Sangolli Rayanna (15 August 1798 – 26 January 1831) was an Indian military leader. Born in Sangolli,

Belagavi Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

district. His father was Bharamappa Rogannavar. His mother was Kenchava. He served as a senior commander in the military of Kittur ruled by Kittur Chennamma, the kingdom - like many others - called by the British as a princely state, during the early 19th century. After Chennamma led a failed rebellion against the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

(EIC) in response to the EIC's infamous Doctrine of Lapse in 1824, Rayanna continued to resist

Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...

. After leading another uprising against EIC authority, he was ultimately captured by the British and executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in 1831. As he played a very important role in Indian Freedom, his memorial statue was built in the village of Sangolli, Belagavi. Rayanna's life was the subject of the

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

-language films '' Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna'' (1967) and '' Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna'' (2012).

Early life

Sangolli Rayanna was born on 15 August 1798 in Sangolli, Belgavi district. At some point in his life, he enlisted in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

of the Kingdom of Kittur, rising to the position of a senior commander. In 1824, Kittur Chennamma, the ruler of Kittur, rose in rebellion against

in response to the British

's (EIC) Doctrine of Lapse. Rayanna fought in the rebellion and was arrested by the British forces, who eventually released him.

Insurgency and death

Incensed by the East India Company's confiscation of the majority of his lands (as punishment for participating in the 1824 rebellion) and heavy taxation of the remainder, Rayanna continued to oppose British domination in the region, planning to install Shivalingappa, the son of Chennamma, as the new ruler of Kittur. Lacking the resources to raise a

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

, he recruited men from among the local peasantry, who were similarly incensed by the EIC, and started an

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

against the British in 1829. His insurgents targeted EIC administrative buildings, British forces and local treasuries, all the while constantly remaining on the move so as to avoid being attacked by a larger enemy force. Rayanna used taxes gained from local landlords and the loot gained from plundering treasuries to fund his insurgency. He was assisted by

Siddi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, are an ethno-religious group living mostly in Pakistan. Some Siddis also live in India. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa, most ...

leader Gajaveera during his insurgency. In April 1830, Rayanna was captured alongside Shivalingappa by the British, who tried him in a court of law and sentenced him to death. On 26 January 1831, at the age of thirty-three, he was executed by hanging by the British authorities from a

banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

tree near the village of Nandagad. After his death, he was buried near Nandagad. A close associate of Rayanna, Sangolli Bichugatti Channabasappa, planted a banyan sapling on his grave, which remains there to this day; a

stambha A stambha () is a pillar or a column employed in Indian architecture. A stambha sometimes bears inscriptions and religious emblems. Religion In Hindu mythology, a stambha is believed to be a cosmic column that functions as a bond, joining h ...

was also installed near his grave. The

government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

has named a school, a rock garden and a museum after Rayanna.

Legacy

Gee Gee songs (

Ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

) are heroic folklore verses composed in North Karnataka' Several such songs are sung about Kittur Chennamma, Sangolli Rayanna and other freedom fighters of pre-independence Karnataka. A life size bronze statue of Sangolli Rayanna, riding a horse with open Sword in right hand, was installed near the City Railway station of

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The main railway station of Bengaluru City was renamed as "Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru Junction Railway station" (KSR Bengaluru Jn.) in 2015. In 2012, a biographical film was produced on his life. He was also the subject of another Kannada-language motion picture Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Revolutionary Hero Sangolli Rayanna), directed by Naganna and starring Darshan,

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani Rao; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works majorly in Telugu cinema and Hindi cinema as well as in Tamil films in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada is the recipient ...

and

Nikita Thukral Nikita Thukral is an Indian actress and model, who predominantly worked in Kannada cinema, Kannada and Telugu cinema, Telugu films alongside a few Tamil cinema, Tamil and Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Early life Thukral was born into a Pun ...

References

External links

Ballad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayanna, Sangolli 1798 births 1831 deaths History of Karnataka Indian military leaders Indian rebels Kannada people Military personnel from Karnataka People from Belagavi district Kittur State