Person · Chitradurga fort defender
Onake Obavva
Also known as Obavva
The 18-century Chitradurga fort defender Onake Obavva (c.1740s-1779), a Nayaka-dynasty-era peasant woman who single-handedly killed over 50 Hyder Ali of Mysore's soldiers with an onake (rice pounder) during the 1779 Mysore siege of Chitradurga Fort in Karnataka. Her husband Mudda Hanuma was the fort's water-channel guard; while he was away for lunch she spotted Mysore troops crawling through the Kindi (water channel) and killed each soldier as they emerged, piling bodies to prevent discovery. Mudda Hanuma returned to find her exhausted beside the pile. Mysore eventually captured Chitradurga through other means. The 1988 Chitradurga fort Onake Obavva memorial and the 2022 Karnataka government commemoration honour her.
- Date
- 1740–1779
- Function
- Social reform & movement
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (1)
- CampaignChitradurga Fort
Onake Obavva's 1779 defence of the Chitradurga Fort against Hyder Ali of Mysore's siege took place at the Chitradurga Fort gate's narrow kindi (water-channel) opening, where she single-handedly killed over 50 Mysore soldiers with an onake (rice pounder) as they crawled through one by one. Her husband Mudda Hanuma was the fort's water-channel guard; the episode has become central to Karnataka's narrative of peasant women's heroism and is commemorated at the Chitradurga Fort's Obavvana Kindi memorial.
Sources
Standard biography; regional historiography.
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