Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju is brave son of India who laid down his life to free mother India from the oppression of the British. He was born on 4th July 1897. While pursuing his studies at Kakinada, Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju came in contact with a notable freedom fighter, Sri Madduri Annapurnayya, and Rallapalli Atchuta Ramayya, a scholar of high repute. For his further studies he went to Visakhapatnam at the age of 15. Though he didn’t have much interest in studies, he was very keen to know more about the political condition of India at that time.
Methods of Raju:-
In the tribal areas, the poor and illiterate tribal people were exploited and oppressed blatantly by the Britishers. Since the tribals were not united against the Britishers they took advantage of it and deprived the tribals of their rights. Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju inspired and united the different tribes of the area, trained them in skills of guerrilla warfare and proved to be a terror in the hearts of the Britishers.
As he organised the tribals to defend their rights on the produce, he gained tremendous understanding of the terrain that had helped him in great deal in his future guerrilla war against the British forces. He would appear at one place this moment and disappear in moment to appear somewhere else in no time, giving sleepless nights to the British forces.
Legends on his attacks and exploits on the police stations in the region have become part of the folklore of the region. He built a strong team of followers from the area, and a formidable guerrilla army sporting traditional weapons like bow-and-arrow and spears and achieved number of successes against the British forces.
He learnt from the Adivasis, the time-tested methods of war and added his own tactics to put up a fight against the British. For example, his team used whistles and beatings of the drums to exchange messages amongst the revolutionaries. He soon realised that the traditional weaponry would be of no use against the heavily armed the British forces. He thought the best way is to snatch them from the enemy and launched attacks on police stations with lightning speed.
Rampa Rebellion of 1922
After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act, its restrictions on the free movement of tribal peoples in the forest prevented them from engaging in their traditional "Podu" agricultural system, which involved shifting cultivation.
Raju organised a protest movement in the border areas of the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
On 22nd August 1922, his tribal army initiated their struggle by raiding three police stations Chintapalli Police Station, Krishnadevipeta Police Station, and Rajavommangi on three consecutive days. After the raids they captured a huge number of guns, bayonets and cartridges and swords. They even freed Veerayya Dora from jail who was a revolutionary.
Later, he became victorious in may battles like Ongeri Ghat, Dhamana palli ghat and rampachodavaram police station seize and other battles.
The British Army was alerted by his actions and platoons of Police and Army were ordered to arrest Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju. He again attacked the British Army at Peddavalasa and defeated them as a result of which they had to bear heavy casualties and finally retreated.
Nearly for two years(1922 to 1924) he terrorised the British Army and became the ruler of the vast area.
To capture Alluri, British appointed T.G.Rutherford, Deputy Collector and Major Goodall of Assam Rifles.
The 7th May proved to be a historic event in the history of the agency rebellion and a fatal day for the heroic Raju, That morning an intelligence patrol of the East Coast Special Police led by sub-inspector Alwari Naidu and Jamadar Kunchu Menon happened to observe a fair bearded man passing by and guessing that he might be Raju, captured him. After capturing Raju, They brought Raju before Major Goodal of Assam Rifles. It was alleged that Raju was shot dead while trying to escape But in reality, he was tied to nearby tamarind tree and shot dead without any thought.
Alluri Sitaram Raju was first to use guerrilla warfare with modern weapons even before the che guevara of south america. Though he was 26 at the age his death, he inspired many with his heroic actions. He fought for the rights of tribals and dared to go against the british.
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