State celebrations on the eve of Alluri Sitarama Raju 125 Birth Day to commemorate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

Alluri Sitarama Raju was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed campaign against British colonial rule in India. Born to a Telugu speaking family on 4th July 1897 at Bhimavaram in present-day Andhra Pradesh, he became involved in opposing the British in response to the 1882 Madras Forest Act, which effectively restricted the free movement of Adivasis (tribal communities) in their forest habitats and prevented them from practicing a traditional form of agriculture known as PODU. Rising discontent towards the British led to the Rampa Rebellion of 1922, in which he played a major part as a leader. Mustering a force combined of Adivasis, farmers and sympathizers to their cause, he engaged in guerilla campaigns against the British colonial authorities in the border regions of the Madras Presidency part of the districts of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam (now part of Alluri Sitharama Raju district). He was nicknamed "Manyam Veerudu" (Hero of the Jungle) by local villagers for his heroic exploits. Alluri adopted aspects from the Non-cooperation movement, such as promoting temperance, and the boycott of colonial courts in favour of local justice, administered by panchayat courts, to attract people's support. Although the movement died out in early 1922, it had reached the plains area by then, as he was involved in the propagation of some of its methods among the hill people, to raise their political consciousness, and desire for change. These actions caused him to be put under the surveillance of police, from around February of that year, although the fact that he was using them as a camouflage to foment armed uprising seems to have not been recognized by either the movement, or the political leadership of the British.After putting up a massive effort for nearly two years, the British finally managed to capture Alluri in the forests of Chintapalle, he was then tied to a tree and executed by shooting on 7 May 1924 in the village of Koyyuru. A tomb of him currently lies in the village of Krishnadevipeta, near Visakhapatnam. The heroic efforts of young Alluri in fighting an all-out war without any state powers, against one of the most powerful empires have been recognised by all. The British Government grudgingly acknowledged him as a powerful tactician of the Guerrilla warfare which lasted for nearly two years, the fact that they had to spend over 40 lakhs in those days to defeat him.