In spite of the controversies surrounding the recent district reorganisation move taken up by the State government, the process is lauded for one reason: attempting to recoup the lost legacy of the erstwhile ‘Cuddapah’ district.
It was in October 1800 that the entire Rayalaseema region comprising Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah and Kurnool collective known as the ‘Ceded districts’ or ‘BACK districts’ as an acronym, was acquired by the British East India Company.
The Principal Collector Thomas Munro ruled the entire region with Cuddapah as the headquarters. The region remained a single block till 1 April, 1911, when Chittoor district was formed and Madanapalle and Piler areas were appended to the newly-carved district.
The same region is now merged back into the Kadapa belt, albeit in the newly-formed Annamayya district, the southern portion of the existing Kadapa district. Though splitting the core of Kadapa into two districts has understandably caused heartburn in the public, the manner in which Piler and Madanapalle have been integrated into their earlier motherland, after 111 years of separation, is hailed all over.
As Cuddapah was known for its torrid climate, successive district Collectors starting from Sir Thomas Munro (1800 – 1807) preferred to stay in Madanapalle, given its salubrious living condition. The Collector’s residence ‘Wedderburn Bungalow’, built 200 years back and where Munro’s successors Lacon, Wedderburn, W.H. Horsley, J.D.B. Gribble among others lived, is still intact in the town.
Madanapalle has cultural proximity to Cuddapah rather than Chittoor, in terms of accent, food habits, social moorings and climate. By bringing it back into the Kadapa fold, the 'historical disconnect is undone”, observes K.S.S. Seshan, a retired professor of History at the University of Hyderabad, who hails from this region.
Madanapalle also had the distinction of being the largest revenue division in the entire country when it was in the Chittoor district. Notwithstanding the high-decibel campaign carried out by the denizens for district headquarters status, the relatively-insignificant Rayachoti ultimately had the last laugh.
Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. Seshan hails the move, but advises any government against taking up frequent changes in the administrative setup, especially in the formation of districts, to ensure cultural synchronisation. Though it is a political decision, the rumblings in Rajampeta and Kodur, now sliced away from Kadapa district, is evident of cultural disconnect, he feels.
