The Battle of

Bobbili Bobbili is a town in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Geography Bobbili is located at . It has an average elevation of 103 metres (337 feet). History The town of Bobbili was founded during the 17th ce ...

, and the attack on the fort of

on 24 January 1757, is a significant historical event in Princely state of

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

, the present day Vizianagaram district of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Tandra Paparayudu Tandra Paparayudu was an Army General of Bobbili who assassinated Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju I Raja of Vizianagaram, and committed his ''Royal suicide'' during the Battle of Bobbili in 1757, a significant historical event in the Princely ...

was the Army General of Bobbili during the Battle.

Events leading to the Battle

On 23 November 1753, a Paravana of Asif ad-Dawlah Mir Ali

Salabat Jang Salabat Jung, born as Mir Sa'id Muhammad Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi on 24 November 1718, was the 3rd son of Nizam-ul-Mulk. He was appointed as ''Naib Subahdar'' (Deputy Viceroy) to his elder brother, Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II, the Prime M ...

Subedar Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History ''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...

of Deccan conceded to

Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau Charles Joseph Patissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau (8 February 1718 or 8 February 1720 – 7 January 1785) or Charles Joseph Patissier de Bussy was the Governor General of the French colony of Pondicherry from 1783 to 1785. He served with dis ...

the parganas of Chicacole, Ellore,

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Rajah ...

etc. with an annual revenue RS.2, 00,000 for the maintenance of the French troops in the Subah in recognition of the help of these Circars amounted up to 10 lakhs of Rupees per year. de Bussy helped

to be the Subedar of Deccan. The agreement (Treaty of Aurangabad) made between the French and Salabat Jang in Aurangabad bears the signature of Said Loukshur, Minister of Salabat Jang. Actually, he was one of the key sub-ordinates of Dupleix who helped him in expanding French activities in

Northern Circars The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...

and along the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

. Men in his command also included the famous

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. In 1756 Marquis de Bussy visited Rajahmundry. Vijayaramaraju had given a warm welcome to Bussy by going in front at Rajahmundry. There were differences between Vizianagaram Maharaja and the ruler of Bobbili, which led to the battle of Bobbili starting on 23 January 1757. The war was fought by Bussy and the Raja of Vizianagaram-Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju I (Ruled 1710 – Died 1757) (Founder of

. During the battle the

fort was totally destroyed and many Bobbili soldiers died. There is still a street named after Bussy in Yanam.''A History of Telugu Literature''
p. 36

The battle

On January 24, 1757, Bussy with his army and the army of

Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju I Poosapati / Pusapati was the ruling clan of the Northern Andhra region, Vizianagaram. History The Pericchedi kings were ancestors of the Pusapati royal family who built Bezawada (Modern Vijayawada) off the river Krishna by 626 AD and ano ...

in tow marched towards the Bobbili fort. The army of Gopalakrishna Ranga Rao was no match for the combined armies of

and

. ''Gopalakrishna Rayudu'' was led by his Army General ''Tandra Paparayudu'' and his army, who put up a brave fight till the end. The French General knew that it would be impossible to reach

via Rajam as Paparayudu was camping there and took a different route to reach the fort. Rani Mallamma Devi, wife of Ranga Rao and sister of Paparayudu, sent a message to him on coming to know of the enemy's advance towards the fort. However, the enemy intercepted the courier and the message did not reach Paparayudu. Meanwhile, Ranga Rao and his men after defending the fort for several hours realised that the enemy could not be contained for long. Ranga Rao did not want the women and children in the fort to be at the mercy of the enemy. He ordered them to be sacrificed. ''Rani Mallamma Devi'' committed suicide. When the news reached him, Tandra Paparayudu rushed to the demolished fort and saw his sister and the entire family lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Seething with vengeance he took an oath to kill

was camping in a ''Tent'', basking in the ''glory'' of the war, which annihilated his enemy. ''Tandra Paparayudu'' along with ''Devulapalli Peddanna'' and ''Buddaraju Venkaiah'' managed to reach the tent in which

was sleeping. Paparayudu gained entry through the rear of the tent, while the other two stood guard at the entrance. He woke up

shouting "Puli, Puli... Bobbili Puli" ''(Tiger, Tiger... The Tiger of Bobbili)''.

tried to divert his attention saying that he should not belittle their clan as cowards gaining entry through the backdoor. "You have wiped out our entire clan through dubious means and have no right to get ethical treatment," replied Paparayudu and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest. Hearing the commotion, the bodyguard of

tried to enter the tent but was killed by Peddanna, who was guarding the entrance. ''The entire army was alerted and Paparayudu and the other two killed themselves.''

In popular culture

Bobbili Yuddham ''Bobbili Yuddham'' () is a 1964 Indian Telugu-language war film, based on the Battle of Bobbili between Bobbili and Vizianagaram kingdoms in 1757. The film was produced and directed by C. Seetaram. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Bhanumathi Ramakrish ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobbili 1757 in India History of Andhra Pradesh Battles involving the Indian kingdoms Conflicts in 1757