ACK-E-Narasimha Reddy

NARASIMHA REDDY

                    THE LION OF RAYALASEEMA

The story of Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy is set in the turbulent. years of the 19th century when the East India Company was slowly increasing its stranglehold over India. It is the story of one man's indomitable spirit against a system which was cold and ruthless. Born with a questioning mind, young Narasimha could not fathom how a foreign nation could suddenly be telling his people how to live.

His questions led him to the wise sage, Gosaayi Venkanna, who saw in the boy his own fire and fervour. He trained Narasimha into a lethal war machine and sent him out to rally the people of Renadu (known now as Rayalaseema) to fight against the oppressors.

THE PALEGARS
In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the Vijayanagar kings extended their empire southwards, they left the southernmost parts of the territories they conquered in charge of local chieftains. These chieftains were known as Palegars.
The Palegars were in charge of maintaining law and order and running the local judiciary in their respective territories. They also maintained a battalion of troops to serve the king. They looked after the cleanliness of their villages and arranged for the digging of wells, tanks and canals. The Palegar looked after villages under their care and collected taxes. 

The main job of the Palegars was to collect taxes. 1/4th of the revenue collected was deposited in the treasury. The remaining money was used for maintaining the troops and for public works. They were also allowed to keep a portion of it for themselves. Because the Palegars exercised a lot of power, they liked to look at themselves as royalty. They dressed in gorgeous costumes and owned flags, decorative umbrellas and palanquins. The 80 Palegars of Renadu (Rayalaseema) were an independent lot. They defended their land by building forts of mud and stone, often on hilltops. There are few Palegar families today. Though they cannot maintain the lifestyles they once had, they are still given respect as the descendants of a once-powerful people. Narasimha Reddy single-handedly recruited an army of people from every section of society and transformed them into a skilled fighting unit. This was one of the first confrontations against the British in South India. Though his efforts were scuttled because of betrayal by his own people, Narasimha Reddy's fight against the British was one of the most sustained of his time.

• Title : NARASIMHA REDDY
• Volume/Serial : .....
• Total Pages : 44
• Script : English
• First Published : September 2019
• Publisher : Amar Chitra Katha