Kittur Rani Channamma Fort

Kittur was a modest principality until the death of its ruler and his adopted heir in 1824 gave the British East India Company an opening to annex it under a precursor to the later Doctrine of Lapse. Rani Channamma, widow of the ruling family, refused to accept the annexation and raised an army to resist — in the first confrontation, her forces killed the British collector St. John Thackeray and repelled the Company’s troops entirely, a rare outright victory against colonial forces more than three decades before the 1857 uprising.

The British returned in greater strength soon after, defeated Kittur’s army, and imprisoned Rani Channamma at Bailhongal fort, where she died in 1829. The fort at Kittur today houses a museum and memorial to her resistance, and the town holds an annual Kittur Utsav each October commemorating the rebellion — she is remembered across Karnataka as one of the earliest women to lead an armed revolt against British rule.

Getting there: Kittur is about 50 km from Belagavi on the Belagavi-Dharwad road. The post office sits within the town near the fort.