HYDERABAD: As September 17, the day the Princely State of Hyderabad was merged with the Union of India in 1948 nears, calls demanding a memorial and museum for the hundreds of tribals who sacrificed their life fighting the combined might of the British and Nizam in 1860 forces, grow shriller. According to folklore, Ramji Gond, along with a thousand soldiers of his army, were captured and hanged from a banyan tree on April 9, 1860 near Nirmal.
The tree later came to be known as ‘Veyyi Urula Marri,’ which meant ‘the banyan of a thousand hangings.’ The tree has been long gone, some say it collapsed under the weight of a 1,000 men hanging, and a stupa, built by Telangana Sangarshana Samithi, unveiled on November 14, 2007, by balladeer Gaddar and Bellal Naik, at the height of the separate Telangana movement, marks the spot where it once stood. The macabre incident inspired many of the freedom fighters who challenged British rule.
However, the struggle by the Adivasis from 1857 was all about their aspiration of selfrule, protection of their forests against exploitation by the imperial forces, their defiance against slavery, and their existential duty to protect their culture, traditions and their identity. The Gond kings ruled the forest areas of what are now Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and undivided AP between 1240 and 1750. After their kingdom was conquered by the Marathas between 1750 and 1802, most of its area went into the hands of the British and under the control of the Nizams of Hyderabad.
After the martyrdom of Jhansi Laxmi Bai; Nanasaheb, Tantia Tope and Rao Saheb went their separate ways with their armies. Tope, along with his army of Rohillas tried to enter Hyderabad state by crossing the Narmada River, but was forced to change his route. The Rohillas entered Aurangabad, Nidar and Parbani in Maharashtra and Adilabad. They made Ajanta, Basmat, Latur, Makthal and Nirmal as their centres for struggle against the British. Ranga Rao, who led the Rohillas, was captured and sent to the Andamans by the British, where he died in 1860.
Ramji Gond took over the mantle of the Rohilla rebellion, leading the army against the British. As the atrocities of the British against the Adivasis in Sirpur, Asifabad, Chennur, Laxettipeta and Utnoor crossed all bounds, Ramji, along with the Rohillas, and a 500-strong Gond army made the treacherous hilly terrain near Nirmal their battlefield against the British. Wielding bows, arrows and swords, they had fought a valorous guerrilla war against the British. Having suffered major casualties, the British turned towards the Nizams for help. The Collector of Nirmal, along with the Nizam’s forces attacked them with modern arms ammunition, and on April 9, 1860, Ramji Gond, along with a thousand soldiers of his army, were captured and hanged from the banyan tree.
Tribal movement
That rebellion laid the foundation for all the tribal movements in the State till today. One such struggle for selfrule fought on the slogan ‘Jal, Jangal, Zameen,’ was waged by Kumaram Bheem from 1937 to 1940 against the Nizam. Telangana Udyama Karulu Forum Nirmal district president Musku Ramakrishna Goud said that the government should construct a memorial so that the valorous struggle of the tribals is passed on to future generations. “Last year on September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Nirmal and participated in a programme honoring the tribal freedom fighters. We hope this year too, they are honoured,” he said.