Tandra Papa Rayudu

a poem by Gummadapu Narasimha Rao

Nightmare, thou wert splendid gallantry knight
Patent patriot and potent warrior of battle fight,
Sprouted courage in sane soldier minds mighty
Stalwart thou noble Bobbili ken kingdom petty.

Hadest thou sovereign, serene soul of solidarity
Trained even women as chivalrous for integrity,
Guarded thou dominion akin innate iron curtain
Ardent arms thy squired state as lofty mountain.

King and queen reposed faith on thy magnitude
Kingdom flourished at thine felicitous fortitude,
Valorous chief thou wert tiger to cowardly kings
Tangled the soldiers by strong jingoistic strings.

Adjacent king slavish dastard pledged freedom
Foreigners, gained vantage and ruled kingdom,
Crooks colluded to grab Bobbili fort the placid
Started sudden war when thy shade away lucid.

Enemy equipped cardinal cannons and bombers
Attached fort behind, timid and thievish traitors
King and Knights wert massacred fowl deceivers
Women self-immolated to avoid odious cheaters.

Cognizing battle thou plunged as the furious lion
Rival heads rolled and foe fled out of the region,
Entered, assailant-castle, massacred king greedy
Remained in Indian History as apt knight mighty.

Bobbili was a tiny and mighty independent kingdom on northern costal Andhra, during the British regime and the ruler was the great Rao Ranga Rayudu, well known for his laudable and credible administration and Tadra Papa Rayudu was the brother-in-law of the king and also an able and noble knight who was in-charge of the military. The neighboring king was heinous and non-patriotic and made false complaints with the help of Muslim king to the British rulers against scintillating sagacious Bobbili king. Moreover those two declared war on Bobbili during the absence of mighty knight Papa Rayudu, when he was at Rajam an adjacent place and killed Ranga Rayudu and his brother Vengala Rayudu. Knowing the fact Papa Rayudu as a furious lion entered the dynasty of traitor and massacred brutal king and remains as eternal knight in the history of India. The poet is descendent of Bobbili as his great great grand son of Gummadapu Achaiah Rayanam, was Military General at the war time of Bobbili.