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Rani Chennamma
◆  Rani Chennamma was born on October 23, 1778 in Kakati, a small village in the Belagavi district of Karnataka.
◆  After her marriage to King Mallasarja of Kittur, she became the queen of Kittur.
◆  Rani Chennamma of Kittur was a warrior who led a war against the British forces in the early 19th century.
◆  After the death of his son, she adopted Shivalingappa and made him the heir to the throne. However, the British East India Company did not accept it under the 'Doctrine of Lapse', a policy formulated by the British East India Company.
◆  Rani Chennamma very politely sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Bombay Presidency, Lord Elphinstone, urging him not to apply the usurpation policy in the case of Kittur, but her request was rudely turned down by the British. Thus began a fight between the British and Kittur.
◆  She was the first Indian ruler to launch an armed rebellion against the British East India Company.
◆  The first battle between the Rani and the British took place in October, 1824, in which the British army suffered heavy losses.
◆  Collector and British agent St. John Thackeray was killed by Kittur's army. In addition, two British officers Sir Walter Eliot and Stevenson were taken hostage by the brave soldiers of Kittur. Being forced, the British adopted the path of compromise and promised that they would not go to war again.
◆  To commemorate her first victory, 'Kittur Utsav' is still organized every year from 22 to 24 October in Kittur, Karnataka.
◆  The British betrayed Rani Chennamma and resumed the war. This time, the British officer Chaplin actually continued the war with greater forces. Munro, the nephew of Sir Thomas Munro and the sub-collector of Solapur, was killed.
◆  Rani Chennamma fought with the help of her lieutenants, Sangolli Rayanna and Gurusiddappa, eventually capturing the Bailhongal Fort by the British and imprisoning the Rani, where she died on February 21, 1829.
◆  On 11 September 2007, a statue of Rani Chennamma of Kittur was unveiled at the Parliament Complex in New Delhi by the first woman President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
◆  The story of Rani Chennamma is almost similar to that of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, hence she is also known as 'Lakshmibai of Karnataka'.

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