Rani Chennamma (1778-1829), Queen of the princely state of Kittur was the first person to lead an armed rebellion against British governance. In 1824, she rebelled against the kappa tax. More than three decades before Laxmi Bai. She lead lead an armed rebellion against the British East India Company in 1824 because of the effect of doctrine of lapse. The resistance ended with her arrest and she became a symbol of the independence movement in India. In the state of Karnataka, she is celebrated along with Abbakka Rani, Keladi Chennamma and Onake Obavva, as the foremost women warriors and patriots.
