GURAZADA A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY Kasimsetty Satyanarayana THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE ANDHRA UNIVERSITY FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY 19 9 7 \V,e- ^ sH: r^ CONTENTS Acknowledgements Preface Photo ,^H'^ "^ ^ Map CHAPTER PAGE I Introduction 1 - 32 II Vizianagaram - The Local Environment 33 - 101 III Life Sketch of Gurazada 102 - 131 IV Literary Contribution 132 - 194 V Kanyasulkam 195 - 257 VI Gurazada as Researcher 258 - 366 VII Conclusion 367 - 372 Select Bibliography 373 - 406 Photos 407 - 409 Appendices 410 - 433 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the work embodied in this thesis entitled Gurazada - A Biographical Study carried out by me under the supervision of Professor M.S.R. Anjaneyulu, Department of History & Archaeology, Andhra University, is original and this has not been submitted for a degree or diploma either in part or in full to any other university. Visakhapatnam, (K. SATYANARAYANA) Date: CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled Gurazada - A Biographical Study written by Sri Kasimsetty Satyanarayana under my supervision is an original work and it is fit to be submitted for the award of Ph.D. Degree. Visakhapatnam, (PROF. M.S.R. ANJANEYULU) Research Director Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In producing this thesis on Gurazada Venkata Apparao a great personahty and a multi-faceted genius, 1 received help from various quarters and therefore 1 would like to express my profound gratitude and indebtedness to all of them. At the outset I express my profound gratitude to my research Director Professor M.S.R. Anjaneyulu of the Department of History & Archaeology, Andhra University, Waitair for graciously suggesting me this topic, initiating me into research, guiding me at every stage of my research and also for putiing forth efforts to go through this thesis. The valuable suggestions passed on to me at various stages are of immense help to me and 1 graieftiUy acknowledge him. The valuable help and the much needed encouragement were amply provided by Professor Mutyalayya Naidu, Head of the Department, Professor B. Kesavanarayana, and other members of the staff of the Department of History & Archaeology, Professor A. Kamala Vasini, Chairperson, Board of Studies (P.G.) I extend my profuse thanks to each one of them. It is a well established fact that guidance and encouragement is a part of research. It has to be aided by the provision of necessary l^cilities and I am. mimensely thankful to the authorities of the Andhra Univeisity, Waltaif for providing me all the facilities required to complete this work. In research, extensive travel is involved to gather material from various sources and places. I am extremely grateftil to the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi who were kind enough to award me the Researach Fellow Ship (Travel Grant) which enabled me to collect the material and complete this research without which it would have been difficult for me to cCHnplete this work. In my venture to carry on with this research, I had to meet, talk and interview many prominent personalities, writers and journalists. They all were gracious to spare their valuable time to patiently listen to me and responded kindly to my questions. They guided me l^ providing primary and first hand informtion about Gurazada's life and worics. Of the many, I mention however very few personalities who include K.V. Ramana Reddy (KVR), Cetti Eswararao, P. Lakshmana Murty (Pula Murty), Manda Suryanarayana (Masuna), Arudra, Sasya Sri, Gurazada Venkata Apparao (Grandson of Guraaada), Rami Naidu, Founder of VELUGU, a cultural organisation of Vizianagaram, Etukuri BalaramaMurty, a prominent Historian, Raghavachari, Editor, Visalandhra, Ayyalasomayajula Narasimha Sastry, an eminent scholar, Chalasani Prasad, Kandregula Suryanarayana Murty, Nirmalanda, working Editor Praja Sahiti, T.A. Izak of Canadian Baptist Mission and other missionaries of Visakhaptnam. I am immensely grateful to all these luminaries individually for their help, cooperation, answers, suggestions and valuable information. To carry out research, it is necessary to bank upon the help and advice of many other stalwarts. I profusely thank Pilla Rama Rao, Correspondent, B.V.K. College, K. Babu Rao Prasad Principal, B.V.K. College, Visakhapatnam, Dr. D.Venkateswara Rao, Principal, B.V.K. Junior College, I. Gopala Krishna, Principal, Govt. College Bhimili, G. Narayana Rao, Sub- Editor, Andhra Jyothi, M.R.Venkata Ramana, Lecturer in English, Smt. T. Vijayalakshmi, Smt. Neeraja Ranganna, Lecturers in English, B.V.K. College, and K. Venkatramayya, Lecturer in Telugu, Mrs. A.V.N. College, Visakhapatnam. The help of my own collegues, friends and relatives is immeasurable. I express my gratitude to my esteemed colleagues S. Ramamohana Rao, Y. Satya Rao and Dr. Ch. S. Gopalakrishna S.S. Subhan, K. Sankara Rao, D. Chandra Sekhar and T. Arjun Rao and my friend C. Sarada, Lecturer in History V.M.C. College, Visakhapatnam. I am immensely indebted to many institutions like the Archives and various Libraries where I profusely and liberally consulted and made use of the information available with them. They are: 1. A.P. State Archives, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam & Rajahmundry. 2. Tamilnad State Arachives, Chennai (Madras) 3. Gowthami Library, Rajahmundry. 4. Saraswatha Nikethan Library, Vetapalem. 5. Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi. 6. Saradar Patel Library, New Delhi. 7. National Archives, New Delhi. 8. Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, New Delhi. 9. Dr. VS. Krishna Library, Andhra University, Waltair. 10. Rama Mohan Library, Vijayawada. 11. Tagore Library, Vijayawada. I sincerely thank all the authorities of the above institutions for their kind cooperation in permitting me to consult the records and to copy the needed material from their records and books. All throughout my research, my wife Smt. K. Nagamani has helped and assisted me and 1 am deeply indebted to her. The completion of this research work, perhaps, would not have been possible without the bounteous benediction and good wishes of my parents Kasimsetty Rama Rao and Smt. Lakshmi Kantham I express my profound sense of indebtedness to my parents. I received immense help from a galaxy of my friends and relatives and I thank them for their help. In this work I needed a few maps of the Vizagapatam District and therefore I had to bank upon the help of S. Kamaraju, Draughtsman, Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University, Waltair. I thank him for the timely and spontaneous help. Last but not the least, I very sincerely thank M. Suri Babu for neatly and excellently executing the typing work of this thesis. I may kindly be pardoned for ommission, if any, which is inadvertant and not intentional. Kasimsetty Satyanarayana PREFACE Gurazada Venkata Apparao was a versatile genius and a multi-faceted personality. I was overwhelmed with joy and accepted spontaneously the suggestion of professor M.S.R. Anjaneyulu of the Department of Histor>' «fe Archaeology, my research Director that I may undertake research on Gurazada as 1 had an innate admiration of this stalwart. The research on him will certainly afford me an opportunity to know more about him. The life, work and achievements of Gurazada are striking and fascinating. He combined in himself a Short story writer. Dramatist, Novelist, Epigraphist, Researcher, Administrator, Teacher, Lyricist and above all a Social reformer. He was a patriot par excellence. In short Gura^cada is al! in one. Therefore among the contemporary writers, he 'shines and shines alone like a star'. Kandukuri Veeresalingam, a contemporaiy of Gurazada was another stalwart combming in himself the art of letters and the spirit of social reform. hi comparison Gurazada outshines Kandukuri. The talents and abilities of Kandukuri are limited, but Gurazada exercised his talents and skills in a wide spectrum of literary activity and social reform. Gurazada's magnum opus Kanyasulkam is a living monument his astounding talents and his undisputed mastery of knowledge and dramaturgy. It stands as an eloquent and unparalleled testimony of his mastery over letters, II techniques of dramaturgy and the creation of socially useful and real characters. Its object was to bring about a social reform to discourage child marriages and encourage widow remarriages. It is to the credit of Gurazada that while treating this subject deftly, he has introduced subtle humour presumably to enthrol the audience and to keep them away fi-om boredom. Above all, this play proves beyond all reasonable doubt that spoken dialect is also suitable for effective presentation of a social play. No doubt he has also attempted to write a historical play Bilhaneeyam to dispell the impression that spoken language is not suitable for historical plays. Unfortunately Bilhaneeyam remained incomplete. Though some have criticised Kanyasulkam in the beginning, yet all their criticism proved to be incorrect in course of time. Now everybody is convinced of the efficacy of Kanyasulkam. Some books have already been written on Gurazada, but it is felt that they do not reflect all the greatness which Gurazada actually deserves. Gurazada's ability as a Researcher and his efforts to replace Grandhika Style of writing by spoken language have not been adequately focussed upon. Hence an earnest attempt has been made to high light these two areas in this thesis. His appointment as an Epigraphist in the Vizianagaram Samsthanam has acceded him an ample Opportunity to prove his mettle as researcher. He read many inscriptions and culled out history of the dynasties of Eastern Gangas and other Andhra ruling families. In fact he desired to compile the history of the Pusapatis of Vizianagaram, but he could not accomplish this Ill work on account of his multifarious engagements, his ill-health and the resultant premature death. It is noteworthy that Gurazada spared no efforts to popularise 'Spoken Telugu Language'. His 'Minute of Dissent' is a master-piece and a living monument of his skill and effort in the direction of popularising spoken Telugu.