5

INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS

(ii) History and Administrative Set-up of the District

(i) Brief History of the District :

General:

Guntur district in its present form was constitutedonly in 1904 out of the areas of Ongole taluk ofNellore district and portions of the Krishna District.Prior to 1859 there was 'Guntur district' withheadquarters at Guntur but with a differentjurisdiction. In 1859 this district was abolished andwas divided up between Masulipatam andRajahmundry districts, which were renamed asKrishna and Godavari. In 1904 Krishna district wasbifurcated and Guntur district with its presentjurisdiction was constituted into a separate independentdistrict. The early history of the district is brieflygiven below.

Political History:

The earliest known rulers of the district were theBuddhist dynasty of the Andhras who built the stupaat Amaravathi and whose curious old leaden coinsare still occasionally found. The Buddhist remains atAmaravathi on the right bank of the Krishna nearlyseventy miles (110 Kms.) from its mouth, bearinscriptions in the Gupta character; which refer tothe second century after Christ and may possibly beolder than that. The Buddhist stupa, discovered onthe north bank of the river near Jaggayyapet, is saidto be the date as remote as B.C.200, or only half acentury later than the Asoka edicts. It may thereforebe inferred that for some time before and after theChristian Era, Buddhism was firmly established onthe banks of the Krishna.

This religion seems to have given way beforethe Brahmans and a sect of Buddhist dissenters knownas the Jains. The Brahmans are said to have beeninvited by the King of Dharanikota, Mukkanti Pallava,in the third century A.D. or by a King namedSudakshana about the same date to Srikakulam, ashrine lower down the Krishna. Both legends arecurrent, but the history of this period is very obscure.The Pallava dynastry may be the line of Kings whichis shown, by two copper plates, to have reigned in

the fourth century A.D. over "Vengi desha" but thiskingdom is not mentioned by Ptolemy or in thePeriplus of the Red Sea.

In 640 A.D. there is an account written by theChinese Pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, who travelled throughIndia to see the Buddhist monasteries. He speaks ofthe Kingdom of Anta-lo (Andhra) with its capital ping-kilo (Vengi) and in Dhanakacheka (Dhanyakataka orDharani Kota) describes two very extensive Buddhistmonasteries, the eastern and western. The Chinesetraveller describes the monasteries as surrounded bytrees and gushing fountains, which may indicate agreat clearance of forest and lessening of rainfall inthe last twelve centuries. He mourns over the decayof Buddhism, decay caused perhaps as much by theopposition of the Jains as by the advent of theBrahmans, for the Jains did not disappear from theKrishna district until six centuries after Hiuen Tsang'svisit.

By A.D. 640, the Pallava dynasty of Vengi hadbeen conquered by the Chalukya Kings of Kalyanpur.Some would place this conquest as far back as thetime of Vishnu Vardhana, great grandfather ofSatyasraya Vallabhendra in the fourth century, but atall events, the territory was divided about A.D. 605and Vengi was given to Kubja Vishnuvardhana, theyounger brother of Satyasraya Vallabhendra, King ofKalyanpur. The Kubja Vishnuvardhana founded adynasty, known as the Eastern Chalukya Kings, whoreigned for four centuries, and who excavated thecave temple at Undavalli and other rock cut shrines.About A.D. 999 they in their turn were supplantedby the Cholas. The latter after some two centuriesgave place to the Ganapathis of Warangal. GanapatiDeva, who reigned at Warangal (A.D. 1190-1258),and built around Warangal the single stone wall, whichis given the name Ekasilanagaram, or, in its Tamilform, 'Orukkal', whence Warangal, was an activepersecutor of the Jains and throughout his widedominions which included the seacoast from Divi toNellore, erected Brahmanical temples. Possibly hemight have married his only daughter to the Jain Kingof Dharanikota for political reasons, to absorb in his

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DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK : GUNTUR

Kingdom the territory of this petty ruler, and PratapaRudra, the son born of this mixed marriage, wouldnaturally follow his mother's faith.

After the death of Ganapathi Deva, thegrandfather of Pratapa Rudra, in A.D. 1258, theGovernment was assumed by his daughter,Rudramma, one of the most illustrious and famouswomen in Indian history who have left behind areputation as the most skilful ruler. It was during theregency of this widowed queen that the Venetiantraveller, Marco Polo, visited this country, about theyear A.D. 1290. He seems to have landed atMotupalle, now an obscure fishing village near Chirala.

This queen Rudramma transferred the royalauthority to her daughter's son, Pratapa Rudra, in theyear A.D. 1295. There are numerous grants ofPratapa Rudra in Krishna district and in the Palnadtaluk. In A.D.1323 he was taken captive by theMuslims and carried away to Delhi and this was anirretrievable disaster, for although his sonVirabhadraya asserted his independence in A.D.1344he failed to regain the lost dominions of his fatherand the Muslim kingdom of Gulbarga steadilyadvanced until in A.D.1425 when Warangal wasincluded within its limits.

After the captivity of Pratapa Rudra in A.D. 1323his kingdom was left without a ruler. This districtthen came under a dual sway, the king of Orissaruling the northern part while the south fell into thehands of a line of cultivators who rose to considerablepower and are known as the Reddi Kings ofKondaveedu. A brief account of the Reddi Kings ofKondaveedu is given below:

The founder of the family of Reddi Kings ofKondaveedu was Donti Aliya Reddi, a cultivator ofHanumakonda, who amassed enormous wealth,tradition says by discovering the alchemists' secretof the process of transmuting metals into gold, andmigrated to Kondaveedu. On the downfall of PratapaRudra, the eldest son, Pulayya Vema Reddi declaredhimself as independent ruler of the hill fort ofKondaveedu. He also possessed himself of thefortresses of Bellamkonda, Vinukonda, andNagarjunakonda in Palnad taluk. His brotherAnavema Reddi extended his dominions as far asRajahmundry in the north, Kanchi in the south andSrisailam in the west. Kondapalle hill fort is said tohave been built in his reign. An inscription atAmaresvaram dated A.D. 1361 states that Anavema

Reddi was in possession of Kondaveedu, Addanki andRaichur, that he repaired the temple at Amaravatiand the causeway at Srisailam and that he defeatedvarious Rajas including the kings of Warangal. Thislast boast probably relates to the unsuccessful effortsof Virabhadraya in A.D. 1344 and later to regain hisfather's territories from the Muslims on the one handand the Orissa Rajas and Kondaveedu Reddies onthe other. Anavema Reddi was succeeded by hisbrother, Aliya Vema Reddi who was succeeded bythe fourth brother, Komaragiri Reddi, a ruler of badreputation, who was followed by his sons KomatiVenka Reddi, and Racha Vema Reddi, the last of theline, who after an evil reign of four years wasassassinated by a person named Chowdari Yellappain A.D. 1428. The dates of these six Reddi kingsare as follows:

Pulayya Vema Reddi … A.D. 1328

Ana Vema Reddi … A.D. 1340

Aliya Vema Reddi ….A.D. 1370

Komaragiri Reddi … A.D. 1382

Komati Venka Reddi ….A.D. 1396

Racha Vema Reddi ….A.D. 1424

These Kondaveedu Reddis were great patronsof Telugu literature. The poet Srinadha with hisbrother-in-law, Bammera Pothana flourished, at theircourt and sang their praise. The ruins of theirfortresses at Kondaveedu, Bellamkonda andKondapalle are still to be seen.

On the extinction of the Reddi dynasty theGanapathi King of Orissa extended his power. InA.D. 1515, King Krishna Deva Raya of vijayanagarconquered the whole of the country and left manyinscriptions to perpetuate the memory of his victories.He restored Kondapalle to the Orissa Raja butretained Kondaveedu. On the fall of VijayanagarEmpire in A.D. 1565 this region was conquered bythe Muslims and the Hindu rule came to an end inA.D. 1579 in this district. On the fall of theVijayanagar Empire in A.D. 1565 it passed on to theKutub Shahi line of Golconda, and was eventuallyabsorbed (on the destruction of that dynasty in 1687)in the empire of Emperor Aurangazeb.

In A.D. 1611 the English founded their secondsettlement in India at Masulipatam, which continuedto be their headquarters until it was finally moved itto Madras in A.D. 1641. Three years after the

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INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS

founding of the English settlement came the Dutchand in A.D. 1669 the French followed. It was not,however, till the year A.D. 1750 that any of theEuropean powers exerted any political influence inthis district. Two years after that date the Subedarof the Deccan granted the whole of the NorthernCircars to the French, and it was from them that thistract finally passed to the English. On the outbreakof hostilities in A.D. 1758 Colonel Forde, who wassent by Clive from Bengal to attack the French inthe Northern circars, defeated them at Condore inGodavari District, and following them to Masulipatambesieged them there. Faced by a strong garrison infront and hemmed in behind by the Subedar of theDeccan, the ally of the French, his ranks rapidlythinned with disease, Forde, as a counsel of despair,at length made an almost desperate night attack uponthe Masulipatam fort and captured it. As aconsequence of this victory, first the divisions ofMasulipatam, Nizampatam and part of Kondaveedu,and later the whole of the Circars, passed by a grantfrom the Subedar of the Deccan (confirmed by theemperor Shah Alam in 1765), to the Company. Withthe cession of the Palnad in 1801 by the Nawab ofArcot, the entire district finally became a Britishterritory. At first it was administered by a Chief andCouncil at Masulipatam, but in A.D. 1794 Collectorsdirectly responsible to the Board of Revenue wereappointed at Guntur and Masulipatam. In A.D. 1859these two Collectorates (except two taluks of thelatter) were amalgamated into one district.

This amalgamation did not continue for long. Withthe construction of the anicuts across Godavari andKrishna rivers the irrigation facilities increased. Thisresulted in the increase in work of all kinds in themethods of administration and rendered the task ofefficiently controlling these two wealthy areas moredifficult for one Collector to compass. Hencereadjustment of these two districts was necessitatedand in 1904 a separate district was constituted withGuntur as headquarters. Ongole taluk of Nelloredistrict, Tenali, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Palnad, Bapatla,Narasaraopet and Vinukonda taluks of Krishna districtwere included in the newly formed Guntur District.In 1909 Tenali Taluk was split up into Tenali andRepalle taluks. The jurisdiction of the district did notundergo any major change from that time andcontinued as part of the Madras State till 1953.

This district has played a very important role inthe National struggle for independence. It produced

patriots like Desabhakta Konda Venkatappaiah,Parvathaneni Veeraiah Chowdary, leader of the greatPedanandipadu ‘No-Tax-Campaign’ of 1923, VunnavaLakshminarayana Panthulu, ‘Andhra Ratna’ DuggiralaGopala Krishnaiah, ‘Andhra Kesari’ TanguturiPrakasam Panthulu (the latter two belong to Chiralaand Ongole respectively, which now belong toPrakasam district), whose services to the Nation areunforgettable. ‘Rythu Bandhava’ prof. N.G.Ranga,popularly known as ‘Acharya Ranga’ renderedyeomen services during the freedom struggle inarousing the rural masses throughout the country. Thedistrict also had the fortune of being the venue of theAll India Congress Committee Sessions twice.

In 1953 when the Andhra State was formed, thiswas also transferred to Andhra State along with theother Telugu speaking districts of the compositeMadras State. After the Reorganization of States in1956, this district along with the other districts ofAndhra State became part of Andhra Pradesh inwhich it now continues. It may be worth mentioningin this connection that Guntur city, the headquartersof this district was the seat of the Andhra High Courtfor a period of over 3 years from 1st October 1953,i.e. from the inception of the Andhra State till theformation of Andhra Pradesh on 1-11-1956.

India attained independence on August 15, 1947as the largest democracy in the world. The Britishrulers handed over the reins of the Government tothe various State Governments and to the Governmentof India. In 1950 the constitution was promulgatedand India became a Democratic Republic. The firstGeneral Elections to the House of the People and tothe Legislative Assembly were conducted in January,1952 in the constituencies delimited in 1951 by anorder of the President under Sections 6 and 9 of theRepresentation of the Peoples Act 1950. The tenureof office of both the House of the People and theLegislative Assembly was to be for five years. Butdue to the collapse of the State Government, mid-term elections were conducted in 1955 for only theState Legislature. The country again went to pollsduring 1957. Due to mid-term elections for the StateLegislative Assembly conducted during 1955, theGovernment extended the term of office of theM.L.As., of the State Legislature for a further periodof five years from 1957 and hence the memberselected for the State Legislative Assembly during 1955continued as M.L.As. upto 1962. Therefore, theelections conducted during 1957 were confined only

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DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK : GUNTUR

to Parliamentary constituencies in Andhra region ofAndhra Pradesh. The third General Elections to theHouse of the people and the State LegislativeAssembly were simultaneously conducted inFebruary,1962 under the marking system of vote.

Revenue History:

Very little is known about the system ofadministration followed by the Hindu rulers of thiscountry prior to the Muslim invasion. The numerousallusions in ancient inscription to royal grants of entirevillages or a group of villages show that in formercenturies as now, all revenue administration was basedupon the village as a unit.

When the Muslims took this part of the country,in the sixteenth century, they appear to have madebut little change in the existing Hindu system. Theyoccupied certain posts with military garrisons underMuslim officers, and sometimes a tract of countrymight be granted to a Muslim Officer as a Jagir, butfor the most part the revenues were collected andaccounted for to the central authority by the Hinduofficials. As is usual in India these offices becamehereditary and when the Muslim power became laxthe Hindu hereditary officials began to call themselvesZamindars and acted as if they were independentprinces, but through all these changes the villagesremained unaltered.

In addition to the land revenue, the Sovereign'sshare of the produce of the fields, there were othersources of revenue. The Imperial Firmans grantedin 1689 and 1712 to the Dutch at Masulipatam showthat import and export duties at the seaport were aconsiderable item in the Hyderabad receipts and therewere various other inland customs lines also.

In the neighbourhood of each military post orheadquarter station were certain lands, intended forthe maintenance of the troops or Muslim officers,which were under the direct management of theFaujdar or the Khilladar. These Haveli lands, as theywere termed, were not supposed to be under theDesmukhs and Deshpandes who were responsiblefor the collections of the rest of the country.

At first the Hindu Desmukhs and Deshpandeswere paid by a percentage upon collections, by certainfees and by a limited portion of land in each village,these modes of payment being supposed to ensuretheir attention to the amount of collections, theirprocuring the goodwill of the populace who paid fees

and their actual residence among the villages wheretheir plots of land were situated. In course of time,however, we find that these Desmukhs andDeshpandes themselves rented villages and evendistricts, or, as it may better be expressed, formedthe revenues of certain districts or compounded therevenue demand against them or a fixed sum.

The French Commandant, M.De Bussi, had asurvey made of these Northern Circars and evidentlycontemplated the institution of a better revenue system,but he fell from power before he had an opportunityof carrying out these plans and when the EnglishCompany took possession of the Kondapalle Circarin 1766 and the Kondaveedu Circar in 1788 the Hinduhereditary officials, calling themselves Zamindars,were still in possession of the country.

The English Officials at Masulipatam did not quiteunderstand the legal position of these Zamindars. Thefirst Chief in Council after the English took Kondapallewas in favour of settling every year, according to theharvest, the amount to be paid by each Zamindar tothe Company, but in 1771 the Chief in Council wrotethat Zamindaris were feudal estates, of which theZamindars were the proprietors, paying a tribute toGovernment and furnishing troops in times of war.This idea gained ground, the payment made by theZamindars was constantly termed tribute, the territorythey held was called their hereditary estate and theinhabitants were entirely subject to their oppressions.

When the Company took the Kondapalle Circarin A.D. 1766 it was given along with the Ellore andRajahmundry Circars on a three years' rental to theNizam's Faujdar, Hasan Ali Khan. This arrangementcame to an end in 1769, and after that an attemptwas made to make a separate arrangement with eachZamindar, while the Haveli lands were for some timegiven on a ten years' lease to Condregula Jaggappa,son of the Dubash.

The Guntur or Kondaveedu Circar was also underthe control of the Masulipatam Council, but when thatCouncil was abolished in 1794 Guntur formed aseparate Zilla under a Collector who reported directto the Board as did the Collector of Masulipatam.

In pursuance of the orders issued by the BengalGovernment the Permanent Settlement wasintroduced in Masulipatam and Guntur Districts in1802. The amount to be paid by each Zamindar wascalculated at two-thirds of half the gross produce ofthe lands, this half being supposed to be the share

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INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS

paid to them by the cultivators. Thus the Zamindarswere to retain for their own maintenance one-sixthof the gross produce of their territories. The amountswere obtained from an inspection of the accounts ofthe last thirteen years or of what papers the villagekarnams produced as accounts. In some cases,especially that of Charmahal, the Zamindar's Peshkushwas fixed too high, but in some instances, especiallythat of Vasireddi Venkatadri Naidu, the Peshkush wasnot only fixed too low, being based on fictitiousaccounts, but was actually still further reduced bythe Board of Revenue at Madras, which has anxiousthat the Permanent Settlement should be moderate.

The Haveli lands, with the exception of Divi, weredivided into mutahs, each calculated to bear anassessment of one thousand to ten thousand Pagodasas the Government demand, and these were sold andbrought under the Permanent Settlement. Care wastaken that all lands under one irrigation source shouldbe included in one mutah and the purchasingproprietors were to be held responsible for the upkeepof these irrigation works, but might be assisted byloans from the treasury at 12 percent. This sale ofthe Haveli mutahs took place in December, 1802 andthus the whole of the present Krishna and GunturDistricts passed under the Permanent Settlement,except Divi, which in 1807 was given on Zamindaritenure to Condregula Gopala Rao, grandson of theDubash. Palnad was acquired from the Nawab ofArcot and which, like the Nellore District, passedunder triennial and decennial village rents, but did notbecome a Zamindari.

This experiment of creating a class of territoriallandlords and trusting to the magic of private propertyto make them improve the vast extents of the countrythus placed in their hands was not successful. Manyof the Zamindars assumed the position of petty princesand instead of contending themselves with moderateestablishments, they kept up a number of elephantsand horses at a cost wholly disproportionate to theirmeans. The Collector of Guntur reported that theZamindars in Guntur District spent on "Savari" a sumwhich would maintain eleven battalions of Company'ssepoys. Moreover, their system of management wassometimes very bad. An energetic Zamindar likeVasireddi Venkatadri Naidu could personally keeporder throughout his extensive villages and amasswealth, but his next neighbour, Malrazu VenkataGunda Rao, was utterly unable to manage his estates,

and when Venkatadri Naidu died his riches werespeedily dissipated by his heirs. Another cause ofthe failure of the Zamindari system in this Districtwas the constant disputed successions and tediouslitigation in almost every family.

The Zamindaris were constantly attached forarrears and taken under the Court of wards and theCollectors managed them by means of cutcherryretainers in such a way that arrears sometimesaccumulated rapidly while the estates were undermanagement as they had done under the Zamindar.Some Collectors remained long enough to acquirelocal knowledge. Messrs. Oakes and Whish eachheld Guntur for ten years, but changes of Collectorswere frequent and a newly arrived Collector couldonly appoint his Sheristadar's nominees to managethese attached estates. The terrible famine of 1832-33 rendered the Zamindars less able than before topay the Government demand and in the GunturCollectorate the mismanagement of the attachedestates was increased by a bitter feud among theRevenue servants.

The experiment had been tried of placing theZamindars in charge of their own Zamindaris asManagers, but this also was a failure, the Zamindarsfraudulently leasing villages on low rentals inconsideration of sums paid down as "Nuzzerana".Under the provisions of the dispatch of the Court ofDirectors dated 21st June, 1842 the Guntur Zamindarssurrendered their estates to Government on theunderstanding that they should receive a sufficientmaintenance with the hope that estates may beeventually restored. Afterwards it was decided byGovernment to place beyond all doubt their power todeal with the estates by bringing them to sale andbuying them. This was done in 1846. There wereno purchasers and Government bought in the GunturZamindari estates by a bid of Rs.5,000 for each.After perusal of Mr. W. Elliott's report the Directorswrote a dispatch on 31st January, 1849 declaring theresumption of these estates to be final.

The year 1849 is to be noticed as the date of theappointment of a Commissioner of the NorthernCircars. The Court of Directors, upon perusal ofMr. Walter Elliott's report on Guntur affairs, sent outorders that all the Northern Circars should be placedunder the immediate charge of one of the membersof the Board of Revenue, with full powers of theBoard. In accordance with this order Mr. Walter

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Elliott himself was appointed Commissioner of theNorthern Circars in 1849 and soon afterwards cameto Masulipatam.

In 1854 the appointment of Commissioner of theNorthern Circars was abolished and the Districts cameagain under the direct authority of the Board ofRevenue. In December, 1859 the whole of theGuntur District and all the Masulipatam District excepttwo Taluks was made into one district, the KrishnaDistrict. In 1862 the District was divided into eleventaluks with two Zamindari sub-divisions.

Little seems to have been done, however, tointroduce any improved system of land revenue atthese opportunities and the faulty Zamindari systemcontinued, with the 'Kailas' or actual measurementsof the crop which lay heaped for weeks awaiting themeasurer, with the "anchana"or estimate, made by avenal estimator, with the joint village rents giving riseto factions and oppression of the poorer villagers bytheir stronger neighbours.

The first Collector, who made any attempt tograpple with the subject, was Mr. G.E. Russell,Collector of Masulipatam, 1812-21. He selected thevillage of Telaprolu in the Nuzvidu Zamindari andmade a minute survey of the village fixing the amountto be paid by each individual cultivator according tothe quality of the lands he held. Mr. Russell's reporton Telaprolu is dated 20th September, 1818. Underthe rental value thus fixed by the Collector the totalamount paid by Telaprolu village was Rs.3,180 in Fasli1228 and rose gradually to Rs.4,161 in Fasli 1241.While the ryots were prosperous and contented underthe Collector's management, the young Zamindar whogot possession of his estates in A.D. 1831, exactedno less than Rs.8,900 from Telaprolu in Fasli 1242and Rs.5,895 in Fasli 1243. Then came the famineand in Fasli 1246, after the famine, the village paidonly Rs.675; so all trace of the former prosperity hadvanished. Mr.Russell's report on Telaprolu containsa deeply interesting account of the rack rents andextra collections by the Zamindar's retainers whichleft to the wretched cultivators barely enough for thesupport of life. Another Collector, Mr. P. Grant, madea similar survey of the village of Caitupalle, but nogeneral action was taken upon the date furnished bythese two isolated surveys.

Mr. H. Stokes in 1844 attempted to introduce animproved Revenue system in the resumed Zamindariestates of the Guntur District but was restrained by

the conservative ideas of his Sheristadar, NyapatiSeshagiri Rao, who was supported in his cautiousviews by the then Board of Revenue. Mr. W. Elliottsupported Mr. Stokes in his advanced policy and by1850 the Guntur District had been brought under thesystem which in the old records is termed makta,and is sometimes called Ryotwari, but in truth differedvery little from the joint village rents of theMasulipatam District. There was a fixed total demandon each village and the individual cultivators wereleft to apportion this demand. If remissions werenecessary they were given in lumpsums to villages.The influential ryots secured their own interests atthe expense of their weaker neighbours and all sortsof curiously old fashioned ideas of RevenueAdministration, such as takids permitting cultivatorsto reap their crops and notion that no English-speakingnative could be an efficient Sheristadar, survived inthe Guntur Collectorate.

The old system of Revenue practice passed awaywith the introduction of Survey and Settlement ratesof assessment. The work in the Guntur District wasundertaken after that in Masulipatam it was laid beforethe Board towards the close of the year 1868, onlyafter the completion of the survey operations inPalnad, the last taluk of the District by the SurveyDepartment. The report of Mr. W. Wilson on theGuntur portion of the district is printed in the Board'sProceedings No.1628, dated 9th March, 1870. InMr. Wilson's classification of the Guntur part of thedistrict, as much as 90 per cent of the whole areawas placed under varieties of the 'Regar' or blackcotton soil and red soils were only 2 per cent. Thehighest class is the alluvial along the margin of theriver. 60 villages with lands amounting to 6.6 percent of the whole area were placed in the first oralluvial group. 200 villages with lands amounting to21.3 per cent of the whole area, comprising the sandof the coast and the stony uplands of the interior,were placed in the third or the poorest class and thesecond or the principal group numbered 465 villageswith lands amounting to 72.1 per cent of the wholearea. This second group comprised the land in Repalleand Bapatla taluks, irrigated by the anicut, and theheavy loams near Prathipadu which bear good cropswhen the rainfall is timely. The rates onirrigated land varied from Rs.1-75 p .to Rs.7-50p.and on unirrigated lands from 25p. to Rs.4-50p. peracre.

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INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS

One point upon which the Board of Revenue didnot agree with Mr. Wilson was his proposal to regardas unirrigated, about 2,000 acres of land irrigatedthrough the perennial springs in the great sand ridgerunning from Bapatla to Chinna Ganjam and theselands accordingly pay irrigated rates of assessment.Another point under discussion was the levy of three-fourth water rate on the lands irrigated from wells onthe banks of the Gundlakamma and Nagileru streamsin Vinukonda and the Palnad taluks. These wells areexpensive stone structures and the water had to belifted from the stream. The Board decided that nowater rate should be levied.

The survey and Settlemtnt so introduced is invogue in this district. Under the Madras Estates Land(Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1949the Zamindari Estates and Inams were abolished andtaken over by Government paying due compensationto the Zamindars, Estate holders and Inamdarsconcerned. Survey and Settlement was also made inthe taken over estates wherever found necessary andryotwari settlement has been made in all parts of thedistrict.

Revenue Administration of the district is nowcontrolled by the Collector with headquarters atGuntur and he is assisted by three Revenue DivisionalOfficers stationed at Tenali, Guntur and Narasaraopet.

The headquarters division (Guntur) comprisesGuntur and Sattenapalle taluks while Tenali, Bapatlaand Repalle taluks are included in the Tenali RevenueDivision. Narasaraopet division comprisesNarasaraopet, Vinukonda and Palnad taluks.

With the separation of Judiciary from Executivein this district the functions relating to the trial ofcriminal cases etc., have been transferred to theJudicial Department. The Revenue Officers nowexercise functions under the Criminal Procedure Codewith reference to matters relating to the maintenanceof Law and Order and keeping of peace etc.

(ii) Administrative Set-up

Changes in the Administrative Unit:

In 1985, the then existing 21 Taluks werereorganised into 57 Mandals. Corresponding to theRevenue Mandals, Mandal Parishads were alsoformed which are co-terminus with the Revenue

Mandals in all cases except that the Statutory Townsare not included in the jurisdiction of the MandalParishads. 28 Mandals have been carved out bytaking villages exclusively from each of the 16erstwhile Taluks (i.e. without including villages froma second taluk). The remaining 29 Mandals havebeen formed by taking villages from more than oneerstwhile taluk.

While comparing the list of villages at 2001Census with that of 1991 Census there is an increaseof 2 villages in total number of villages due tofollowing changes. Four towns namely VijayapuriSouth, Phirangipuram, Bhattiprolu and Tadepalle C.Ts.are declassified in 2001 Census. These four villagesnow became Revenue Villages.The rural portion ofVinukonda existed during 1991 has been fully includedin Vinukonda (CT) during 2001.

As per 2001 Census this district has 57 Mandals,717 Villages, 10 Statutory Towns and one CensusTown. These 57 Mandals have been grouped intothree Revenue Divisions in the district as shown below:

(1) Narasaraopet Revenue Division:

(1) Macherla

(2) Narasaraopet

(3) Chilakaluripet

H/o Purushothapatnam

(4) Vinukonda

(5) Veldurthi

(6) Durgi

(7) Rentachintala

(8) Karempudi

(9) Gurazala

(10) Dachepalle

(11) Machavaram

(12) Piduguralla

(13) Ipur

(14) Bollapalle

(15) Nuzendla

(16) Savalyapuram

H/o Kanamarlapudi

Sources:1.Manual of the Krishna District by Gordon Mackenzie,1883. 2.Imperial Gazetteer, Madras East Coast Districts, 1906.

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(17) Rompicherla

(18) Nekarikallu

(19) Nadendla and

(20) Edlapadu.

(2) Guntur Revenue Division:

(1) Guntur

(2) Sattenapalle

(3) Mangalagiri

(4) Tadepalle

(5) Phirangipuram

(6) Bellamkonda

(7) Rajupalem

(8) Krosuru

(9) Muppalla

(10) Atchampet H/o Chamarru

(11) Pedakurapadu

(12) Medikonduru

(13) Pedakakani

(14) Prathipadu

(15) Vatticherukuru

(16) Thullur

(17) Tadikonda

(18) Amaravathi

(19) Chebrolu and

(20) Pedanandipadu.

(3) Tenali Revenue Division:

(1) Tenali

(2) Ponnur

(3) Bapatla

(4) Repalle

(5) Bhattiprolu

(6) Duggirala

(7) Vemuru

(8) Amruthalur

(9) Kollipara

(10) Tsundur

(11) Kollur

(12) Kakumanu

(13) Pittalavanipalem

(14) Karlapalem

(15) Nagaram

(16) Nizampatnam and

(17) CherukupalleH/o Arumbaka.