# Vizagapatam/Gazetteer/Bobbili Taluk

BOBBILI TALUK.
Bobbili taluk lies inland, not far from the Jeypore hills and to the north-east of Vizianagram. In general appearance it resembles others of the plain taluks of the district. It is watered by the Suvarnamukhi and Végavati, which run in nearly parallel courses across it from west to east. The only place of note in the taluk is its head-quarters —
Bobbili, a town of 17,387 inhabitants. In this some weaving and work in brass and copper are done, but it is principally known as the chief town of the zamindari of the same name and the residence of its Mahárája. This estate pays a peshkash of Rs. 83,652 and land cess amounting to Es. 32,090, or more than any other in the district except Vizianagram.
According to family papers,1 the founder of the house was Pedda Ráyudu, fifteenth in descent of the Rájas of Venkatagiri and so a Velama by caste. In 1652 he entered the district in the train of Shéér Muhammad Khán, Faujdar or Nawáb of Chicacole (see p. 30). Another retainer of the Faujdar's was Púsapáti Mádhava Varma, the ancestor of the Vizianagram family, and the rivalry between the two houses dates from this period. For services to the Faujdar, Pedda Ráyudu was eventually granted the Rázám hunda.
His son Lingappa succeeded him, selected Bobbili as his ead-quarters, built a fort there, founded the town, and called it Pedda-puli ('great tiger') out of compliment to the name (Shér, i.e., 'tiger') of the patron of the family. The word was corrupted into Pebbuli and Bebbuli, and at length became Bobbili. A son of his patron, say the family chronicles, was seized, when out shooting, by a rebel at Rangavaka near Palása in Ganjám, and Lingappa rescued him. For this service he was granted twelve villages and the hereditary title of Ranga Rao which all his descendants have since borne.
He was followed by his adopted son Vengal Ranga Rao, and the latter by Rangapati. Rangapati's son Ráyadappa succeeded, and then his adopted son Gópálakrishna. In the time of the ​last-named, at the end of 1753, the Northern Circars were assigned to the French by the Nizam of Hyderabad (see p. 31) and Bussy, the French General, agreed to lease the Chicacole and Rajahmundry Circars to Pedda Viziaráma Rázu, the Rája of Vizianagram. A rupture between Bussy and the Nizam led to the weakening of the former's authority in the new acquisitions, but at the end of 1756 he arrived at Rajahmundry with a force designed to compel the payment of arrears of tribute and re-establish the position of the French. Viziarama Rázu went to meet him accompanied by 10,000 troops of his own and other chiefs, and, while there, used all his influence to persuade him to remove his own powerful neighbour and rival, the Rája of Bobbili, between whom and himself much jealousy existed. Bussy proposed to Bobbili that he should leave his fort and receive instead other land of greater extent and value in another part of the province, but the suggestion was received as an insult. Soon afterwards one of Bussy's detachments was cut up in the woods of Bobbili and in his anger the General determined to expel that chief and all his family. The result was 'one of the most ghastly stories which even Indian history has to record.' Orme's description is as follows, and no apology is needed for inserting his explanatory account of the defences of Bobbili, since it applies to the scores of old mud forts with which this district is dotted and shows how formidable, when in repair, were the defences which now, in their ruined condition, seem so contemptible. Orme says: —
'The province of Chicacole has few extensive plains, and its hills increase in frequency and magnitude, as they approach the vast range of mountains that bound this, and the province of Rajahmandrum, to the north-west. The bills, and the narrower bottoms which separate them, are suffered to over-run with wood, as the best protection to the opener valleys allotted for cultivation. The Polygar [chieftain], besides his other towns and forts, has always one situated in the most difficult part of his country, which is intended as the last refuge for himself and all of his own blood. The singular construction of this fort is adequate to all the intentions of defence amongst a people unused to cannon, or other means of battery. Its outline is a regular square, which rarely exceeds 200 yards; a large round tower is raised at each of the angles, and a square proJection in the middle of each of the sides. The height of the wall is 22 feet, but of the rampart within only 12, which is likewise its breadth at top, although it is laid much broader at bottom; the whole is of tempered clay, raised in distinct layers, of which each is left exposed to the sun until thoroughly hardened, before the next is applied. The parapet rises 10 feet above the rampart, and is only three feet thick. It is indented five feet down from the top in interstices six inches wide ​which are three or four feet asunder. A foot above the bottom of these interstices and battlements, runs a line of round holes, another two feet lower, and a third within two feet of the rampart: These holes are, as usual, formed with pipes of baked clay: they serve for the employment of fire-arms, arrows, and lances; and the interstices for the freer use of all these arms, instead of loop-holes, which cannot be inserted or cut in the clay. The towers, and the square projections in the middle, have the same parapet as the rest of the wall; and in two of the projections, on opposite sides of the fort, are gateways, of which the entrance is not in the front, but on one side, from whence it continues through half the mass, and then turns by a right angle into the place; and, on any alarm, the whole passage is choked up with trees, and the outside surrounded to some distance with a thick bed of strong brambles. The rampart and parapet is covered by a shed of strong thatch, supported by posts; the eaves of this shed project over the battlements, but fall so near, that a man can scarcely squeeze his body between: this shed is shelter both to the rampart and guards against the sun and rain. An area of 500 yards, or more, in every direction round the fort, is preserved clear, of which the circumference joins the high wood, which is kept thick, three, four, or five miles in breadth around this centre. Few of these forts permit more than one path through the wood. The entrance of the path from without is defended by a wall, exactly similar in construction and strength to one of the sides of the fort; having its round towers at the ends, and the square projection with its gateway in the middle. From natural sagacity they never raise this redoubt on the edge of the wood; but at the bottom of a recess, cleared on purpose, and on each side of the recess, raise breast-works of earth or hedge, to gall the approach. The path admits only three men abreast, winds continually, in everywhere commanded by breast- works in the thicket, and has in its course several redoubts, similar to that of the entrance, and like that flanked by breast- works on each hand. Such were the defences of Bobbili; against which Mr. Bussy marched, with 750 Europeans, of whom 250 were hors-", four field-pieces and 11,000 Peons and Sepoys, the army of Viziaráma Rázu, who commanded them in person.
'Whilst the field-pieces plied the parapet of the first redoubt at the entrance of the wood, detachments entered into the side of the recess with fire and hatchet, and began to make a way, which tended to bring them in the rear of the redoubt; and the guard, as soon as convinced of their danger, abandaned their station, and joined those in the posts behind; the same operations continued through the whole path, which was five miles in length, and with the same success, although not without loss. When in sight of the fort, Mr. Bussy divided his troops into four divisions, allotting one, with the field-piece, to the attack of each of the towers. Ranga Rao was here, with all his parentage, 250 men bearing arms, and nearly twice this number of women and children. ​ 'The attack commenced at daybreak, on the 24th January [1757], with the field-pieces agrainst the four towers; and the defenders, lest fire might catch the thatch of the rampart, had pulled it down. By nine o'clock, several of the battlements were broken, when all the leading parties of the four divisions advanced at the same time with scaling ladders; but, after much endeavour for an hour, not a man had been able to get over the parapet; and many had fallen wounded; other parties followed with as little success, until all were so fatigued, that a cessation was ordered, during which the field-pieces, having beaten down more of the parapet, gave the second attack more advantage; but the ardour of the defence increased with the danger. The garrison fought with the indignant ferocity of wild beasts defending their dens and families: several of them stood, as in defiance, on the top of the battlements, and endeavoured to grapple with the first ascendants, hoping with them to twist the ladders down; and this failing, stabbed with their lances, but being wholly exposed themselves, were easily shot by aim from the rear of the escalade. The assailants admired, for no Europeans had ever seen such excess of courage in the natives of Indostan, and continually offered quarter, which was always answered by the menace and intention of death: not a man had gained the rampart at two o'clock in the afternoon, when another cessation of the attack ensued; on which Ranga Rao assembled the principal men, told them that there was no hopes of maintaining the fort, and that it was immediately necessary to preserve their wives and children from the violation of Europeans, and the more ignominious authority of Viziaráma Rázu. A number called without distinction were allotted to the work; they proceeded, every man with a torch, his lance, and poiguard, to the habitations in the middle of the fort to which they set fire indiscriminately, plying the flame with straw prepared with pitch and brim tone, and every man stabbed without remorse, the woman or child, whichsoever attempted to escape the flame and suffocation. Not the helpless infant, clinging to the bosom of its mother, saved the life of either from the hand of the husband and father. The utmost excesses whether of revenge or rage, were exceeded by the atrocious prejudices which dictated and performed this horrible sacrifice. The massacre being finished, those who accomplished it returned, like men agitated by the furies, to die themselves on the walls. Mr. Law, who commanded one of the divisions, observed, whilst looking at the conflagration, that the number of the defenders was considerably diminished, and advanced again to the attack: after several ladders had failed, a few grenadiers got over the parapet, and maintained their footing in the tower until more secured the possession. Ranga Rao hastening to the defence of the tower, was in this instant killed by a musket-ball. His fall increased if possible, the desperation of his friends; who, crowding to revenge his death, left the other parts of the ramparts bare; and the other divisions of the French troops, having advanced likewise to their ​respective attacks, numbers on all sides got over the parapet without opposition: nevertheless, none of the defenders quitted the rampart, or would accept quarter; but each fell advancing against, or struggling with, an antagonist; and even when fallen and in the last agony, would resign his poignard only to death. The slaughter of the conflict being completed, another much more dreadful, presented itself in the area below: the transport of victory lost all its joy: all gazed on one another with silent astonishment and remorse, and the fiercest could not refuse a tear to the deplorable destruction spread before them. Whilst contemplating it, an old man, leading a boy, was perceived advancing from a distant recess: he was welcomed with much attention and respect, and conducted by the crowd to Mr. Law, to whom he presented the child with these words: "This is the son of Ranga Rao, whom I have preserved against his father's will." Another emotion now succeeded, and the preservation of this infant was felt by all as some alleviation to the horrible catastrophe, of which they had been the unfortunate authors. The tutor and the child were immediately sent to Mr. Bussy, who, having heard of the condition of the fort, would not go into it, but remained in his tent, where he received the sacred captives with the humanity of a guardian appointed by the strongest claims of nature, and immediately commanded patents to be prepared, appointing the son lord of the territory which he had offered the father in exchange for the districts of Bobbili; and ordered them to be strictly guarded in the camp from the malevolence of enemies.
'The ensuing night and the two succeeding days passed in the usual attentions, especially the care of the wounded, who were many; but in the middle of the third night, the camp was alarmed by tumult in the quarter of Viziaráma Rázu. Four of the soldiers of Ranga Rao, on seeing him fall, concealed themselves in an unfrequented part of the fort until the night was far advanced, when they dropped down the walls and speaking the same language, passed unsuspected through the quarter of Viziaráma Rázu, and gained the neighbouring thickets; where they remained the two succeeding days, watching until the bustle of the camp had subsided; when two of them quitted their retreat, and having by their language again deceived those by whom they were questioned, got near the tent of Viziaráma Rázu; then creeping on the ground they passed under the back part, and entering the tent found him lying on his bed, alone and asleep. Viziaráma Rázu was extremely corpulent, insomuch that he could scarcely raise himself from his seat without assistance: the two men, restraining their very breath, struck in the same instant with their poignards at his heart; the first groan brought in a centinel, who fired, but missed; more immediately thronged in, but the murderers, heedless of themselves, cried out, pointing to the body, "Look here! We are satisfied." They were instantly shot by the crowd, and mangled after they had fallen; but had stabbed Viziaráma Rázu in thirty-two ​places. Had they failed, the other two remaining in the forest were bound by the same oath to perform the deed or perish in the attempt.'
The situation of this historic fort can still be traced on the west side of the town, its site being a little higher than the ground about it, and here the present Mahárája of Bobbili erected in 1891 an obelisk bearing inscriptions on stone commemorating the tragedy. In these, and also in the Ranga Rao Charitram, the popular ballad on the subject which is still sung all over the district, the slaying of Viziaráma Rázu is attributed, not to two men as in Orme's account, but to a single individual named Tándra Pápayya, a sirdar of the fort at Rázám. To keep his memory green, the Velamas of Bobbili town erected there in 1900 a chávadi which bears his name.
Two members of the Bobbili family escaped from the massacre of the 24th January 1757; namely, the zamindar's brother, Vengal Ranga Rao, and his infant son Venkata Ranga Rao referred to by Orme, who was usually known as Chinna Ranga Rao. .Mr. Carmichael says that ' they fled to Bhadráchalam, but two years afterwards (1759) when Ananda Rázu of Vizianagram was at Masulipatam with Colonel Forde, they returned, and assembling their old retainers, got possession of the fort at Rázám. The Púsapátis at last were glad to compromise with them, giving them a lease of the Kavite and Rázám hundas for Rs. 20,000 a year. Vengal Rao lived three years after this, and was succeeded by Chinna Ranga Rao for four years, when in 1766, Sítaráma Rázu, growing apprehensive of his influence, managed to seize him and, imprisoning him in the fort at Vizianagram, resumed the taluks. Chinna Ranga Rao was in confinement till the year 1790, when he found means to make his escape. He fled into the Nizam's country, whence he was invited back by the Collector of the Northern Division in 1794, on the dismemberment of the Vizianagram zamindari. His old taluks were restored to him, and shortly afterwards he adopted a distant kinsman, Ráyadappa, for his son. He died in 1801, when great efforts were made by the Púsapátis to get his country incorporated with Vizianagram, but their prayer was rejected, the permanent settlement being made with the deceased's adopted son.
Chinna Ranga Rao was the builder of the oldest part of the present palace at Bobbili, the Saracenic arches on which its first floor is supported being perhaps due to ideas of architecture imbibed at Hyderabad. Ráyadappa, and after him his son Svétáchalapati (who succeeded in 1830 and lived till 1862), were excellent managers of their property. The latter made large ​additions by purchase to the estate, and loans from Bobbili saved half the estates in the district from confiscation and ruin. He also rendered assistance in arresting the fitúridars who disturbed the peace of the district in the thirties, and was thanked by Government. He finished the temple to Vénugópálasvámi at Bobbili — to which the present Mahárája is building a gópuram (the only one of its kind in the district) similar to those so common in the Tamil country — and made the Púl Bágh garden in 1851.
His adopted son Sítarámakrishna, who belonged to the family of the zamindars of Pithápuram in Gódávari, lived till 1868, when his wife Lakshmi Chellayamma (afterwards granted by Government the title of Ráni for her many charitable acts) took over the management of the estate. In 1871 she adopted the present Mahárája, Sir Venkata Svétáchalapati Ranga Rao, K.C.I.E., the third son of the Rája of Venkatagiri, and she died in 1887.
The present Mahárája took over charge in 1881, and has done a great deal for the property and the town. In 1882 he raised the local middle school to high school standard and built the existing poor-house in which about 70 people are fed daily; in 1886 he built the new wing of the palace; in 1887 the Victoria market; and in 1888 the Ráj Mahál, a most pleasantly situated house to the South-west of the town. In 1890 his title of Rája was formally recognized as hereditary by the Government of India. He went to Europe in 1893, was presented to the Queen-Empress, and on his return began the Victoria Town Hall, opposite to the main entrance of the palace, in commemoration of the event. In 1894 he started the gosha hospital, which he eventually handed over to the District Board with an endowment of Rs. 20,000. He was created a K.C.I.E. in 1895, a member of the Madras Legislative Council in 1896, and a Mahárája in 1900, and he went a second time to Europe as one of the two Madras representatives at the coronation of the King-Emperor. He also constructed the house and graceful mantapam in the Púl Bágh already mentioned, maintains a caste girls' school, is putting up a new building for the high school and has endowed several beds at the Victoria Caste and Gosha Hospital at Madras. He has also added largely to the estate, which has now been declared impartible and inalienable by Act II of 1904, has lent large sums to brother zamindars in difficulties, has offered such substantial inducements to the people of Bobbili to build tiled and terraced houses that the town, is now one of the smartest and neatest in the district, and has terminated the ancient feud between his family and the Rájas of Vizianagram. He has two sons, Venkata Kumára Krishna, born in 1880, and Ráma Krishna, born in 1892.