Kisan Movement
Peasant mobilisation in colonial Andhra — from Ryot Sabhas to Kisan Sabhas and the Telangana Armed Struggle.
Why this chapter matters
The Kisan Movement is the single connecting thread linking anti-zamindari struggle in coastal Andhra, the Nizam's ryotwari grievances in Telangana, the Communist-led armed struggle, and the eventual Estates Abolition Act (1948). APPSC has asked at least one direct question from this chapter in every prelims cycle since 2011.
Ranga — The 'Peasant Professor'
Oxford-trained economist who taught at Pachaiyappa's College (Madras), Ranga chose the plough over the podium. His Nidubrolu 'Ryots' Institute' (1933) trained a generation of peasant cadres. He is the only Indian to serve as MP continuously for 60 years (1930 – 1991) and later co-founded the Swatantra Party (1959).
1920 – 1951 (Peak: 1936 – 1948)
Gandhian → Socialist → Communist (three overlapping phases)
Andhra Provincial Ryots' Association (Nidubrolu, 1928)
All-India Kisan Sabha (Lucknow, April 1936)
Prof. N. G. Ranga — 'Father of the Kisan Movement in Andhra'
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (Bihar)
Telangana Armed Struggle (1946 – 1951)
Madras Estates (Abolition) Act, 1948
Abolition of zamindari, jagirdari and inam without compensation
Permanent occupancy rights; ban on eviction; fixation of fair rent
Moratorium on sowcari debts; state credit cooperatives
Abolition of vetti and all forms of forced labour
50% remission in famine years; end of illegal cesses
Universal adult franchise, complete independence, peasant representation in legislatures
Granted occupancy rights on 'private' zamindari lands
Abolished 800+ zamindaris, mokhasas & inams; ~30 lakh acres vested in the state
Dismantled 6,500 jagirs covering ~30% of Telangana
First statutory occupancy rights for shikmidars
Redistributed ~10 lakh acres to landless peasants via gram-rajya committees
5.5 lakh members — largest peasant organisation in Asia
1921
Chirala–Perala & Palnadu forest satyagrahas — first mass peasant participation under Congress
1923
Palnadu 'pullari' (grazing tax) resistance led by Kanneganti Hanumanthu — martyred at Minchalapadu
1928
Andhra Provincial Ryots' Association founded at Nidubrolu by N. G. Ranga — first exclusive peasant body in Andhra
1933
Nidubrolu No-Rent campaign against zamindari cesses during the Depression
1934
Congress Socialist Party (CSP) formed at Patna — Ranga and Jayaprakash Narayan draw peasants leftward
April 1936
All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) founded at Lucknow — Sahajanand Saraswati President, N. G. Ranga General Secretary
1937
Congress Ministry (Rajaji) in Madras opens legislative space for tenancy reform
1938
Peasant march to Madras Legislature; Madras Estates Land (Amendment) Act grants occupancy rights on 'private' lands
1939
AIKS splits from Congress at Comilla; adopts red flag and class-struggle line
1940
Andhra Mahasabha (Telangana) captured by Communists under Ravi Narayan Reddy at Chilkur session
July 1946
Doddi Komarayya killed in Kadavendi (Jangaon) — trigger of Telangana Armed Struggle
1946 – 47
Kisan Sabha–Communist squads (dalams) establish 'gram-rajya' committees in ~3,000 villages
1948
Madras Estates (Abolition) Act — T. Prakasam pilots the bill; zamindari legally dismantled in Madras Presidency
Sept 1948
Operation Polo — Indian Army enters Hyderabad; struggle now targets Indian state
Oct 1951
CPI withdraws armed struggle after 'Andhra Thesis' debate — Kisan movement transitions to electoral politics
- 1921
Palnadu forest satyagraha
- 1928
Andhra Provincial Ryots' Association (Nidubrolu)
- 1933
Nidubrolu No-Rent campaign
- April 1936
All-India Kisan Sabha, Lucknow
- 1940
Chilkur — Andhra Mahasabha captured by Communists
- July 1946
Doddi Komarayya killed — Telangana armed struggle begins
- 1948
Madras Estates (Abolition) Act
- Oct 1951
CPI withdraws armed struggle
Prof. N. G. Ranga (1900 – 1995)
Guntur — Father of Andhra Kisan Movement
Founded Andhra Ryots' Assn (1928); AIKS Gen. Secretary (1936); MP for 60 years; author of 'Revolutionary Peasants' (1949).
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (1889 – 1950)
Bihar — AIKS President 1936
Sanyasi-turned-peasant leader; author of 'Kisan Sabha ke Sansmaran'.
Puchalapalli Sundarayya (1913 – 1985)
Nellore — Communist peasant organiser
Author of 'Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons'; first CPI(M) General Secretary (1964).
Ravi Narayan Reddy (1908 – 1991)
Bhongir, Telangana
Captured Andhra Mahasabha at Chilkur (1940); polled highest votes in India in 1952 (Nalgonda).
Kanneganti Hanumanthu (d. 1922)
Palnadu martyr
Killed at Minchalapadu resisting 'pullari' (grazing tax).
Chandra Rajeswara Rao (1914 – 1994)
Krishna dist. — CPI Gen. Secretary
Drafted the withdrawal 'Andhra Thesis' (1951).
Baddam Yella Reddy
Karimnagar — Telangana dalam leader
Organised gram-rajya committees in ~200 villages.
Mallu Swarajyam (1931 – 2022)
Suryapet — teenage guerrilla
Later CPI(M) MLA; iconic woman face of Telangana struggle.
T. Prakasam (1872 – 1957)
Madras CM 1946
Piloted the Estates Abolition Act, 1948.
N. G. Ranga
Father of Andhra Kisan Movement
Sahajanand Saraswati
First AIKS President
P. Sundarayya
Communist peasant leader; author of the Telangana study
Ravi Narayan Reddy
Andhra Mahasabha & Telangana struggle
Kanneganti Hanumanthu
Palnadu martyr, 1922
Phase 1 · Gandhian Peasant Satyagraha (1920 – 1930)
Palnadu, Chirala–Perala, Pedanandipadu — no-tax under Congress banner. Leader: Konda Venkatappayya.
Phase 2 · Provincial Ryot Sabha (1928 – 1935)
Ranga's Andhra Ryots' Assn organises coastal peasants around anti-zamindari demands.
Phase 3 · Socialist–AIKS Radicalisation (1936 – 1939)
Peasant question linked to class struggle; red flag adopted; peasant march to Madras Legislature.
Phase 4 · Communist Capture & Andhra Mahasabha (1940 – 1945)
Ravi Narayan Reddy takes Telangana platform; Sundarayya organises Nellore ryots; food-collection struggles during WWII.
Phase 5 · Telangana Armed Struggle (1946 – 1948)
Guerrilla dalams against Razakars and doras; gram-rajya committees redistribute 10 lakh acres.
Phase 6 · Withdrawal & Electoral Turn (1948 – 1951)
After Police Action, CPI debates line; 'Andhra Thesis' withdraws armed struggle; peasant cadre enters 1952 elections.
- Permanent Settlement (1802) locked coastal Andhra into a rigid zamindari system with fixed revenue and rack-renting.
- Ryotwari areas (Rayalaseema, Guntur, Nellore) faced arbitrary revenue enhancements after the 1855 & 1864 settlements.
- Vetti (forced labour), illegal cesses (magamaas) and eviction of tenants for arrears became routine on estates like Venkatagiri, Bobbili and Munagala.
- The Great Depression (1929–33) collapsed groundnut and cotton prices in Guntur–Krishna, pushing ryots into debt bondage under sowcars.
- In Telangana, deshmukh–deshpandes converted service tenures into private jagirs, evicting cultivators as 'shikmidars' with no occupancy rights.
- Nationalist awakening under Congress (post-1920) and the arrival of socialist ideas (post-1934) gave the peasant a political vocabulary.
| Feature | Coastal Andhra | Telangana |
|---|---|---|
| Land system | Zamindari (Permanent Settlement, 1802) | Jagirdari + Deshmukh estates under Nizam |
| Chief grievance | Rack-rent, illegal cesses, eviction | Vetti, bhagela (bonded labour), forced grain levy |
| Dominant leadership | N. G. Ranga (Socialist–Congress) | Ravi Narayan Reddy, P. Sundarayya (Communist) |
| Method | Legislative + no-rent satyagraha | Armed guerrilla struggle (dalams) |
| Peak year | 1938 (Estates Land Amendment) | 1946 – 48 (armed phase) |
| Outcome | Estates Abolition Act, 1948 | Jagir Abolition Regulation, 1949 + tenancy laws |
Swipe horizontally to see more →
Ryots' Assn = Ranga's regional body at Nidubrolu (1928). AIKS = all-India body at Lucknow (1936) with Sahajanand as President; Ranga was Gen. Secretary.
The Telangana body (1930, Jogipet) was a social-reform-turned-Communist platform. The coastal Andhra Mahasabha (1913 onward) demanded a separate Andhra province.
1948 Act = Madras Presidency (coastal Andhra & Rayalaseema). 1949 Regulation = Hyderabad State (Telangana).
Sahajanand = AIKS President (Bihar sanyasi). Ranga = AIKS General Secretary and Andhra's organiser.
RSS-3 + DEC
Three pillars — Ranga · Sahajanand · Sundarayya. Three outcomes — Doddi trigger, Estates Act 1948, Communist withdrawal 1951.
- AIKS founded April 1936 at Lucknow — Sahajanand President, Ranga Gen. Secretary.
- Andhra Provincial Ryots' Association — Nidubrolu, 1928 — Ranga.
- Telangana Armed Struggle (1946–51) = climax of the Kisan Movement.
- Trigger of Telangana struggle = killing of Doddi Komarayya (Kadavendi, July 1946).
- Estates Abolition Act 1948 — piloted by T. Prakasam in Madras Legislature.
- Ravi Narayan Reddy polled highest votes in India in 1952 (Nalgonda) — verdict of the Kisan Movement.
Year & venue of AIKS founding
PrelimsRanga's Nidubrolu institution — year & name
PrelimsTrigger event of Telangana Armed Struggle
PrelimsEstates Abolition Act — year & pilot minister
PrelimsPhases of the Kisan Movement — write with dates
MainsCompare coastal vs. Telangana peasant struggle
Mains