Bhandaru Acchamamba

Bhandaru Acchamamba (1874 – 1905) was one of the pioneers in the early stages of women's movement. She is regarded as one of the early feminist historians in India. Acchamamba studied Telugu, English and Hindi classics under her brother's guidance and became knowledgeable in literature and women's issues. She wrote several biographies of Telugu and British women, which laid path for future historians. Her stories reflect the social conditions of her times and women's issues. Bhandaru Acchamamba was born in 1874 in a small village called Penuganchiprolu in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Her father, who was a diwan (minister in the state government), died when she was six years old. She was married to her maternal uncle, Bhandaru Madhava Rao at the age of ten and started family life with him at the age of seventeen. Madhava Rao was not favorable to her learning. However, after her father died, she took her younger brother, Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao under her care and she learned to read Telugu, Hindi, English and Marathi, sitting next her brother. After her brother left for Nagpur to continue his studies, Acchamamba worked on her own, learning Bengali and Gujarati as well as a little Sanskrit. The early deaths of her son and daughter were inconsolable personal loss for her. Since then Acchamamba had adopted five orphans providing them with basic necessities and education.