren land owned by the ''zamindar'' Laxman Rao; they began subsistence farming on the land and subsequently became a target for tax extraction. In a confrontation in October 1920, Bheem killed a senior official of the Nizamate, Siddiquesaab who was sent by Rao to enforce the confiscation of crops during the time of harvest. To escape capture, he ran away on foot to the city of Chanda with his friend named Kondal (known variously as Routa Kondal, Komaram Kondal and Edla Kondal). The two were granted refuge by a local publisher Vitoba who operated a printing press and distribution network across the regional railways for an anti–British anti–Nizamate magazine. Bheem learned to speak and read English, Hindi and Urdu during time working with Vitoba. Bheem was forced to run away again after Vitoba was arrested, on this occasion, to a tea plantation in
Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
with an acquaintance at the Manchiryal railway station. He worked in the plantations for four and a half years. While doing so he became involved in
labour union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
activities and was eventually arrested for such. Bheem escaped jail within four days, boarded a goods train and returned to Balharshah in the Nizamate. Bheem had heard of Ramji Gond in his childhood, so he decided to initiate his own struggle for the rights of the Adivasis on his return to the Nizamate. Bheem moved to Kakanghat with family and started working for Lacchu Patel who was the head of a village called Devadam. Leveraging his experience in Assam, he helped Patel in a land litigation against the Asifabad estate which made him well known in the nearby villages and in return he was granted permission by Patel to marry. Bheem married a woman named Som Bai, moved to Bhabejhari in the interior of the Gond lands and settled down to cultivate a piece of land. During the time of harvest, he was again approached by forest officials who tried to force him to leave arguing that the land belonged to the state. Bheem then tried to lobby the Nizam directly and sought to present the grievances of the Adivasis before him but he received no response. Bheem then decided to engage in armed revolution. He formed clandestine associations with the banned
Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
, and started mobilising the Adivasi population at Jodeghat, eventually calling a council of tribal leaders from the twelve traditional districts of Ankusapur, Bhabejhari, Bhimangundi, Chalbaridi, Jodeghat, Kallegaon, Koshaguda, Linepatter, Narsapur, Patnapur, Shivaguda and Tokennavada. The council decided to form a guerilla army to protect their lands. Bheem also proposed they declare themselves an independent Gond kingdom. Some see this as a predecessor to more recent attempts to form an autonomous
Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
. The council was followed by an uprising in the Gondi region which began in 1928. The forces mobilised to attack the zamindars in Babejhari and Jodeghat. In response, the Nizam recognised Bheem as leader of the Gond rebels and sent the collector at Asifabad to negotiate with him, offering assurances of land grants to the Gonds. Bheem rejected the initial offer stating that they sought justice and instead demanded regional autonomy for the Gonds, eviction of the forest officials and zamindars, and the release of all Gond prisoners in the penal system of Hyderabad state. The demands were rejected and the conflict continued as a low intensity guerilla campaign over the following decade. Bheem directly commanded 300 men under him and operated out of Jodeghat. He is said to have coined the slogan ''Jal, Jangal, Zameen'' () during this period. Bheem's whereabouts were eventually discovered by Kurdu Patel and he was killed in an encounter with armed policemen led by the talukdar of Asifabad, Abdul Sattar. Fifteen others were killed in the encounter. The date of his death is disputed, it's officially recognised to have occurred in October 1940 but Gondi people commemorate it on 8 April 1940.


Legacy

Komaram Bheem was lionised as a symbol of the Gond rebellion following his death and, over the years, was eulogised into Adivasi and Telugu folk songs. Bheem has been deified among the animistic Gond Adivasi community through the worship of ''Bheemal Pen''. His death anniversary is commemorated by the Gonds every year on ''Aswayuja Powrnami'', where an event is organized at Jodeghat, the place of his death and his center of operations during the rebellion. His aides Bhadu master and Maru master are considered to have been instrumental in lionising him following his death, in order to motivate demoralised combatants. Following the death of Bheem, the Hyderabad State employed the Austrian ethnologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf to study the causes of the rebellion. Haimendorf's work enabled the enactment of the Hyderabad Tribal Areas Regulation 1356 Fasli in 1946. Haimendorf remarked at the time that "rebellions of aboriginal tribesmen against the authority of the government are among the most tragic conflicts between ruler and ruled" and that "it is always a hopeless struggle of the weak against the strong, the illiterate and uninformed against the organised power of a sophisticated system." The rebellion itself persisted for years after Bheem's death till it merged with the
Telangana Rebellion The Telangana Rebellion of 1946–1951 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the region of Telangana that escalated out of agitations in 1944–1946. Hyderabad was a feudal monarchy where mo ...
, a peasants uprising led by the communists against the Nizamate. Bheem's legacy was largely ignored in the mainstream beyond the folk culture of the impoverished Adivasis of central eastern India and the Telangana movement in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. His marginalised status in Indian mainstream history contrasted with his idolisation as a revolutionary figure among Adivasis, for whom he became an exemplification of their own marginalised and exploited status in India even after independence. The slogan of ''Jal, Jangal, Zameen'', symbolising a sentiment against encroachment and exploitation, has been adopted by Adivasi communities, particularly the Gonds for their social and political struggles, including as a war cry in the
Naxalite–Maoist insurgency The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between the Indian government and Left-wing terrorism, left-wing extremist groups. The Naxalites are a group of communist groups, who follow Maoist political sentiment and ideology, and c ...
. In popular culture, the film '' Komaram Bheem'' (1990) directed by Allani Sridhar was created based on his life and won two
Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...
. In the 21st century, with growing support and prominence of the demand for the new state of
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
, the legacy of Bheem was brought back into the spotlight and was featured in more mainstream political discourse and rhetoric. In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh government announced the construction of a dam and reservoir named Sri Komaram Bheem Project and the installation of a statue at Tank Bund Road in the city of
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Following the establishment of the Telangana state in 2014, the state government allocated for the construction of a Komaram Bheem museum for tribal history at Jodeghat and a memorial at Jodeghat hill rock. The museum and memorial were inaugurated in 2016, and in the same year the Adilabad district was reorganised, part of it carved out as the Komaram Bheem district. The location near Jodeghat has become a major tourism destination in Telangana. In 2018, S. S. Rajamouli, the director of the ''Baahubali'' series, announced the film '' RRR'' to feature Komaram Bheem and his contemporary
Alluri Sitarama Raju Alluri Sitarama Raju (4 July 1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924) was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed rebellion against the British Raj, British colonial rule in India. He led the Rampa Rebellion of 1922, Rampa rebellion (1922–1924) whic ...
as characters, with
N. T. Rama Rao Jr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), popularly known as NTR Jr, is an Indian actor, producer, and television presenter who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featur ...
playing the role of Bheem. The plot is a work of fiction depicting a friendship between the two contemporaries and taking place in the less documented part of their lives in the 1920s.


See also

* Birsa Munda * Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bheem, Komaram People from Hyderabad State Activists from Telangana 1900s births 1940 deaths Deaths by firearm in India People from Komaram Bheem district