Vizagapatam

“ Vizagapatam is the smallest taluk in the district and, next to the ordinary tracts in Pálkonda, the most densely populated. Its inhabitants increased at a relatively higher rate than those of any other taluk both in the decade 1891-1901 and in the thirty years ending with 1901. It contains more Musalmans and Christians than any other taluk, and its people are also better educated than those of any other. ”

“ The advantage formerly urged in favour of opening up Jeypore — that it would serve as a granary to Vizagapatam in times of scarcity — has been already sufficiently secured by the Pottangi ghát and the extension of the road thence to the Bastar frontier.
The country carts of the Vizagapatam district are somewhat smaller and lighter than those of the south and usually have only wooden axles. The oxen hardly ever have nose-strings, or even ropes to their horns, as in the south, and if they shy or bolt the driver is powerless. ”

“ Finding himself deserted, Jafar Ali called in the help of the Maráthas of Nagpur, who crossed the hills by the ghát at Páchipenta (under the guidance of the zamindar of that place) ; devastated the two Circars from end to end plundered and burnt the Dutch factory at Bimlipatam (but spared the Vizagapatam settlement of the English, whose friendship Jafar Ali courted and who had encouraged him in his revolt) ; defeated Viziaráma Rázu near Vizianagram; fought an irregular action against the combined forces of that chief and M. Moracin at Tummapála near Anakápalle ”

“ The two brothers were very powerful. They controlled almost all the district except the havíli land round about Vizagapatam, Kasimkóta and Chicacole (i.e., the old demesne or household land of the sovereign, and tracts resumed by the Musalmans and appropriated to the support of their garrisons and establishments) ; in 1761 they also seized by force much of the estate of Parlákimedi in Ganjám ”

“ Meanwhile, in circumstances which will be related immediately, the English had effected a settlement at Vizagapatam town. The Dutch had likewise established a factory at Bimlipatam. The latter however (see p. 226) had no influence on the political destinies of the district and the former was of small importance until 1767 ”

“ Ingeram only had soldiers, and only 20, and all the three factories surrendered on the first requisition. The reduction of Vizagapatam, as being nearer, Mr. Bussy reserved to himself; but being sure of his prize, remained in the city of Chicacole until he had settled the affairs of this government. On the 24th of June the van of his army appeared before Vizagapatam. A river coming from the north and turning short eastward to the sea, forms an arm of land, a mile and half in length: and 600 yards in breadth. ”

“ We may now go on to refer shortly to the castes which are found in especial strength in Vizagapatam or are in other ways characteristic of the district. A beginning will be made with the castes of the low country, who, with a few exceptions expressly noted, all speak Telugu. It will save space if a few points common to most of the non-polluting non-Bráhman castes are first mentioned.
Caste organization is scarcely as systematic as in the southern districts, and the headman (kula-pedda) has more limited powers. ”

“ Yet in 1889, the year of 'the Ganjám famine,' Vizagapatam escaped almost entirely. This was owing to large imports of grain by sea, and by land from Gódávari and the Jeypore country, and to an increase in the usual emigration to Burma for the paddy harvest and to Gódávari for silt-clearing in the canals and work on the Nizam's railway to Bezwada, which was then approaching completion. ”

“ The sombre purples of the Dolphin's Nose on the south, the vivid chrome-yellow of the blown sand on the hill above Vizagapatam, the olive-coloured slopes of the scrub-covered heights scattered with glossy apple-green palmyras, the bright red soil running down to the sea and the dark trees at the northern end of the bay, backed as they all are by the brilliant turquoise of the Bay with its white edge of breakers, make up an unrivalled blaze of colour. ”

“ From the hollow in which it stands, a deep glen, watered by a rivulet and clothed with many trees in striking contrast to the bare flanks of the rest of the hill, runs down to the foot of the northern slope, where, about ten miles by road from Vizagapatam, is a rose-garden which h traditionally declared 1 [1] to have been planted by the well-known Sitaráma Rázu of Vizianagram and is watered from the rivulet. The Rájas of Vizianagram have been wardens of the shrine for over two centuries and have endowed it with land worth some Rs. 30,000 per annum. ”

“ Other notable temples are those at Penukonda, Vizianagram in Vizagapatam, and Berhampur in Ganjam. Fines collected from erring castemen in the Godāvari, Guntūr and Kistna districts, are still sent to the temple at Penukonda. The Kōmatis worship various goddesses, in addition to Kanyaka Paramēswari. Those who live in Vizagapatam "relax their faith in favour of the celebrated Muhammadan saint, who lies buried by the Durga on the top of the hill which overlooks the harbour. Every vessel, passing the harbour inwards and outwards, salutes him by hoisting and lowering its flag three times. ”

“ Including the Agency, Vizagapatam is almost the least litigious area in Madras. The number of suits filed is only one for every 275 of the population against one for every 117 in the Presidency as a whole, and Anantapur is the only district in which the proportion is lower. This result is due partly to the poverty of the mass of the population, partly to the fact that the numerous inhabitants of the hills have not yet acquired the taste for squabbling over their rights in the courts, and partly to the marked infrequency of suits under the Tenancy Act. ”

“ It was found that he was moving' his family and effects; that some sepoys and cavalry who were in course of being paid off by the Chief at Vizagapatam had been re-called by the Rája and had actually joined him at Padmanábham; that the country peons were collecting; that promises had been made to the other zamindars for the purpose of conciliating them; and that it was imagined to be the Rája's intention to proceed to Jeypore or,further still, to the Bastar country of Nagpur. Once in the hills, a very large force of paiks would- of course be at his disposal. ”

“ Their chief local officer was the Faujdar of Chicacole, who was in charge of Ganjám and Vizagapatam. He seems to have governed through local chiefs or zamindars, to whom the collection of the revenue of the various divisions of the country was delegated on a commission of ten per cent, (see p. 165) and who were expected to keep their charges quiet. Two of these chiefs were the ancestors of the present Mahárája of Bobbili and Rája of Vizianagram, who entered the district in the train of Shér Muhammad Khán (name-father of Shérmuhammadpuram near Chicacole) , who was Faujdar in 1652. ”

“ I have never seen a larger or better shaped room outside Madras in the Presidency, and I have no doubt whatever that it will be of the greatest profit and mutual advantage to the people of Vizagapatam, when they meet here for every sort and kind of occasion in the future. ”

“ Frequent references also occur throughout the early records to the Company's mango garden somewhere near by, which was a favourite place for strangers to camp in. It was apparently near the present Dábá Gardens.
In 1741 the Chief (Mr. John Stratton) earnestly invited the attention of the Madras authorities to the necessity of strengthen- ing the Vizagapatam defences. He said —
'The Buildings and Fortifications at this Place are in so ruinous a Condition that in case any Disturbances should happen here we are but ill provided to resist only a small Body of Men. ”

“ Vizagapatam: The head-quarters of the taluk and district and a municipality of 40,892 inhabitants. The municipal limits (see the map attached) include the suburb of Waltair, where the European officials reside and several of the zamindars of the district have bungalows. ”

“ Facing Dábá Gardens is the old parade-ground, now used by the police. The lines of the two infantry regiments which used to be stationed in Vizagapatam were near this, on the other side of the road to Waltair. With Rs. 10,000 presented by the late Mahárája Sir Gajapati Rao and after his death by his widow, the site of these has recently been cleared and levelled, and the hamlet growing up on it is called Maháránipéta. A road leads from it across the slopes of the sand-hill to the road along the shore. ”

“ Anakápalle : A municipality of 18,539 inhabitants CHAP. XV. Anakapalle. on the trunk road and the Madras railway, 21 miles west of Vizagapatam in the midst of a level expanse of rich wet land watered by the Sárada, which river runs close by the town and is crossed by both the road and railway bridges. The place is badly-built and overcrowded, but is reputed to be extremely healthy and is a favourite place of residence with natives of the district. ”

“ The head-quarters of the various taluks are at the places after which each is named except in the cases of Golgonda, Sarvasiddhi and Viravilli, the chief stations in which are Narasapatam, Yellamanchili and Chodavaram respectively. The chief towns in the district are the municipalities of Vizagapatam (with its European suburb of Waltair) , Vizianagram, Anakapalle and Bimlipatam, and the unions of Bobbili, Parvatipur, Salur, Palkonda and Narasapatam. Excepting these, there is no town of as many as 10,000 inhabitants. ”

“ The Lángulya, called the Nágávali in the upper part of its course, is a perennial stream which has its source among the steep hills of the Ráyagada taluk and the Kálahandi State. It flows nearly due south, past Ráyagada, to within six miles east of Párvatípur; and then turns slightly eastwards and enters the Bay at Mahfuz Bandar, near Chicacole in Ganjám district. For the last twenty miles of its course it forms the boundary between Ganjám and Vizagapatam. ”

“ The events of this struggle belong rather to the 'history of the southern districts of the Presidency than to that of Vizagapatam, and it is enough to mention here tliat eventually a French protégé, Salábat Jang, secured the post of Subadar, and that Bussy, the French general, obtained from him in 1753 the cession of four of the Northern Circars (not Guntúr) for the support of his troops. Masulipatam and the country adjacent had been already ceded to the French in 1750; and Bussy sent M. Moracin, the French officer in charge there, instructions to take possession of the new acquisitions. ”

“ Three nights afterwards, Viziaráma Rázu was killed in his tent by some of Bobbili's adherents. He was succeeded by Ananda Rázu, the son of a first cousin.
From Bobbili, Bussy marched on into Ganjám, receiving the submission of the various local chiefs and zamindars as he went; sent a body of troops from Masulipatam to capture the English factories at Injaram, Madapollam and Bandamúrlanka in Gódávari (all of which surrendered at once) ; and then turned back to attack the Vizagapatam settlement in person. ”

“ Perhaps the most picturesque of all the coast districts of the Madras Presidency is Vizagapatam—the land of the Hindoo Mars, which is the meaning of the word—lying along the north-west shore of the Bay of Bengal. Here, in the chief native town of the district, lived in former days a wealthy Zemindar, G. V. Juggarow Esq., who, to the many acts of benevolence he practised among the people* around him, added a great taste for scientific enquiry, especially in the subject of Meteorology; for the furtherance of which, he established there in 1841 the excellent observatory which bears his name. ”

“ According to tradition, the estate was originally granted by the Visvambara Deo of Jeypore already several times mentioned to a chief on whom he conferred the lofty title of Boliyaro Simho, or 'mighty lion.' Like its fellows, it was eventually absorbed by Vizianagram. Mr. Carmichael says that when the English first obtained the country, the then zamindar, Sanyási Razu, headed a revolt against Vizianagram and in consequence lost the hunda of Makkuva. ”

“ If the girl's parents dislike the match she often elopes with the youth, who eventually is punished for his transgression by having to provide a caste dinner. Gadaba children, like those of other primitive tribes here, are usually named after the day of the week on which they were born. Stone slabs are erected to the memory of the dead and sacrifices offered to them now and again. The Kóyas, who number 11,000 in this district, live in the corner of Malkanagiri taluk south-west of Malkanagiri town and are immigrants from Gódávari, to which district, rather than to Vizagapatam, they belong. ”

“ The great famine of 1876-78, which wrought such terrible havoc in the south of the Presidency, was hardly felt in Vizagapatam. Prices rose, no doubt, in consequence of the exportation of grain to the affected areas, and cholera was more than usually prevalent, but the remissions granted in the two Government taluks of Golgonda and Sarvasiddhi amounted to less than Rs. 20,000 and in only one month were there more than 1,000 persons in receipt of relief. The two cyclones of 1878 mentioned below did far more harm, in fact, than the famine. ”

“ He has saved from ruin the temple dedicated to Viswesvara Swami in Sangam Valasa. He has presented Valuable jewels to many temples. He is very pious, and therefore generally spends his time in the company of Pundits. He is very charitable to the poor, and is greatly popular throughout the district.
The Rajah Sahib is full of honours and years, and his counsel on matters of importance is highly valued by the educated public of ihe Vizagapatam District. ”