was without a heir he adopted Sitharama Raju, a son of his cousin, duly intimating the fact to the authorities concerned. Sitharama Raju was as good as his adoptive father, and there was considerable improvement in the estate during his time. He died in 1830 leaving behind him an only infant who survived his father but for a few days. Virtually his widow, Subhadramma Garu, succeeded to the estate, and ruled it for eleven years, from 1830 to 1841. She endeared herself to the hearts of everybody; her piety and charitable nature are still remembered by many an old man and woman. As she had no issue, she adopted her grandson, Sree Suryanarayana Raju Bahadur Garu, the father of the present Zemindar.
It is clear that the chiefs of Kurupam were very influential, and played an important part in the history of those parts of India when the government of the country was unsettled, when native princes and chiefs were partly brought under British yoke and. partly resented it, when plotting and rebellion were the common occurrences of the day, and when the country was torn asunder by dissensions. Long before the advent of the British, the chiefs were very powerful, and were dreaded abroad for their ferocity, as it was common with them to make inroads upon villages, and make them their property by dint of sword, arrows, and bow-strings, in the use of which they were well skilled. Thus in addition to the property they had inherited from their ancestors, they had acquired forts and new estates comprising many villages, and constructed temporary mud forts with bamboo fencing so as to prevent the coming in of arrows which were the common weapons of the day. Among the forts acquired in this way by the chiefs of Kurupam,
