History and Contribution of the Zamindars in Visakhapatnam Region (AD 1611-1949)

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About the Book The present study aims at dealing with the History and Contribution of the Zamindars in the Visakhapatnam Region that lived as contemporaries of or in succession to the Qutb - Shahis of Golkonda and British East India Companies. It can be said that till now no work of relative importance has been drawn to assess the History and Contribution of those Zamindari Families.

The Subject Matter is divided into Six Chapters (excluding conclusion). This book makes a thorough study of the Individual Zamindari families, their genealogy and chronology, relations with the other contemporary Zamindars, society, economy and literary patronage of those families. A resume of the contributions of those families is made in the Conclusion. The genealogical table of the Zamindari families is appended to the work for easy reference.

About the Author Dr BADARALA ANJANI KUMARI the author of the book is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of History and Archaeology, Andhra University Visakhapatnam. She did her Doctorate in History and thereafter did some more degrees and diplomas in the allied subjects. She is a member of various research organizations of History, Viz., Andhra Pradesh History Congress, South Indian History Congress and Indian History Congress. She is acting as the treasurer of Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma Historical Research Foundation. She has to her credit more than a dozen Research articles published in different Research Journals. She is currently working on the Socio-Cultural impact of the Zamindari rule in Andhra.

Foreword Dr Badarala Anjani Kumari has made a contribution to the history of modern northern Andhra by attempting a study of the History and Contribution of the Zamindars in Visakhapatnam Region. She has succeeded in presenting an exhaustive account of the Zamindars and their political and cultural contributions. She has discussed the problems pertaining the genealogy and chronology of the Zamindari families and has to conclusions which are judicious. The utilization of the archival records along with the literary works for the reconstruction of the social, economic and the religious conditions of the period is noteworthy.

I hope that Dr Anjani Kumari will follow up the work by attempting a critical study of the British - Zamindari relations and the Impact of the Zamindari regime on the economic life of northern Andhra.

Preface In the following pages, an attempt is made to reconstruct the history and contribution of the zamindars in the Visakhapatnam region. This subject still remains largely a virgin field. From the last few decades the focus of interest of researchers has been clearly on studies related to the personalities, struggle for freedom and different movements related to socio-economic aspects of particular regions. The role of the elite and sub-alter classes in those movements and struggles have been no doubt covered in such studies. But there are some aspects which have not completely drawn the attention of the scholars, or some of them need further study in the light of new focus on the source materials as well as in the shift in the ideologies. The province of Visakhapatnam deserves special study as it acted as a link between two different politico-cultural zones, viz., Andhra and Orissa. Even from the early historical periods it shows its unique nature and significance as evident from a number of sources. Later, it became a centre of political activity and turned as a buffer zone between different political powers in different centuries. In the late medieval period, which is during the advent of the Muslims as well as Europeans into this land, it came into the authority of the local chiefs and zamindars. They dominated administratively and strengthened themselves. It is interesting to know that out of the four hundred and forty eight zamindaris in Andhra, more than fifty two zamindaris are located in the then Visakhapatnam District.

As a link between medieval and modern periods, some of the families traced their origin from the earliest centuries and gradually evolved as local fiefs and zamindars in this province.

**Contents and Sample Pages**