RANI ABBAKKA OF ULLALA IN KARNATAKA

The year was 1555. Portuguese colonial power was at its peak in the 1500’s. They destroyed Zamorins of Calicut. Defeated the Sultan of Bijapur. Took away Daman from the Sultan of Gujarat, Established a colony in Mylapore, Captured Bombay and made Goa as their headquarters. And while they were at it, pretty much unchallenged, they even ruined the ancient Kapaleeswarar Temple to build a Church over it.

Their next target, the super profitable port of Mangalore.

Their only bad luck, just 14 kilometers south of Mangalore was the small settlement of Ullal - ruled then by a feisty 30 year old woman - Rani Abbakka Chowta.

Initially, they took her lightly and sent a few boats and soldiers to capture and bring her back to Goa - Those boats never came back.

Shocked and enraged, they sent a huge fleet of ships this time, under the command of much celebrated Admiral Dom Álvaro da Silveira - The admiral soon returned, badly injured and empty handed.

Thereafter, another Portuguese fleet was sent - only a few injured from the crew managed to make it back.

Then the Portuguese went on to capture the Mangalore port and the fort anyways, perhaps planning to tackle Rani Abbakka Chowta from the convenient distance of the Mangalore fort.

After the successful capture of Mangalore, a huge army under João Peixoto, an experienced Portuguese General was sent to Ullal.

The brief was simple: Subjugate Ullal and capture Abbakka Chowta.

The plan was foolproof- there was no way a 30 year old lady with a few men could withstand the might of an army of thousands with advanced weapons.

The Portuguese reached Ullal and found it deserted. Abbakka was nowhere in sight. 

They roamed around, relaxed and thanked their stars - Just when they were about to call it a victory - Mrs Chowta attacked with 200 of her chosen men - there was chaos all around and many portuguese lost their lives even without a fight 

General João Peixoto was assassinated, 70 Portuguese were captured and the rest just ran away.

So if you’re Abbakka Chowta, who’s just defeated a large army of aggressors, killed a general, captured fighters and defended her city - What will you do? 

- Rest and enjoy the moment right? 

- Right? 

- No!

Rani Abbakka Chowta, rode with her men towards Mangalore that same night, and laid a siege of the Mangalore fort - She not just broke inside the fort successfully - but assassinated Admiral Mascarenhas the Chief of the Portuguese power there and forced the remaining Portuguese to vacate the fort.

She didn’t just stop at this but went on to even capture the Portuguese settlement at Kundapura, a full 100 kms, north of Mangalore - Just to make a point.

The Portuguese finally managed to get back at Abbakka Chowta by convincing her estranged husband, to betray for money. She was arrested and put in the prison where she revolted again and was killed while trying to escape.

Abbakka Chowta was a Jain who fought against the Portuguese for four decades, with an army comprising of both Hindus and Muslims, a full 300 years before the First War of Indian Independence in 1857.

What did we Indians do to her, as a mark of our respect and gratitude? - We just forgot her.

We didn’t name our girls after her. We didn’t even teach her stories to our kids. 

Yes we did release a Postal Stamp in her name, named a boat after her and erected 2 statues - yes just 2 statues in the whole of India for someone who should be our national hero. 

The Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Rani Abbakka the 1st of a series of five inshore patrol vessels built at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd is named after Abbakka Mahadevi.

We might have got to read a chapter about her in our text books, had she been a European or an American.

Many talk about her being the last Indian to have the power of the agni-ban. In all this cacophony, our generation has lost a great hero - a great source of inspiration.

Still wondering why you’ve not heard about her yet?

Onake Obavva

Chitradurga, which is situated amidst towering boulders and hillocks, is a small town in Karnataka, India.

The Nayaka Dynasty once ruled this rocky terrain for about 250 years between the 1550s and 1700s. During the late-1700s, the Chitradurga kingdom lay in between two great powers — the Maratha kingdom in the north, ruled by Peshwa Madhav Rao, and the Mysore kingdom in the south, ruled by Hyder Ali.

During the reign of the last Nayaka ruler of Chitradurga, Hyder Ali tried to lay siege and attacked the fort multiple times. The fort was so well built that it was impregnable, and the initial attacks by Hyder Ali were unsuccessful.

One day, a soldier in Hyder Ali’s army saw a person entering the fort through a small crevice between the rocks surrounding the fort. The hole was big enough for only one person to crawl through at a time. With this piece of information, Hyder Ali decided to attempt another siege by sending his soldiers through this crevice into the fort.

A sentry of Chitradurga was guarding the crevice inside the fort. His name was Kahale Mudda Hanuma, and his wife’s name was Obavva.

One afternoon when Kahale Mudda Hanuma was at home for lunch, Obavva went out to fetch a pot of drinking water.

On her way back, she saw one of Hyder Ali’s soldiers entering the fort from the crevice. Thinking quickly, Obavva took an Onake or a pestle (a long wooden device used for pounding paddy and other grains) and struck him on his head, killing him instantly.

Anticipating more soldiers, Obavva hid the dead soldier’s body and stood guard at the crevice. A lone woman with no prior training in the art of war did not deter her from this situation.

True to her anticipation, more soldiers crawled into the fort through the crevice. She struck every soldier one after the other, as they entered through the hole, and dragged each dead soldier’s body aside.

When Kahale Mudda Hanuma returned after lunch, he was stunned to see a bloodied Onake in Obavva’s hand and a pile of dead soldiers on the side. He immediately sounded the war alarm and warned the others to prepare for battle.

Obavva died the same day of this incident, but the actual reason for her death remains unknown.

Although Obavva’s heroic act delayed Hyder Ali’s siege on the fort, the last Nayaka ruler lost to Hyder Ali. And Mysore conquered the Chitradurga fort.

Neither losing the war, nor Obavva’s death could mar her achievement. Obavva had no prior experience in warfare. But, she rose to the situation, used whatever little resource she had, and displayed exemplary resolve and courage to prevent enemies from entering the fort. In doing so, she has given us a lesson not to get discouraged and face any challenge thrown at us with courage and determination.

History refers to her as Onake Obavva. The crevice she was once guarding is now called Obavvanna Kindi (Kindi means crevice in Kannada), and Chitradurga has a stadium named after her. The legend of Onake Obavva continues to marvel both kids and adults alike

India’s Youngest Spy In The INA

  Saraswathi Rajamani

It is widely known that women’s contributions to social change throughout history have been subject to the blatant erasure of facts, so much so that all important moments in history appear to have been manifested by men. It becomes increasingly necessary to take a careful glimpse back into history to ensure that women’s achievements are not dismissed, that they were as much a part of enabling positive social change as their counterparts who are men. Today, we talk about Saraswathi Rajamani, an Indian spy.

 the year 1927, Saraswathi Rajamani was born into an affluent family in Myanmar. Her home environment was considerably liberal, and she thus had more freedom to explore and learn things that many young Indian women would not be allowed to practice. With a father who greatly admired freedom fighters, she grew up in an intensely patriotic environment. In 1937, upon a visit to her house, Mahatma Gandhi found 10-year old Saraswathi polishing her shooting skills! Having asked her why a little child needs to know how to use a gun, she replied simply, “To shoot down the Britishers, of course.“

Despite Gandhi’s efforts in fostering in her the value of ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence), she was always convinced that a non-violent struggle would not be as effective as a violent one. She replied, “We shoot and kill the looters, don’t we? The British are looting India, and I am going to shoot at least one Britisher when I grow up.” Following her beliefs, she eventually gravitated to the methods of obtaining freedom that Subhas Chandra Bose advocated for. His methods resonated with her deeply, and she adopted the slogan, “Tum mujhe khoon do or main tumhe azadi dunga (You give me blood, and I will give you freedom)." 

At the age of 16, Saraswathi Rajamani was inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose, his unapologetic demeanour, and his powerful speech on taking up arms against the British. On his way back from the speech, as Bose was requesting for funds for the Indian National Army (INA), the young girl gave away all her jewellery to him. With little faith in the judgement of a 16-year old, Bose went to her house to return the jewellery, only for the gesture to be rejected both by Rajamani’s fierce insistence and her father’s encouragement to support the INA. It was this generous step that led Bose to name her ‘Saraswathi’, which means ‘wealth’.

Impressed by Saraswathi’s dedication to the cause of obtaining freedom from the British, Bose recruited her into the INA, making her the youngest person, as well as the first woman spy, to have joined the INA’s intelligence wing. Saraswathi Rajamani was bestowed with the opportunity to investigate government orders and convey any message from the British military to the INA. She would be disguised as a young boy under the name of ‘Mani’. While she performed her duty well, there came an instance wherein she was forced to disregard the rule of not getting caught when her friend was captured by the British. Rajamani dressed as a dancing girl to enter the British camp, drugged the British officer, and rescued her partner.

She did, however, get shot in the leg in her attempt to escape. Far from allowing this to slow her down, Rajamani continued to run, even climbed a tree and camped there for three days whilst the British conducted a search operation. Instead of letting the limp get the best of her otherwise fiery spirit, Rajamani wore it as a beloved souvenir of her days as a spy. However, as it often happens, her important role as a member of Bose’s army soon slipped into oblivion…

For the most part, Rajamani stayed alone in an old house in Chennai with hardly any savings as her family had given away almost everything they had to the freedom struggle. It was only in 2005 that J. Jayalalitha, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, offered her a different house to live in, which Rajamani adorned with photos of Netaji. Despite her old age, her faith in the nation did not wither. She also made sure to give back to society by collecting fabric scraps from tailors and donating hand-sewn clothes to old age homes and orphanages. Additionally, her philanthropic spirit is evident in the fact that in 2006, she donated her dismal pension to the relief fund established for those who were affected by the tsunami.

It is indeed a tragedy that such a strong (and badass!) personality has been allowed to be forgotten. There is scarce information available on her life, very few details on the nature of her work and how she contributed to it. A rare gem, Saraswathi Rajamani proved very early on in life that she was a warrior who would fight endlessly for what she deemed important with unmatched determination. One can only hope to take inspiration from her and learn from her example the confidence it takes to stand up for your principles