Telengana Rebellion
| Telangana Rebellion | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
| Razakars, Velamas and other Feudal Landlords | People of Hyderabad State | ||||
The Telangana Rebellion (IAST: tělaṃgāṇā věţţi cākiri udyamaṃ, "Telangana Bonded Labour Movement"; alternatively, tělaṃgāṇā raitāṃga sāyudha pōrāţaṃ, "Telangana Peasants Armed Struggle") was a peasant rebellion against the feudal lords of the Telangana region and, later, the princely state of Hyderabad, between 1946 and 1951.
The communists were as surprised as everyone else to see their efforts culminate in a series of successful attempts at organising the rebellion and distribution of land. With the Nizam holding on, even after the proclamation of Indian independence, the communists stepped up their campaign, stating that the flag of the Indian union was also the flag of the people of Hyderabad, much against the wishes of the ruling Asaf Jah dynasty.
The revolt started in 1946 against the oppressive feudal lords and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts in around 4000 villages. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against local feudal landlords (jagirdars and deshmukhs), who were ruling the villages known as samsthans. These samsthans were ruled mostly by Reddys and Velama, known as doralu.
They ruled over the communities in the village and managed the tax collections (revenues) and owned almost all the land in that area. The Nizam had little control over these regions except the capital, Hyderabad. Chakali Ilamma, belonging to the Rajaka caste, had revolted against 'zamindar' Ramachandra Reddy, during the struggle when he tried to take her 4 acres of land. Her revolt inspired many to join the movement.
The agitation led by communists was successful in taking over 3000 villages from the feudal lords and 10,00,000 acres of agriculture land was distributed to landless peasants. Around 4000 peasants lost their lives in the struggle fighting feudal private armies.
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