Rani Chennamma

Much before the first war of Indian independence in 1857, Karnataka's Kittur saw the rise of India's first woman independence leader, Rani Chennamma, who took on the British Empire. Married to Kittur's ruler, Mallasarja Desai, her personal life proved to be tragic, with her husband passing away in 1816 and her son also meeting an untimely death in 1824. During the last days of the Kittur ruler, Shivalingagaruda Sarja, son of her husband by first queen, Rani Rudramma, a decision was taken to adopt a boy named Shivalingappa as the successor, but the British did not approve of the same. This ultimately resulted in the famous armed rebellion by the Kittur army under Rani Chennamma in October 1824, leading to the historic defeat of the British forces and the killing of the British Collector and political agent. She went on to release the British hostages on the promise that the war won't be continued, but the British treacherously came back with larger forces, leading to the defeat of the Kittur army after great resistance by Rani Chennamma and her warriors. She spent the last five years of her life in the Bailhongala Fort before breathing her last in 1829.