Komaram Bheem (1900/1901–1940), alternatively Kumram Bheem, was a revolutionary leader in Hyderabad State of British India from the Gond tribes. Bheem, in association with other Gond leaders, led a protracted low intensity rebellion against the feudal Nizams of Hyderabad in the eastern part of the princely state during the 1930s, which contributed in the culmination of the Telangana Rebellion of 1946. He was killed by armed policemen in 1940, subsequently lionised as a symbol of rebellion, and eulogised in Adivasi and Telugu folklore. Bheem is deified as a pen in Gond culture and is credited for coining the slogan Jal, Jangal, Zameen () which, symbolising a sentiment against encroachment and exploitation, has been adopted by Adivasi movements as a call to action. He is also closely associated with the movement for Telangana statehood. Life Komaram Bheem was born in Sankepalli, near Asifabad in Hyderabad State, British India to a family in the Gondi tribal community. He is generally considered to have been born on 22 October 1901, although some consider it to be in 1900. Bheem grew up in the tribal populated forests within the traditional kingdoms of Chanda and Ballalpur, isolated from the rest of the world and received no formal education. He kept moving from place to place throughout his life as the Gondi people were becoming increasingly victimised by exploitation from zamindars () and businessmen, and through extortion by the jangaalat police (). During the 1900s, there was expansion of mining activities and strengthening of state authority in the Gondi region, regulations were introduced and enforced which hampered the subsistence activities of the Gondis. Zamindars were granted lands in their regions and they imposed taxes on Gondi podu farming activities, non-compliance often resulting in severe arbitration including forced amputations. Gondis began migrating out of their traditional villages, the situation led to occasional retaliations and protestations; Bheem's father was killed by forest officials in one such incident. Following the death of his father, Bheem and his family moved out to Sankepalli to Sardapur near Karimnagar. The Gonds who had migrated to Sardapur settled in barren land owned by the zamindar Laxman Rao; they began subsistence farming on the land and subsequently became a target for tax extraction. In a confrontation in October 1920, Bheem killed a senior official of the Nizamate, Siddiquesaab who was sent by Rao to enforce the confiscation of crops during the time of harvest.