14 Facts About Kittur Chennamma

Kittur Chennamma was the Indian Queen of Kittur, a former princely state in present-day Karnataka.

Kittur Chennamma led an armed resistance against the British East India Company, in defiance of the Paramountcy, in an attempt to retain control over her dominion.

Kittur Chennamma defeated the Company in the first revolt, but died as a prisoner of war after the second rebellion.

Kittur Chennamma's father was Dhulappa Desai and her mother's name was Padmavati.

Kittur Chennamma belonged to the Lingayat community and received training in horse riding, sword fighting and archery from a young age.

Kittur Chennamma married Raja Mallasarja of the Desai family at the age of 15, after looking up to him since the age of 9,.

Kittur Chennamma's husband died in 1816, leaving her with a son and a state full of volatility.

The state of Kittur Chennamma came under the administration of Dharwad collectorate in charge of St John Thackeray of which Mr Chaplain was the commissioner, both of whom did not recognize the new rule of the regent, and notified Kittur Chennamma to accept the British control.

In 1823, Rani Kittur Chennamma sent a letter to Mountstuart Elphinstone, Lieutenant-Governor of the Bombay province pleading her case, but the request was turned down, and war broke out.

The British placed a group of sentries around the treasury and crown jewels of Kittur Chennamma, valued at around 1.5 million rupees upon the outbreak of war in order to protect them.

Amatur Balappa, a lieutenant of Kittur Chennamma, was mainly responsible for his killing and losses to British forces.

Rani Kittur Chennamma released them with an understanding with Chaplain that the war would be terminated but Chaplain continued the war with more forces.

Rani Kittur Chennamma fought fiercely with the aid of her deputy, Sangolli Rayanna, but was ultimately captured and imprisoned at Bailhongal Fort, where she died on 21 February 1829 due to health deterioration.

On 11September 2007 a statue of Rani Kittur Chennamma was unveiled at the Indian Parliament Complex by Pratibha Patil, the first woman President of India.