Rani Mangammal

"My people first and foremost."

Rani Mangammal ruled Madurai at the close of the 17th century for 18 years, with great sagacity and resourcefulness in a very turbulent and unsettled period in its history. Like many other women rulers she had to overcome prejudice about her ability based on her gender. However her successful rule at a fractious time in Madurai, and in a turbulent neighbourhood, only proved that she was the right woman for the job, at the right time. And like the Bhaumakara queen Tribhuvanamahadevi about seven centuries earlier and the Kakatiya Rani Rudramadevi of Warangal about five centuries earlier, Mangammal was yet another grandmother who ruled in her own right until her grandson was old enough to be crowned king. 

It is fascinating to realise that these worthy women simply did not allow the prevalent notions of their age and gender to come in the way of being successful rulers. They used the opportunity given by sheer chance to rule and bring about positive changes on the ground.

Family history

Mangammal was the daughter of Tupakula Lingama Nayaka, a general in the Madurai army. Chokkanatha Nayaka, who ruled Madurai from 1659 to 1682 A.D. married Mangammal in 1665. Chokkanatha Nayaka was an ineffective king whose reign saw loss of territory to neighbouring rulers, and hardships such as famine for his subjects. His erratic behaviour also caused much turbulence in the family.

Chokkanatha Nayaka wanted to marry the daughter of Vijayaraghava Nayaka of neighbouring Thajavur as his second wife. Vijayaraghava Nayaka rejected the offer, and died with his son in the battle initiated by Chokkanatha. The women of the family committed suicide. At this time the Maratha ruler Shivaji attacked Thanjavur and established Maratha rule there. Also an attack on Madurai by the Mysuru army was repulsed with the help of the rulers of Gingee and Ramanathapuram. With all this turmoil in the land Chokkanatha Nayak was deposed on the grounds of insanity. 

Although he was reinstated later, Chokkanatha Nayak died soon after. His son Lingama Krishna succeeded to the throne. However, Lingama Krishna born in 1666-67 died of small pox at the age of 21 before he could have much of an impact on the forces arrayed against Madurai. His mother Mangammal then became regent for her infant grandson Vijayaranga Chokkanatha who was born after the death of Lingama Krishna.

Rani Mangammal 

and her successor Vijayaranga Chokkanatha

A troubled neighbourhood and a surfeit of enemies

The start of Mangammal’s tenure (1689-1706 CE) was no bed of roses. She was besieged by trouble on all sides with no help from anyone. Mangammal had to contend with the Marathas of Thanjavur ruled by Shivaji's son Shahu, the Mughal Aurangzeb, Raja Ravi Verma of Travancore and the Mysuru army of Raja Chikka Deva Raya - all actively trying to establish their hegemony over the region. This resulted in non-stop political and military strategems, alliances and readjustments among the various players. Mangammal, in the meanwhile, had laser focus on improving the lot of Madurai’s citizens and keeping the kingdom safe. As such she was prepared to do anything to achieve this.

The key players in the game

Mughal

It was during Mangammal’s reign that Madurai came in contact with the Mughals. Aurangzeb was bent upon invading Madurai and Thanjavur after conquering the fort at Gingee from Shivaji’s son Rajaram. 

In 1693 Zulfiquar Ali, Aurangzeb’s general, planned to attack Madurai. In a cool assessment of the situation Mangammal realised that Thanjavur and Mysuru had sent tributes to the Mughals to avert bloodshed, so she decided to follow suit. 

Not only that, she also got the assistance of Zulfiquar Ali to retrieve some of her territory from Shahu of Thanjavur. She liberally gave gifts to the Mughals for their assistance against her enemies. Her priority always was to ensure no harm came to her subjects due to warfare and that she did not lose territory. 

Mysuru

The kingdom of Mysuru wanted to capture Madurai even when Chokkanatha was alive. Now, after his death, they thought they had a ready advantage with a woman on the throne. The Mysuru army captured Coimbatore and Salem within Mangamma’s territory. However, they were recalled before they could capture Madurai when Mysuru was itself attacked by the Mughals.

Travancore

The Raja of Travancore had been a feudatory of Madurai for years, but now the ruler Raja Ravi Verma began to withhold paying the tribute expected of him. So he had to be brought in line. Mangammal sent a force under the general (Dalavoy) Narasappaiah which included troops from other chieftains of Madurai to show she should be taken seriously and could not be trifled with. The force returned to Madurai with enormous booty.

Maratha

When the Madurai army defeated Shahu’s forces at Thanjavur to punish him for repeatedly taking away territory, a peace treaty was signed between them. They even decided to jointly fight Mysuru for building a dam across the Kaveri and depleting water at Madurai and Thanjavur. However, before they could do so the dam collapsed in heavy flooding due to rains, thus averting war.

Ramanad

The powerful ruler of the principality of Ramanad, Raghunatha Sethupathy, was in revolt and was aiming to become an independent ruler. He brought about Mangammal’s greatest military defeat which resulted in the death of her trusted Dalavoy Narasappaiah and the decline of Madurai from which it could never recover.

The practical ruler

The reign of Mangammal points to the prosperity of Madurai and her resourcefulness in ensuring the welfare of her people above all else. She is remembered even today for her excellent administration. Her memory lives on through the public works she carried out. In the political sphere the measures she carried out ensured that Madurai did not fall to the covetous powers that surrounded it, but remained as an independent entity. Not only that, she also ensured the return of some parts of the kingdom that had been handed over to other powers earlier, or that had been lost in battle before her reign.

Why is Mangammal still remembered even centuries later?

Apart from her military exploits and excellent administration, Mangammal is remembered for her diplomatic skills and the courage to face the trying circumstances before her both internally and externally. In fact, all her dealings with external powers were to explore how best to ultimately benefit her people best. She was forward-looking and constantly interested in general welfare. 

This attitude led to the construction of better civic facilities such as roads and avenues. Her capital was Tiruchi and she constructed several Anna Chatiram, food inns, on the Madurai -Tiruchi road. There were special horse stables along the road. She kept not just the physical health of the population in mind but also their psychological wellbeing by encouraging the construction of temples, irrigation canals and water bodies, celebration of festivals and even-handed interaction with her subjects regardless of their religious affiliations. Many of her public works in Madurai are still in use today.

She promoted trade and industry, built irrigation networks, an improved road from Kanyakumari to Madurai named Mangammal Salai, and a rest-house which presently stands near the Madurai railway station. Tamukkam Palace built during her reign is now a museum. 

She was open-minded and generous towards converts to Islam and Christianity. She endowed the temple of Meenakshi for which Madurai is famous, and ruled in the name of the deity. This was a practice by many rulers at the time who considered themselves to only be a servant while the real ruler was God.

Her last days

Mangammal died in 1706 after her grandson attained majority and was able to rule. The circumstances of her death are unclear since no verified account is available. 

Thus ruled a sensible queen who ran a stable government although the external circumstances were stormy and could easily have spelt disaster for a less experienced and immature ruler. Mangammal’s calm and steady hand ensured that the citizens of Madurai remained safe, and prospered without losing their lives or property during her reign. 

Ref. - 

1. History of the Nayaks of Madura. R Satyanatha Aiyar

2. Madras District Gazetteers: Madurai - B S Baliga, 1960

3. Psycho-biography: The last days of Rani Mangammal - Dr. O Somasundaram

 Kamala Sohonie

She charted new paths for women in science

 

Kamala Sohonie (18 June 1912 - 28 June 1998) was the first Indian woman to obtain a PhD in any subject of science. She was a biochemist who received her PhD in 1939, for her study of the effects of vitamins and the nutritive values of pulses, paddy, and groups of food items consumed by some of India’s poorest citizens. Her study of the nutritive value of the palm extract Neera that she conducted on the suggestion of President Rajendra Prasad was pathbreaking. She received the Rashtrapati Award for her pioneering work.

Kamala Sohonie

Source: Wikipedia

Early career stumbling blocks

Kamala Sohonie née Bhagvat was born in Indore in 1912. Her father and uncle were chemists and alumni of the Tata Institute of Sciences (later Indian Institute of Science) in Bengaluru. Inspite of encouragement at home to pursue her interest in science, all was not smooth sailing for Kamala Sohonie in her professional life inspite of her proven competence. At every step she came up against male prejudice and hidebound attitudes against women working in almost completely male environments . Yet, and this is the lesson we need to take away since these attitudes persist even today, she did not let that stop her. She found ways to sidestep and continue on her way to her goal. Nothing at work was handed to her as easily as it was to her male colleagues, and it might be argued that she had to expend energy on managing these unfair circumstances but my guess is that these roadblocks only served to make her more determined.

Facing gender prejudice… and winning

Kamala graduated in 1933 from Bombay University with Bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Physics. When she applied to the Indian Institute of Science at Bengaluru for a fellowship, Kamala was turned down by the then director and Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman despite her topping the university merit list. His reason was that she was unqualified due to her gender, that she was not competent to pursue research due to being a woman. Kamala’s response was a satyagraha outside Raman’s office, which caused him to change his mind subject to conditions - that she would be on probation until he was convinced of her merit and that she must ensure her presence would not disturb the male researchers. Kamala later recounted this period of her life at a meeting at the Indian Women Scientists’ Association - “Though Raman was a great scientist, he was very narrow-minded. I can never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. Even then, Raman didn’t admit me as a regular student. This was a great insult to me. The bias against women was so bad at that time. What can one expect if even a Nobel Laureate behaves in such a way?”

Kamala’s exemplary work ethic forced Raman to change his stance a year later, and she was allowed to continue as a regular researcher in biochemistry. What is more, due to her conduct and merit Kamala was the reason for the portals of the IISc being opened to women henceforth. It must have gladdened her that her fight was fruitful and led to more opportunities for deserving women candidates where none had existed earlier.

 

Kamala’s mentor and teacher at IISc, Sri Srinivasayya encouraged her to spread her wings. He pushed her to read the works of masters in biochemistry and even correspond with them. At IISc her work was on proteins in milk, pulses and legumes - all important for combating malnutrition in India at the time. She was the first researcher, only a graduate student then, to work in the field of pulse protein. This resulted in her obtaining an MSc from the University of Bombay.

Research and a PhD in Science from Cambridge University

Kamala then left for Cambridge where she worked in the lab of Dr. Robin Hill on plant tissue. While working on potatoes she found that every cell of a plant tissue contained the enzyme ‘cytochrome C’ which was involved in the oxidation of all plant cells. This was an original discovery which embraced the entire plant kingdom. She sent a short thesis on her discovery to Cambridge University for her PhD - the research and writing took 14 months, all encapsulated in 40 pages. 

She was the first Indian woman to get a PhD in science.

Soon she received two scholarships. One was at Cambridge University with Nobel Laureate Prof. Fredrick Hopkins with whom she worked in the areas of biological oxidation and reduction. The second was an US travelling scholarship which enabled her to meet scientists in Europe.

A career in India

After she returned to India in 1939 she became head at the Department of Biochemistry at the Lady Hardinge College, New Delhi. Later she became the Assistant Director of the Nutrition Research Laboratory, Coonoor which was when she researched the effect of vitamins. In 1947 she moved to Bombay after marriage.

There she joined the newly opened Department of Biochemistry at the Royal Institute of Science. This is where she researched three major food groups consumed by India’s rural poor in order to establish their nutritive values. These studies involved several products - 

leguminous proteins, trypsin inhibitors and other compounds which reduce the digestibility of Indian legumes, 

Neera, palm gur and palm molasses,  

dhanata paddy flour which is formed during milling and polishing rice.

Extensive study on Neera and nutrition for tribal women and children

She worked on the nutritive qualities of Neera, a popular drink in the southern states, Odisha, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Neera is also known as palm nectar, and is the fresh extract of the flowers of the toddy palm. It is white and translucent. Within a few hours of extraction it ferments and is then known as toddy. Introduction of Neera on a regular basis in the diets of pregnant tribal women and adolescents in these areas showed a remarkable improvement in their general health. Kamala had several batches of her students study the nutritional effects of Neera on tribal women over 10 to 12 years with samples of Neera taken from all over the country. The study showed the same results throughout and verified Neera as a good nutritional input.  

 

Later career in consumer safety

Kamala Sohonie was also a consultant at the Aarey Milk Dairy. She was active at the Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI). In 1982-83 she was elected their president. She also wrote for their publication Keemat on consumer safety. Even after all her professional achievements, Kamala Sohonie had to endure being denied directorship at CGSI for four years. When she finally became director, it was welcomed wholeheartedly by all who knew her work.

She always attributed her successes to three important men in her life - her father, her teacher and her husband. When Dr. Satyavathi, first woman Director-General at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India’s apex body for biomedical research, came to know of Dr. Sohonie’s struggles she felicitated the then 84-year old at a grand ceremony. The irony of Kamala Sohonie’s life is that she collapsed at the ceremony and passed away soon after.

Gender politics and the careers of women in science

Kamala Sohonie prevailed and succeeded in her chosen path inspite of numerous obstacles at every turn. It is an indication of her will power and the support she had which resulted in the successes in her career that she could enjoy at long last. 

The passage of time has not made it easier for women to achieve professional success despite their gender. Old fashioned chauvinistic attitudes still prevail, the improvement being they are not as prevalent as earlier and some avenues now exist to call them out. There is, however, a long way to go before gender parity is achieved. It is thanks to pioneering women such as Kamala Sohonie who broke a few glass ceilings that the disparity is now being acknowledged and partly redressed.

   

Reference - 

1. https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/Contributors/kamalasohonie.pdf

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Sohonie

The Chipko Aandolan

By women who decided to save trees

“The soil is ours. The water is ours. Ours are these forests. Our forefathers raised them. It’s we who must protect them.” A song from the Chipko Aandolan.

What was the Chipko Aandolan?

26 March 1973 is a red-letter day for the environment in India. The unique environmental movement, Chipko Aandolan, was started by women of Reni village of Uttarakhand (then a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). 27 women, led by their compatriot Gaura Devi, decided to protest the commercial felling of trees in their village and adopted a unique strategy to stop the practice. They said the trees were the basis for their survival and that they were prepared to protest until tree cutting was stopped. They claimed first rights to forest produce, for which the survival of the forest was vital. They linked hands and formed tight circles around trees, thus not allowing for them to be cut. In Hindi ‘Chipko’ means ‘to hug’, ‘Aandolan’ means ‘revolution or movement’.

Nobody could have foreseen the impact on British colonial rule in India of one man, Mahatma Gandhi, making a fistful of salt. This seemingly simple act of defying an unreasonable law set a train of events in motion during India's struggle for freedom.

Similarly when women of one village in India decided to hold hands to form a simple human barricade to prevent trees from being cut, it snowballed into a wider worldwide movement for ecology. 

Chipko Aandolan was a forest conservation, non-violent movement that soon spread with lightning speed around the world. The immediate impetus for the movement was a devastating flood of the river Alakananda in the Garhwal hills in 1970 which razed towns for nearly 320 kilometers from Hanumanchatti to Haridwar. 

Deforestation over time had led to a lack of vegetation, firewood and fodder which were traditionally collected by women for their homes and cattle. With the cutting of trees the women now had to travel increasingly longer distances to collect these essentials. Also the lack of good water for drinking and agriculture due to less trees became more apparent with each passing year. The reduction of trees led to erosion of topsoil, and floods becoming more lethal than if there had been vegetation.  

Big money overpowering the village small-scale industry

Inspired by the self-help Sarvodaya Movement of the Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan, the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) was established in 1964 to increase employment opportunities for villagers by setting up eco-friendly small scale industries using forest produce around Garhwal. DGSS faced several impediments due to British-era forest policies which only served to further the interests of rich contractors from towns who brought in their own labour from outside at the cost of employment for local residents. The locals had no say in the manner their resources were being used. In addition, the delicate ecological balance of the Garhwals was being strained with indiscriminate tree felling and construction activity.

The locals began to organise themselves to protest the large-scale logging contracts in the hills awarded to outsiders which did not benefit them. Awareness was also increasing of the negative impact of indiscriminate logging on the environment and the quality of their lives, especially after the flood. The villagers and the activists organised themselves to ensure all-night vigils at other locations where contracts had been awarded for tree felling without the villagers being informed. When these forms of protest did not have the needed impact of stopping logging, the DGSS and the villagers decided upon direct yet non-violent action.

The tipping point was when the government ordered the cutting of 2451 trees in March 1974 in the forests of Chamoli. The activists and the men of the village were called to a meeting elsewhere to decide upon the compensation amount. In the meanwhile a team of loggers arrived at the village, prepared to start cutting down the trees. A girl saw the preparations and alerted Gaura Devi who was head of the village women’s association Mahila Mangal Dal. 

Gaura Devi and the other women of the village had had enough of the tree felling by then. They could no longer accept the exploitation of natural resources around them. The women decided to stage a protest that would not alienate sympathy nor harm their cause. They would protest the non-violent Gandhian way. Plus, they had the historical protest of the Bishnoi of Rajasthan as a beacon. 

Environment activism in Indian history

In on 11 September 1730 Amrita Devi led hundreds of her Bishnoi community to protect with their lives the sacred Kejeri tree. The ruler Abhay Singh of Marwar in Rajasthan wanted to cut a grove of these trees in the village of Khejarli in the district of Jodhpur to build himself a palace. When his men arrived at the village and demanded to be allowed to cut the trees, Amrita Devi Bishnoi and her compatriots refused. The king’s men tried bribing their way, insulting the Bishnoi even more with the implication that they would surrender their cherished values for greed of money. 

Bishnoi Temple at Khejarli Massacre Memorial Site

Kaushal Bishnoi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

To stop the wanton destruction of their cherished trees Amrita Devi and the other women hugged the Kejeri trees in protest. That did not deter the king's men and they beheaded Amrita Devi and three of her daughters. Her last words are recorded as being, “A chopped head is cheaper than a chopped tree.” These stirring words soon became a rallying cry for the Bishnoi.

As the news of this killing spread all over Rajasthan, Bishnoi from 83 villages began to travel to Jahnad to do their part to protect the trees. The protest became bigger and bigger as the king’s minister would not stop his men from killing the Bishnoi. First the elderly Bishnois went forward to hug the trees and prevent the cutting. As they were killed the minister mocked the villagers saying they were sending forward only people who they thought were useless. In response, youngsters and children came to take the place of the elderly, and many were slaughtered. In all 363 Bishnoi gave their lives to a cause they fervently believed in.

This resistance, peaceful inspite of all odds, finally stirred Abhay Singh’s conscience. He travelled to Jehnad and personally begged for forgiveness. The village was renamed Khejarli after the sacred tree and is a place of pilgrimage for the Bishnoi.

11th September is today commemorated in India as The National Forest Martyrs' Day in honour of the Bishnois of Khejarli.

Environmental activism in the recent past

Gaura Devi went with 27 other women to the site to dissuade the loggers, but to no avail. When all the talking and subsequent shouting had died down, the loggers started to throw their weight and threatened the women with guns. That was when Gaura Devi and her fellow protestors decided to hug the trees by joining hands and forming human chains. They told the government officials that they would have to cut down the women too along with the trees, if they intended to proceed with the order. The women were prepared to protest until the bitter end. The stand-off continued all day and extended well into the night. The women did not budge.

Women activists of the Chipko Movement

NA, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

By the next day, news of the womens’ protest had spread to the neighbouring villages and the crowds at the protest site swelled as more and more people gathered. Sympathy for the protestors was palpable, yet the situation continued to remain non-violent. This stand-off continued for four days after which the contractors left.

An influential way to protest for the environment

The impact of this action was such that the panel constituted by the Chief Minister of the state to look into it ruled in favour of the villagers. This form of protest was adopted by protestors all over the Garhwal region with much impact over the next five years. Within a decade the Chipko Movement protest methods were being used the world over for environmental causes. 

Social impact of the Chipko movement

The initial Chipko Movement gave the impetus to several other social causes that needed a push up from the grassroots rather than top-down regulations. It brought women into the public arena to work for causes that impacted them personally. Some of the practices of the Chipko Movement were modified with women tying colourful strings to mimic rakhi around trees as protection bands to prevent felling. 

Another social impact of the Chipko movement was that the supply of alcohol as a bribe to men in the villages by contractors to allow tree felling came to a stop. This practise had resulted in drunkenness, lack of money in families and other social problems. Involvement of women in this eco-system put an end to it.  

The Chipko Movement showed that extractive and exploitative practices with regard to forest wealth are the major polluters, not poverty. Managing the environment is the only sustainable way to live.

Reference -

1. https://ecologise.in/2017/05/28/the-bishnois-indias-original-environmentalists-who-inspired-the-chipko-movement/

2. The Original Tree Huggers: Let Us Not Forget Their Sacrifice - Womens Earth Alliance

 Onake Obavva

She defended a fort with a pestle

Obavva was a housewife who lived in the fort of Chitradurga during the reign of the last ruler, Madakari Nayaka (1742 - 1782 CE). She was the wife of a guard at the fort and lives on in the collective memory of the region for her extraordinary feat of bravery. 

Background

Chitradurga is a city on the banks of the river Vedavati in central Karnataka. Its fort was an important one, held by the Nayakas. Chitradurga’s fort is called Kallina Kote (fort of stone) in Kannada. It is built over several hillocks of massive rocks and a peak.

In the battle for control between the Marathas and Hyder Ali of Mysuru, the Nayaka rulers gambled that the Marathas would be the winners of this tussle. However Hyder Ali was not one to give up very easily, and besieged the fort which was reputed to be impregnable. He made several attempts but remained unsuccessful.

Chitradurga Fort

Chain of events

A random and completely chance sighting of a woman entering the fort through an opening in the rocks showed Hyder Ali the secret entrance and the chance he needed to conquer it.  

Obavvana Kindi / Obavva's Crevice in Chitradurga Fort

Meanwhile, inside the fort Obavva’s husband Kahale Mudda Hanuma whose duty it was to guard the small opening of this hidden path came home for lunch. When he requested a glass of water with his meal Obavva went to collect it from a water tank near the opening. 

Whispers and soft sounds alerted her to some movement near the fort wall. Soon enough, she noticed an enemy soldier about to enter the fort through the crevice.

Undeterred, she picked up a onake, a long and heavy pestle used to pound grain, lying nearby and hit the soldier on the head with it. As she dragged away his body from the opening, another soldier’s head emerged. Obavva positioned herself by the side of the hole and hit every soldier’s head as he attempted to enter the fort, killing each one. 

The number of bodies of enemy soldiers despatched by Obavva increased as the minutes ticked away. When Obavva’s husband came in search of her, an alarm was raised all over the fort and it was defended successfully.

Hyder Ali was once again prevented from conquering Chitradurga thanks to the quick wits of a non-combatant. 

Statue of Onake Obavva 

by Ashok Gudigar at Chitradurga stadium

What happened to Obavva?

There are various versions to how this episode ended. Some accounts state that Obavva was eventually overpowered by some of the enemy soldiers of Hyder Ali, and thus died. Others say she died of over-exertion. Whatever the result, Chitradurga’s Nayaka soldiers prevailed to fight another day. 

It is another matter that Hyder Ali succeeded in conquering Chitradurga some months later.

But the legend of Obavva, her incredible resourcefulness and bravery lives on even today. 

The crevice in Chitradurga fort that Obavva guarded is known today as Obavvana Kindi (Obavva’s Crevice) in Kannada, Chitradurga’s stadium is named after her.

An ordinary woman was able to find a way to save her people all alone with no thought to her personal safety, using whatever resource she could find around her - that is the legend of quick-thinking and courageous Obavva, respected and remembered today.

Ref. -

1. Jasmine and Coconuts: South Indian Tales by Cathy Spagnoli and Paramashivam Samanna

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20110515154647/https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/blewis/www/chitradurga.htm

 Gaidinliu

A Commoner called a Queen

Rani Gaidinliu (1915 - 1993) was a freedom fighter of the Kabui Naga tribe who was born and brought up in Manipur. She was the fifth of eight children and belonged to the ruling family of the village. However she had no formal education because of a lack of schools in the area.

By 13 years of age Gaidinliu joined her cousin Jadonang, whom she looked upon as her guru. Jadonang was also a spiritual leader or priest, maiba, of the clan - a person who was traditionally very influential and revered. Jadonang began a socio-religious movement to revive the traditional Naga religion and to oppose the British in order to end their rule. He was impressed by young Gaidinliu’s resolve and single-mindedness of purpose. She was an apt pupil who was a good learner. Gaidinliu had grown up witnessing Jadonang’s activism to improve the social and economic lives of the Nagas, and actively participated in the movement. 

The beginnings of the Heraka movement

Jadonang (born in 1905) was a Naga from the Manipur sub-division. He was a deeply religious person and was renowned for healing and interpreting dreams. He was very disturbed by the dilution of the Naga culture and religion, while Christianity’s influence grew in the area. The British and their oppressive policies of excessive taxation and new laws were also other reasons for his distrust. He saw these changes as the impact of British imperialism, and decided to fight. In 1930-31 he started a new socio-religious movement which came to be called Heraka (Pure) and convinced his people that he would overthrow the existing British administration and bring back self-rule and the spiritual practises of the ancestors. 

The British did not look very kindly upon Jadonang. He talked of a new movement that would usher in the Golden Age for the people who were experiencing famine and loss of land due to an influx of immigrants. The movement exorted people not to pay their taxes to the oppressive British. Instead, the locals supported the movement with donations.

The movement soon turned into an armed rebellion that Gaidinliu also joined. By the age of 16 she was a leader in the guerilla forces fighting against the British.

The British response

The Political Agent, a British official, sent a few soldiers of the Assam Rifles in February 1931 to  a temple established by Jadonang and destroyed it. The soldiers also went to a few other villages for a show of strength. Jadonanag himself was arrested. He was put on trial for the murder of 4 unarmed Manipuris, charged with sedition and was called a sorcerer. He was hanged in August 1931.

Gaidinliu leads the Heraka movement

These measures did not however see the end of the Heraka movement. It continued under the leadership of Gaidinliu who was seen as Jadonang’s spiritual successor and priestess, Maibi. The movement was kept alive with songs that spoke of the main themes of the Heraka movement - a return to the Golden Age and prosperity of the people. 

Rani Gaidinliu

The prevalent belief was that a new Naga Raj would be formed in the hills including the tribes. A number of medicine men went over the authority of the traditional village elders  and convinced villagers that they would be the recipients of benefits if they joined the movement. The British were alarmed at these developments and wanted to quell the disturbances. 

By 1931-32 the movement had spread beyond the borders of Manipur into the Naga hills. 

Throughout the operations undertaken by the administration to capture Gaidinliu they would be attacked by large groups of Nagas and had to resort to firing on them. Some of the villages also got burnt in the operations. 

Soon the British were trying to capture her, while she remained ahead of them with local support. Army batallions were sent after her and a reward was announced for information about her whereabouts. The offer was made sweeter with the announcement of a 10-year long tax break to the village that informed on her to the police.

While she was on the run, her followers murdered the watchman of a village, suspecting him of being the informer that led to her arrest. Now she was also wanted for murder by the British authorities. When finally arrested in October 1932 in the Naga Hills, she underwent a trial and was convicted of murder. Many of her associates were hanged. Gaidinliu spent 14 years in prison.

Her influence was such that many of her followers continued her work of Heraka until she was released from prison in 1947 upon India’s independence. 

Adapting Heraka to changing times

Upon her release Gaidinliu reformed the Heraka movement to reflect the changing times. Ancestral rituals to earn merit required performing sacrifices and the restriction of movement outside a designated area, such as the house or the village. However, the introduction of schools and increased work opportunities required people to leave the designated areas regularly. Gaindinliu abolished the restrictions since they were no longer practical and stood in the way of progress. Performing sacrifices had also been very important traditionally but the sheer cost of the ritual was now prohibiitive. Gaidinliu advocated stopping sacrifices. This increased the popularity of Heraka.

Later life

After her release in 1947 when she met Prime Minister Nehru, he called Gaidinliu rani, a queen, for having stood strong despite her hard life. In the meanwhile there was strong opposition to Heraka by several Naga leaders, and Gaidinliu went into hiding in 1960. She continued to work to strengthen Heraka. In 1966 she returned to the mainstream and met Prime Minister Shastri. Her followers were employed at the Nagaland Police.

The government of India conferred Gaidinliu with the Padma Bhushan in 1982. Her work has also been recognised with the issue of a postage stamp and a commemorative coin in her honour. Gaidinliu died in 1993 at the age of 78.  

 

Ref.

1. History of the frontier areas bordering on Assam 1883-1941 - Sir Robert Reid. 

2. Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging - Arkotong Longkumer

#BlogchatterA2Z     https://www.theblogchatter.com/

A word about BlogchatterA2Z - This is an annual event during which I have taken up the challenge of blogging on Women in Indian History starting with A and ending in Z during the month of April, 2021. Here then is G - Gaidinliu, a commoner termed a queen for her stand against the British and for her work to strengthen Naga society. Drop in everyday to read my posts on other interesting women as I work my way down the alphabet to Z!