After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act in an attempt
To exploit the economic value of wooded areas,
Its restrictions on the free movement of tribal people in the forests prevented them from engaging in their traditional podu agricultural system, a form of subsistence economy, which involved the system of shifting cultivation.
Around the same time of the Act, the British Raj authorities had also emasculated the traditional hereditary role of the muttadars.
Muttadars who until then had been the de facto rulers in the hills as tax collectors for the plains-living rajas.
These people were now reduced to the role of mere civil servants, with no overarching powers, no ability to levy taxes at will, and no right to inherit their position.
Thus, the cultivators and the tax collectors, who once would have been in opposition to each other, were instead now broadly aligned in their disaffection with the colonial power.
Rama Raju harnessed this discontent of the tribal people to support his anti-colonial zeal while also accommodating the grievances of those muttadars who were sympathetic to his cause rather than those who were selfish in the pursuit of a revived status for themselves.
Rama Raju adopted aspects from the Non-cooperation movement such as promoting temperance, Khaddar, anti-liquor campaign, and the boycott of colonial courts in favour of panchayat courts.
COMMENTS