The Telangana Rebellion was a peasant revolt which was later supported by the Communists. It took place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951. This was led by the Communist Party of India.
The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlords (jagirdars and deshmukhs) and later against the Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII. The initial aims were to do away with illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these feudal lords in the name of bonded labour (Vetti Chakiri). The most strident demand was for all debts of the peasants to be written off.
Among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were leaders like Anabheri Prabhakar Rao, Bathini Mogilaiah Goud, Doddi Komraiah, Bandi Yadagiri, Suddala Hanumanthu, Acharya Konda Lakshman Bapuji, Chakalli Iylamma, Komaram Bheem, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah, Makineni Basavapunaiah, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Raavi Narayana Reddy, Arutla Laxmi Narsimha Reddy (known as AL by his comrades), Bommagani Dharma Biksham, Arjula Ramana Reddy, the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Devi, Kolluru Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Kolluru Susheela Devi.
The violent phase of the movement ended after the central government sent in the army. Starting in 1951, the CPI shifted to a more moderate strategy of seeking to bring communism to India within the constraints of Indian democracy.
In 1937, Time magazine said Hyderabad state was the richest native state in India.
