Kakatiya · https://kakatiya.info/
Warangal · Telangana
The Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, c. 1000–1323 CE
The Kakatiyas were a dynasty that ruled from the Telangana plateau between about 1000 and 1323 CE. Their name comes from Kakati, which the sources describe as a town, a goddess, or both. The early chiefs governed from Anumakonda, now Hanamakonda, as vassals of the Western Chalukyas. Rudra Deva was ruling by 1158 and proclaimed the dynasty’s independence in 1163. The court later moved to Orugallu, the modern Warangal. At its height the kingdom covered much of present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In 1323 an army of the Delhi Sultanate took Warangal, and Pratapa Rudra surrendered.
The rulers and their generals built irrigation tanks, because no perennial river served their capitals. Their temples still stand at Hanamakonda and Palampet, and four stone gateways survive inside Warangal Fort.
The Kakatiyas held Telangana for about three centuries. The chart shows the powers that ruled before and after them. Select a bar to read about each power.
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Asoka, c. 273–232 BCE
Ruled from: Pataliputra
The Mauryas were an empire ruled from Pataliputra. Under Asoka, Telangana lay within their lands. The Satavahanas began as local rulers under the Mauryas.
Sources:Imperial Gazetteer 1909Goel et al. 2022
Read more →c. 221 BCE – 3rd century CE · c. 420–520 years
Ruled from: Kotilingala, later Pratishthana (Paithan)
The Satavahanas were a Deccan dynasty, and Telangana was the centre of their power. They built a large empire in the Deccan, and their trade reached Rome.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022Imperial Gazetteer 1909
Read more →c. 210 – mid-4th century CE · c. 110–170 years
Ruled from: Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda)
Held only part of Telangana
The Ikshvakus ruled the Krishna valley from Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda), including Phanigiri in Nalgonda. They supported the Buddhist centre at Phanigiri. The Ikshvakus held only part of Telangana. Telangana – Land and People places the Ikshvaku kingdom in the middle Krishna basin. Epigraphia Telanganica records Ikshvaku inscriptions in Telangana only at Phanigiri. The sources end Ikshvaku rule at different dates. Telangana – Land and People says that the Ikshvakus ruled until the rise of the Salankayanas and the Vishnukundins in the early 4th century. Epigraphia Telanganica takes 352 CE as the end of Ikshvaku rule.
Sources:Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Goel et al. 2022
Read more →c. 250–550 CE · c. 300 years
Ruled from: Vidarbha
Held only part of Telangana
The Vakatakas ruled from Vidarbha and held the Godavari valley of northern Telangana. They were allies of the Guptas, and the Chalukyas later absorbed their lands. The Vakatakas held only part of Telangana. Telangana – Land and People places the Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts within their lands, and says that the Vakatakas and the Vishnukundins shared Telangana. The same book gives about 300 to 500 CE as the period of Vakataka rule over central India and the northern Deccan.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022
Read more →c. 375–612 CE · c. 237 years
Ruled from: Keesaragutta or Indrapalanagara
Held only part of Telangana
The Vishnukundins were a dynasty that rose in Telangana itself. They ruled from capitals in Telangana before they moved to coastal Andhra. The Vishnukundins held only part of Telangana. Telangana – Land and People says that the Vishnukundins and the Vakatakas shared Telangana. The same book places the early Vishnukundin kingdom north of Srisailam, in the Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
Read more →c. 550–750 CE · c. 200 years
Ruled from: Badami (Vatapi)
The Chalukyas of Badami ruled from Badami (Vatapi) and held Telangana as the higher power. Epigraphia Telanganica dates the earliest use of Telugu letters in Telangana to their rule. It is the Amudalapadu inscription of 660 CE, written in Sanskrit in the old Telugu–Kannada script. Epigraphia Telanganica lists 19 inscriptions of this dynasty in Telangana, and all of them come from the Mahbubnagar and Jogulamba Gadwal districts, mostly around Alampur. The dated records among them run from 660 to 714–715. Telangana – Land and People names the Chalukyas of Badami among the main powers that held Telangana.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
Read more →624 or 640 to 1070 CE · 430–446 years
Ruled from: Vengi
Held only part of Telangana
The Eastern Chalukyas ruled coastal Andhra from Vengi. They competed with the Rashtrakutas for Telangana. In about 956 a Kakatiya general serving the Rashtrakutas helped one of the Eastern Chalukya princes take the throne. The sources date the start of the dynasty differently. Telangana – Land and People gives 640, and Epigraphia Telanganica dates its first king, Vishnuvardhana, to 624–641. The Eastern Chalukyas held only part of Telangana. Telangana – Land and People says that some provinces of Telangana were under subordinates of Vengi, such as the Chalukyas of Mudigonda. The Early History of the Deccan places the western border of the Vengi kingdom along the foot of the Eastern Ghats, with short-lived gains farther west. Parabrahma Sastry dates the Koravi record of the Mudigonda chiefs, who served Vengi, to about 935. Epigraphia Telanganica dates the same record to 920, in the reign of Bhima I. Parabrahma Sastry writes that the hold of Vengi on the Koravi country faded after the Vengi king Danarnava was killed in 973.
Sources:Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Goel et al. 2022Yazdani 1960Parabrahma Sastry 1978
Read more →c. 753–973/975 CE · c. 220–222 years
Ruled from: Manyakheta (Malkhed)
The Rashtrakutas were a Deccan empire ruled from Manyakheta (Malkhed). They held Telangana as the higher power, and the early Kakatiyas served them as army commanders. After the Rashtrakutas, Telangana passed to the Chalukyas of Kalyani.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
Read more →c. 750s–973 CE · c. 214–223 years
Ruled from: Vemulavada (Karimnagar)
Held only part of Telangana
The Chalukyas of Vemulavada were local rulers in Telangana who served the Rashtrakutas. They ruled from Vemulavada, a town in Telangana itself. The sources differ on how much of Telangana these Chalukyas held. The Early History of the Deccan says that the Rashtrakutas placed parts of Telangana under Arikesari I of this family and his successors. The 1976 Warangal Gazetteer says that the Chalukyas of Vemulavada ruled in the Karimnagar district. Telangana – Land and People says instead that the Telangana region was under them until the Chalukyas of Kalyani took it.
Sources:Yazdani 1960Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Goel et al. 2022Warangal District Gazetteer 1976
Read more →c. 865–1196 CE · c. 331 years
Ruled from: Mudigonda, near Khammam, and later Koravi
Held only part of Telangana
The Chalukyas of Mudigonda were chiefs who ruled from Mudigonda, near Khammam, and later from Koravi. For a long time they served the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, and from about 1000 they served the Chalukyas of Kalyani. The Mudigonda chiefs held only part of Telangana, around Khammam and Koravi. Epigraphia Telanganica notes that none of their three main records is dated. Epigraphia Telanganica therefore gives reconstructed reigns, from about 865 to 1196, and follows N. Venkataramanayya for the earlier kings. Parabrahma Sastry places the rise of the family in about the 8th century and the end of its rule at Koravi at the close of the 12th century. Telangana – Land and People also says that nothing is heard of these chiefs after the 12th century. Parabrahma Sastry also notes a record of 1218 at Nattaramesvaram, in the West Godavari district, that names Kusumaditya and Nagati of this family. Epigraphia Telanganica suggests that their wars with the Kakatiyas ended when the Kakatiya general Recherla Rudra defeated Nagati, the last of their kings. Parabrahma Sastry writes that after the Kakatiyas became independent, the family had to leave its lands and take shelter in the coastal region.
Sources:Parabrahma Sastry 1978Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Goel et al. 2022
Read more →973 – 1157/1189 CE · 184–216 years
Ruled from: Kalyani
The Western Chalukyas ruled the Deccan from Kalyani, and the early Kakatiyas served them as local chiefs. When the Western Chalukyas declined, the Kakatiyas became independent. Parabrahma Sastry dates the last record of the Kakatiya chief Prola II as a loyal Chalukya subordinate to 1149. Parabrahma Sastry also notes that no record of the Chalukya king Tailapa III, who took the throne in 1151, has been found in Telangana.
Sources:Goel et al. 2022Imperial Gazetteer 1909Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Parabrahma Sastry 1978
Read more →c. 1000–1323 CE · c. 323 years
Ruled from: Hanamakonda, then Warangal (Orugallu)
The Kakatiyas rose from Telangana to rule the eastern Deccan. They built the tanks, temples and forts that this site records. Parabrahma Sastry writes that the Kakatiyas became a sovereign power before 1163. Until then the Kakatiyas served the Rashtrakutas and then the Chalukyas of Kalyani as subordinates.
Sources:Parabrahma Sastry 1978Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
The Kakatiya rulers →c. 1060–1160 CE · c. 100 years
Ruled from: Koduru and Panugallu
Held only part of Telangana
The Telugu Chodas of Kanduru ruled Kandurunadu from Koduru and Panugallu, under the Western Chalukyas. The Kanduru Chodas held only part of Telangana. Parabrahma Sastry places Kandurunadu in parts of the Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts. Parabrahma Sastry and Telangana – Land and People date the rule of the family to about 1060–1160. The section of Epigraphia Telanganica on the family runs from an inscription of 1060 to one of 1243. Rudra Deva fought Udaya Choda of this family. Parabrahma Sastry’s thesis says that Udaya Choda made peace by giving Rudra Deva his daughter Padma. The family then served the Kakatiyas. The last known record of the family, dated 1282, names the Kakatiya ruler Rudramadevi as overlord.
Sources:Parabrahma Sastry 1978Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Goel et al. 2022Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
Read more →1323 – c. 1336 · c. 13 years
Ruled from: Sultanpur (Warangal renamed)
The Tughluqs were the sultans of Delhi. Their capture of Warangal in 1323 ended the Kakatiya kingdom. They then ruled Warangal directly, under the new name Sultanpur.
Sources:Elliot & Dowson IIIGoel et al. 2022
Read more →c. 1325–1369 · c. 44 years
Ruled from: Warangal
The Musunuri Nayaks were Telugu chiefs who recaptured Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate. They restored Telugu rule for a generation.
Sources:Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Somasekhara Sarma 1945
Read more →1347–1527 · 180 years
Ruled from: Gulbarga, later Bidar
The Bahmanis were sultans of the Deccan who ruled from Gulbarga and later from Bidar. They took tribute from Warangal and then annexed it, in 1422 or 1424. Telugu Velama chiefs still held much of Telangana until about 1475.
Sources:Imperial Gazetteer 1909District Census Handbook 1986
Read more →c. 1361–1475 · c. 114 years
Ruled from: Rachakonda and Devarakonda
The Recherla Velamas were Telugu chiefs who ruled from Rachakonda and Devarakonda. They displaced the Musunuris and held much of Telangana. They were the main Telugu power of the period and were often allied with the Bahmanis.
Sources:Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
Read more →c. 1512–1687 · c. 175 years
Ruled from: Golconda
The Qutb Shahis were sultans who ruled Telangana from Golconda. Golconda became the political centre of Telangana in place of Warangal. The Imperial Gazetteer and Firishta date the start of Qutb Shahi rule to 1512. An inscription of 1518 at Golconda still calls Sultan Quli a governor under the Bahmani sultan.
Sources:District Census Handbook 1986Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Imperial Gazetteer 1909Tabaqat-i-Akbari III
Read more →1687–1724 · 37 years
Ruled from: Delhi, and the subah of Hyderabad
The Mughals were the emperors of Delhi. When they took Golconda, Warangal passed to them with it. Telangana became a province of the Mughal Empire.
Sources:District Census Handbook 1986Imperial Gazetteer 1909
Read more →1724–1948 · 224 years
Ruled from: Aurangabad, later Hyderabad (from 1763)
The Asaf Jahi Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad State. Under them Warangal became the headquarters of a district and of a subah, or province. Their state was the last one before the Indian Union. From 1798 and 1800 the Nizams were bound to the East India Company by subsidiary treaties, and a British force was stationed at Secunderabad. The Nizams still ruled Telangana themselves, and the British never ruled it directly.
Sources:Bilgrami & Willmott 1883Briggs 1861District Census Handbook 1986Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Imperial Gazetteer 1909Telangana – Land and People III
Read more →Ten rulers, from Beta I, a vassal of the Western Chalukyas, to the capture of Pratapa Rudra in 1323. The dynasty reached its height under Ganapati Deva, who ruled 1199–1262.
10Pratapa Rudra1289–1323Last ruler of the Warangal lineSculpture identification
Kakatiya, late 12th century to 1323 CE
Warangal Fort was the Kakatiya capital at Orugallu. The great circular fort has an outer earthen wall and an inner masonry wall, with a gate on each of its four sides: north, south, east and west. The Swayambhu temple, the shrine of the dynasty’s tutelary god, stood at its centre.
1163 CE (Saka 1084)
The Thousand Pillar Temple at Hanamakonda is the triple-shrined temple that Rudra Deva consecrated in 1163. Its three shrines are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. The 1900 survey called it one of the finest monuments in the Nizam’s dominions.
1213 CE (Saka 1135)
Ramappa Temple, at Palampet, is a single-shrine temple with three entrance porches, built in 1213 by the general Recherla Rudra. It stands on a high, two-tier, star-shaped platform. Its dolerite bracket sculptures and its light brick tower are its best-known features.
13th century, Kakatiya
The Ghanpur temples, also called Kota Gullu, are a group of about twenty-two temples within an enclosure 260 feet square in Mulug taluk. They are built of red sandstone and granite.
Photographs, plans and printed plates from 1767 to 1964 show the temples and the fort before modern repair. Some show halls that have since fallen, and others show monuments overgrown with trees.
45 sites714 Kakatiya-related inscriptions141 old photographs128 sourcesevery statement cited
Site records here are built from epigraphy and from the Archaeological Survey’s 1900 inventory, not from later summaries. Where the 1900 surveyors are the only source, that is stated.
Transliteration varies widely between sources. Every site record carries a list of variant names, so a search finds a site by any spelling a reader is likely to type. Search the sites
Ghanpur appears in the census directories but not in the 1900 inventory. Kusumanchi appears in the 1900 inventory but in no modern monograph. Omissions in both directions are flagged.
