1. The Kodavas used early guns at least ever since the times of Kalyatanda Ponnappa (who lived around 1600). They used guns under the Kodagu Rajas who were Lingayats settled in Haleri village and ruled from 1600 to 1834. These Haleri Rajas adopted the local Kodava culture.
2. The Mysore-Kodagu wars from the years 1766 to 1789 had depopulated Kodagu. Many martial Kodava families had been wiped out. When the Kodagu Raja returned to power he gave some of the farm lands of the deceased families to Arebhashe families from Sulya. Among them were the Arebhashe who settled in Gaalibeedu village such as the Kochana and Yaladalu families.
3. In 1834, the region of Amara Sulya requested the British and got separated from the Coorg province. Being Tulu majority, it was added to the South Canara (Dakshina Kannada) district of Madras province.
4. The revenue collection in Coorg and Madras were different. In Coorg, since the times of the Rajas, a portion of the agricultural produce was paid as tax. This continued under the British as well. But in Madras, money was collected as tax. The South Canara collector refused to accept agricultural produce and only accepted cash. The people of Sulya were not used to this. They came under the power of money changers and resented this.
5. A Lingayat monk called Kalyanaswamy who was initially from Tumkur claimed to be related to the Rajas of Kodagu. However, the people of Kodagu knew that he was lying. But the people of Sulya and Dakshina Kannada did not know this. Kalyanaswamy came to lead the rebellion in 1837. Yet, there were people from Kodagu who supported the Sulya rebellion, in sympathy with the farmers. The rebellion was suppressed by the British authorities.
6. The Kodava Subedar Nerpanda Madaiah (Subedar of Nalknad) initially supported the Sulya rebels. But due to some misunderstanding the rebels held him captive in Sulya. Upset by this, after his escape, he showed the British the hideouts of the rebels who were then captured. This was the turning point for the rebellion. The British then put Madaiah to prison for seven years.
7. The Kodava officers Mandira Uthaiah (also known as Padinalknad Uttu) and Shantheyanda Mallayya (also known as Shanthalli Mallayya) had supported the rebellion as well. They were imprisoned for 14 years.
8. The Kodava Diwan Apparanda Bopu’s brother along with his neighbours and relatives supported the rebellion. So Bopu was suspected of supporting the rebels as well. To save his life, Bopu was forced to help the British suppress the rebels.
9. An Arebhashe leader Parupatyagara Kochana Doddaiah of Gaalibeedu supported the British. There were two Muslims chieftains as well who supported the British: Jahagirdar Chabhumiya and Fakre Ali. These three mentioned chiefs acknowledged Diwan Bopu as their leader and followed him. Along with others, they helped the British capture the rebels and they received the Coorg medal in 1837 for their loyalty.
10. The list of Coorg medal recipients was published in several places. A copy was reproduced in the Kannada version of the Pattole Palame as well which was first published in 1924 and has had many editions since.
11. In 1857, there was a rebellion supposedly planned by Muslims in Srirangapatna. This was suppressed by a force from Kodagu. However, we don’t have any details about this event.
12. The Kodavas worship arms. They (called Coorg by race) apply for exemption certificates in lieu of gun licenses. This is part of the exemption they received from the Arms Act. This has helped them since weapons are part of their rituals, whether birth, funeral, housewarming or during Kail Podh the annual festival of arms.
13. Today, despite supporting the British, the descendants of Kochana Doddayya, Chabhumiya and Fakre Ali don’t have the arms act exemption unless they own Jamma farmland. Also, despite rebelling against the British, the descendants of Uthaiah, Mallayya, Bopu’s brother and Madaiah, have exemption to the Arms Act. This exemption was given on the basis of Chief Commissioner Mark Cubbon’s recommendations. It is possible that the Kodavas met him and had enlightened him about their traditions.
14. Y K Chethan, who belongs to the Yaladalu Arebhashe family who settled in Gaalibeedu, is fighting a court case claiming that the Kodavas got the arms act exemption for loyalty to the British. What he doesn’t know is that his fellow Arebhashe community member, neighbour and even probable ancestor, Kochana Doddaiah of Gaalibeedu, was in fact rewarded by the British for his loyalty while a number of Kodavas didn’t support the imperialists.
Main References:
-Manual of Coorg, by G Richter, published in 1870.
-Pattole Palame, N Chinnappa, 1924.
-South Kanara, N Shyama Bhat, 1998.
-Kodagina Haleri Rajavamshavu, M G Nagaraj, 2004.
-Long ago in Coorg, M Kushalappa, 2013.
