Raja Venkatappa Nayaka

Raja Venkatappa Nayaka IVth or Nalvadi lakshya

Venkatappa Nayaka was a prominent and a last ruler from Nayak Dynasty of Shorapur. He refused to accept the sovereignty of the British East India Company and waged a war against them.

Surapur (or Shorapur) is in the present Yadgiri district, one of the 30 districts of Karnataka state in Southern India.

A portrait of Raja Nalvadi Vekatappa Nayaka of Shorapur in "Shorapur Traditional Painting Style" – 1857 A.D

This district was ruled by Bedar Nayaka's (Ramoshi) who had given tough resistance to Aurangzeb. The British appointed Philip Meadows Taylor, a writer, as its Resident and Regent when the ruler there died, leaving a young prince Venkatappa. Venkatappa Nayaka was educated in English and Taylor had endeared himself to the prince, who addressed Taylor as "Appa".

When the prince started his personal rule, being well educated, he felt the British overlordship very irritating. He was in his early 20s and had sent an agent to Peshwa Nanasaheb in December 1857 A.D. The British had reports that Venkatappa Nayaka was planning to revolt on 8 August 1858, and was trying to encourage the British Regiments at Kolhapur (27th), Dharwad (28th) and Belgaum (29th) to revolt. Two agents trying to sow seeds of dissension in Belgaum army had been identified on 2 February 1858, and they were dispatched by Venkatappa Nayaka and the Jamkhandi Raja, it was reported. Venkatappa had recruited large number of Arabs and Rohillas. Capt. Malcolm posted a contingent at a village near Surapur and another battalion was posted at Sindhanur.

Campbell was sent to Surapur by Malcolm to advise young Venkatappa, who was only evasive in his replies. On 7 February, British army near Surapur was attacked and many soldiers were killed by Venkatappa's men. The next day, the British attacked Surapur fort, and the army from Madras led by Col. Hues was also summoned. Venkatappa's men attacked the Surapur fort killing many British soldiers.

Reinforcements were called from the nearby cantonment site(Chavani) at Lingasugur. But Surapur did not have much force to face the huge British army. One Vagangeri Bhimrao from Surapur, a secret agent of the British, advised Venkatappa to go to Hyderabad and seek help from Salar Jung. Venkatappa escaped from the fort and made his way to Hyderabad. Next day, Bhimrao opened the fort door, and Surapur was occupied without much resistance.

Venkatappa was apprehended at Hyderabad. He was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. When Meadows Taylor met him, Venkatappa said "he did not wish to live and if he was to be sentenced to death, he must not be hanged like a criminal, but killed at the mouth of a cannon". "I was not a coward" Venkatappa told Taylor. Taylor, who had great affection for Venkatappa, had his life term reduced to four years internment by prevailing upon the Governor General, and he was to be reinstated after this four-year term. He was to be taken to Kurnool fort, and was to be interned there together with his two queens. While he was being taken to Kurnool, on an early morning when his armed guard had gone out for ablution, Venkatappa took the revolver his guard had left behind and shot himself dead.