All through these years, I had never heard of ‘Kittur Utsav’ commemorating the valiant Kittur Rani Chennamma. Though the ruler of the princely state of Kittur was one of the first to rebel against the British Colonial Rule in 1824, I know of her name better as the familiar Coast Guard Inshore Patrol Vessel Kittur Chennamma (IPV 66).
To confess, to this day, I have always thought of Rani Kittur Chennamma as belonging to Tamil Nadu - probably because of the ‘Chenna’ in her name - and, not of Belgaum, Karnataka; which goes to show how deep my knowledge of Indian history is!
For the record, Kittur Chennamma was one of the first Indian ruler to rebel against the British law later codified by Lord Dalhousie as ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ and whose bravery is being celebrated with Kittur Utsav. Her namesake the CGS Kittur Chennamma, was a more familiar sight during my various visits and stays at Chennai harbour.
Commissioned in 1983, she had an great track record in guarding the south-eastern Indian coast. During her service, she saved 36 lives, and apprehended 15 foreign fishing-poaching vessels.
She was really a boat worth watching - as recent as in 2010 she was awarded the “Best Maintained Coast Guard Unit” - which is even more impressive as she was decommissioned in June 2011!
Here is a snap from her decommissioning ceremony (along with that of CGS Jija Bai - IPV 64).
(image courtesy The Hindu)
BTW I do know who Jija Bai was - mother of Chatrapati Shivaji, the man who established the Maratha empire. Which is really the point of this post. Though Jija Bai and Kittur Chennamma, the two CG vessels were berthed alongside each other (often), there is no way the real Jija Bai and Kittur Chennamma would have met each other or got along even if they did.
Jija Bai (1598-1674) lived a full 100 years or so before Kittur Chennamma (1778-1829). More important, Kittur of Belgaum District would have been part of the Maratha Empire at its peak. Even around 1805, Kittur must have been a dominion of the Maratha Empire, which by then had itself been reduced to Maratha ‘states’ rather than an unified kingdom.
To confirm this point, I decided to overlay a present day snapshot of Google Map ‘starring’ the present day Taluk of Kittur with its fort, over an 1805 political map of India. Here is the result.
Around 1805, Kittur was part of the Maratha ‘states’. Though as per the treaty of Bassein (1802) the Peshwa of Pune had ceded control to the British East India Company, which led to the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05).
200 years to this day, events were churning up towards the Third Anglo-Maratha War or Pindari War of 1817-18, which consolidated the British Power in India. In its aftermath, Kittur is one such province which got caught in the land grab.
The whole issue of Kittur Utsav 2013 would been just another news report to me, except it brought out some interesting facts:
:-D
To confess, to this day, I have always thought of Rani Kittur Chennamma as belonging to Tamil Nadu - probably because of the ‘Chenna’ in her name - and, not of Belgaum, Karnataka; which goes to show how deep my knowledge of Indian history is!
For the record, Kittur Chennamma was one of the first Indian ruler to rebel against the British law later codified by Lord Dalhousie as ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ and whose bravery is being celebrated with Kittur Utsav. Her namesake the CGS Kittur Chennamma, was a more familiar sight during my various visits and stays at Chennai harbour.
Commissioned in 1983, she had an great track record in guarding the south-eastern Indian coast. During her service, she saved 36 lives, and apprehended 15 foreign fishing-poaching vessels.
She was really a boat worth watching - as recent as in 2010 she was awarded the “Best Maintained Coast Guard Unit” - which is even more impressive as she was decommissioned in June 2011!
Here is a snap from her decommissioning ceremony (along with that of CGS Jija Bai - IPV 64).
(image courtesy The Hindu)
BTW I do know who Jija Bai was - mother of Chatrapati Shivaji, the man who established the Maratha empire. Which is really the point of this post. Though Jija Bai and Kittur Chennamma, the two CG vessels were berthed alongside each other (often), there is no way the real Jija Bai and Kittur Chennamma would have met each other or got along even if they did.
Jija Bai (1598-1674) lived a full 100 years or so before Kittur Chennamma (1778-1829). More important, Kittur of Belgaum District would have been part of the Maratha Empire at its peak. Even around 1805, Kittur must have been a dominion of the Maratha Empire, which by then had itself been reduced to Maratha ‘states’ rather than an unified kingdom.
To confirm this point, I decided to overlay a present day snapshot of Google Map ‘starring’ the present day Taluk of Kittur with its fort, over an 1805 political map of India. Here is the result.
Around 1805, Kittur was part of the Maratha ‘states’. Though as per the treaty of Bassein (1802) the Peshwa of Pune had ceded control to the British East India Company, which led to the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05).
200 years to this day, events were churning up towards the Third Anglo-Maratha War or Pindari War of 1817-18, which consolidated the British Power in India. In its aftermath, Kittur is one such province which got caught in the land grab.
The whole issue of Kittur Utsav 2013 would been just another news report to me, except it brought out some interesting facts:
- in the 2nd Anglo-Maratha War, the Scindia forces were defeated by Lord Arthur Wellesley at Assaye. Yeah, the same guy who went on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo and forever be known as ‘Iron Duke’.
- in the above image overlay, look at the Dominion of the Nizam (of Hyderabad); that is the present day Telangana (almost). No wonder Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru didn’t want the Nizam to join Pakistan (or remain independent!) and broke up the dominion between 4 states (of Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP and MP).
- Kittur in 1824 had a treasure of 15 Lakh Rupees and jewels, which must have been quite a fortune 200 years back.
:-D
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