Akkanna and Madanna: The Meek Hindu Telugu Brahmin Rebels Who Made the Mughals Shiver! : Blog 1#
The Pen is mightier than the sword, a saying we have grown up hearing. There are many stories, legends, and beliefs that affirm people’s faith that the pen can always triumph the sword. One such legend, that perhaps deserves a place in the collective memories of anyone remotely interested in Telugu history, and particularly the Telugu Brahmin history is a tale of pure wit, strategy, betrayal, blood and a sheer tale of political intrigue set in the grand Telugu land, a collective land comprising the Andhra and Telangana region is the tale of Akkanna and Madanna, who with just their wit and intelligence, captured an entire empire, kicked out its king, and created a revolution against the Mughals. Ushering in the dream of Hindu Swarajya (Self Rule!).
Akkanna and Madanna’s tale is the tale of how a nationalistic uprising in the Telugu land instigated by their own personal struggle and victory (
it wasn’t of a religious nature, more so it was about the foreign and local rule, with even Telugu Muslims part of the brother’s close quarters), and became a fuel of nationalistic fervor against foreign Muslim rulers across the nation, and eventually, their efforts leading to Maratha Empire, an Indian empire espousing Shivaji Maharaja’s slogan “Hindavi Swaraj! (Self Rule!)”.
According to Gus Krutizer’s Akkanna and Madanna: The Brahmin Revolution thesis, and according to the records of the Dutch East India Company. In 1683, Akkanna remarked to Michael Janzsoon, an employee of the Dutch East India Company that “You yourself can imagine which Government serves the King the best, ours [d’onse’] or that of the Muslims [mooren]; ours being fullheartedly devoted to the welfare of the country, while we are not people [luijden] who have or seek other countries, but that of the Muslims is only to the end becoming rich and then to leave for those places which they consider to be either their fatherland or homeland.
Many can misunderstand the words of Akkanna, but if it's taken in the contact he said it in. By Muslims, he meant foreigner Muslims and not homegrown Telugu speaking ones, whom Akkanna shared a good rapport with. Akkanna wanted self-rule and wanted to expel the foreign hordes. But yet, these foreigners possessed excellent skills of the sword, they were dominant militarily and Akkanna knew that the local majority of the population, had lost the zeal and bravery to counter them. A slave like a mentality ensued in them, and nothing could be done about it. Except for a revolution, not that is of blood, but of the ink. Not that of the muscle, but the mind. So how do you defeat a powerful foreign dynasty who has a tight leash on the local population? A powerful intruder who came and sat in your house and occupied your space?
Akkanna and Madanna, got into the service of the King, during the 1670s, albeit at different levels. They slowly rose to the top, displaying their acumen and strategy over everyone else in the court, perhaps bringing reforms that filled the coffers of the then reigning King, Nawab Ghazi Ud-Din Khan, Akkanna and Madanna implemented many economically wonderfully schemes, including investing in international trade, particularly the Dutch East India Company, headed by the Jews of which Akkkanna and Madanna stuck a brilliant alliance with, it was mutual. The Dutch needed muscle power in the Telugu land, and Akkanna and Madanna needed a pathway to get more power back at home. From the perspective of the reigning king, who was rumored to be a big drunk and womanizer who preferred the comforts of his place over warfare, getting profit and wealth that one could get from wars peacefully must have convinced him of the potential Akkanna and Madanna had. This easily allowed both the brothers to gain the trust of the ruler. But their strategy was just getting started. After gaining trust, they literally bankrupted the King, by making failed investments, the intellectual wing of foreign Muslims at that time, shunned every day of interest and had a lack of substantial financial literacy whatsoever, they could neither figure out the reason for profit or loss. The genius of Akkanna and Madanna, was to easily play to it and blame it on the market. But then they showed sudden profit again. In a way, chaining the King and his coffers to their will. It was complete control, without murdering anyone. By 1684, Akkanna and Madanna pushed the King completely out of the court, instead offering him a sum of 1,50,000 Rupees every month, for him to keep him shut and enjoy his pleasures in his palace. The entire administration of the empire was overtaken by Akkanna and Madanna, within a few years, the brother's meek Hindu Brahmins, became the emperors of the Telugu Land, extending throughout the current day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The brothers were so extremely powerful, that once a Dutch East India Company officer requested them to attack San Thome militarily (Mylapore, Chennai present day), after being unable to purchase it from a local Brahmin who worked for another competing power of the Dutch. Upon, one letter signed by Madanna, the army of the Telugu land razed down the entire town in a day’s time. Their power was known across Europe’s trade circles, the Jewish appreciated their immense power. And a Jewish-Brahmin alliance formed.
On the eve of Madanna’s birthday, at the height of their power. The brothers distributed sarees and clothes to thousands of people in the sacred city of Vijaywada, opening up the temple of Durgamma. Hindu glory had been restored to the temples, and the cities once under the submissive foot of foreign rule were once again transformed into the glorious days of the past. Perhaps, as a cold breeze stuck the face of the brothers, standing at Indrakeledra, the mountaintop where Arjun was bestowed upon the Brahamastra by Indra, Akkanna and Madanna were stuck with the complete design of the Hindu dream! A dream that leads to a young rebellious boy somewhere in Maharastra fighting for the Hindus, to become Chhatrapati.
The wit and intelligence of the Telugu Brahmin and their investments with the Jews of the East India Company lead to a silent revolution, the creation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a mighty Hindu force the Mughals began fearing. But even more importantly, Akkanna and Madanna were planting a mole in the Mughal royal court itself, a mole capable enough of killing Aurangzeb himself and toppling the foreign regime once and for all. A political play so intricate and well designed, it gave even Aurangzeb the chills at night. That will be the second part of this series.
