The Kakatiyas at a glance

The establishment of the Kakatiya kingdom

The Kakatiyas rose from Telangana to rule the eastern Deccan from about 1000 to 1323 CE. Their capitals were Hanamakonda and then Warangal (Orugallu).Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
The sources first show the Kakatiyas as army commanders in Telangana in the service of the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta.Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
In about 956 a Kakatiya general serving the Rashtrakutas helped an Eastern Chalukya prince to take the throne of Vengi.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Goel et al. 2022Timeline →
After Rashtrakuta rule ended in 973, the early Kakatiyas served the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani as local chiefs.Goel et al. 2022 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
Beta I, also called Garuda Beta, ruled from about 996 to 1051. The Gudur inscription says that Kamavasani, the wife of Viriyala Erra, helped the young Beta I to establish the line.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Prola I served the Western Chalukya king Trailokyamalla. The Kazipet Darga inscription records that Prola I received the Anumakonda district as a permanent fief.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
Beta II founded the village of Sivapura in 1090 and granted it to Ramesvara Pandita, the Kalamukha head of the monastery at Srisailam.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
Prola II ruled from 1116 to 1157 as a loyal vassal of the Western Chalukyas. Inscriptions at Draksharama and Pithapuram say that chiefs of coastal Andhra killed him.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Rudra Deva proclaimed Kakatiya sovereignty in the Anumakonda inscription of 1163, now at the Thousand Pillar Temple. Parabrahma Sastry argues that Rudra Deva never rebelled against the Chalukyas.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Anumakonda, now Hanamakonda, was the first capital. An inscription of 872 already names the town.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
Orugallu, now Warangal, lies about 5 km from Anumakonda. Sanskrit texts call the town Ekasilanagara, and the Kazipet Darga inscription names it by about 1098.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
The Bayyaram tank inscription says that Venna, the founder of the family, ruled from a town called Kakati. His descendants were therefore called Kakatiyas.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
Nobody has yet identified the town of Kakati. A second explanation links the name to Kakati, a goddess of the family.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964 Rama Rao 1966History →

Where the sources disagree

The sources are divided on the goddess Kakati. Kumarasvami Somapithin calls her a form of Durga, and S. Gopalakrishna Murthy identifies her with Chamunda. M. Rama Rao and Parabrahma Sastry suggest that she began as a Jain goddess.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964 Rama Rao 1966History →
Most sources on this site say that the court moved fully to Orugallu under Ganapati Deva (Parabrahma Sastry, M. Rama Rao, H. Krishna Sastri, Appanna Sastri). The Bekkallu inscription of 1195 already describes Rudra Deva as ruling from Orugallu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Rama Rao 1966 Appanna Sastri (ed.) 1934 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
Parabrahma Sastry numbers the early chiefs differently in his 1975 thesis and his 1978 book. The thesis calls Garuda Beta 'Beta II', because the Mangallu grant names an earlier Betiya.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →

The rulers

The site follows the regnal dates of Parabrahma Sastry's genealogy table (1978). Where the dates are contested, the table gives a range.

No.	Ruler	Reign	Title or position	Key events	Key inscription
1	Beta I (Garuda Beta)	c. 996–1051	Founder of the line, a subordinate chief	family position recovered with the help of Kamavasani, gift to a Jain temple	Sanigaram, Saka 973 (1051)Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
2	Prola I	c. 1052–1076	Subordinate chief of the Western Chalukyas, title arigajakesari	Anumakonda district received as a permanent fief from Trailokyamalla	Kazipet Darga (1090 and 1098)Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
3	Beta II	c. 1076–1108	Subordinate chief of the Western Chalukyas, title Vikrama-chakri	Kalamukha initiation from Ramesvara Pandita, village of Sivapura	Hanamakonda, 26 December 1079Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
4	Durgaraja	c. 1108–1116	Subordinate chief, title Tribhuvanamalla	a brief rule, probably ended by his younger brother Prola II (Sastry)	Kazipet Darga (1098)Parabrahma Sastry 1978
5	Prola II	1116–1157	Subordinate chief of the Western Chalukyas	loyal vassal of the Chalukyas, killed in battle with chiefs of coastal Andhra	Padmakshi temple, 24 December 1117Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
6	Rudra Deva	1158–1195	The first independent king, styled Mahamandalesvara	sovereignty proclaimed in 1163, Thousand Pillar Temple, new fort at Orugallu begun	Anumakonda (Thousand Pillar Temple), 19 January 1163Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
7	Mahadeva	1196–1198/99	Younger brother of Rudra Deva	invasion of the Yadava kingdom of Devagiri, death in battle there	Sundella, 28 March 1197Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
8	Ganapati Deva	1199–1262	Zenith of the dynasty, title Rayagajakesari	conquest of Divi and coastal Andhra, capital moved to Orugallu, Motupalli edict	Motupalli pillar, 1244–45Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Indica XII
9	Rudrama Devi	1262–1289	Queen regnant, ruled as Rudradeva Maharaja	Yadava invasion repelled, nayamkara system introduced (Sastry), death during the revolt of Ambadeva	Chandupatla, 25 November 1289Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023
10	Pratapa Rudra	1289–1323	The last ruler of the Warangal line, title Dayagajakesari	Raichur fortified, repeated invasions from Delhi, surrender to Ulugh Khan in 1323	Khandavalli plates, 16 September 1289Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Epigraphia Telanganica 2023

In 1163 Rudra Deva consecrated the god Rudresvara and endowed Vasudeva and Surya. The same inscription credits him with victories over Dommaraja, Meda of Polavasa and Bhima Choda.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
Rudra Deva laid the foundations of a new fort at Orugallu. His minister Gangadhara built a temple of Prasannakesava at Anumakonda.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Parabrahma Sastry writes that Mahadeva attacked the Yadava king Jaitugi I and died fighting outside the enemy capital. The Paithan plates say that the Yadava king released Ganapati from prison to make him king.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Ganapati Deva ruled from 1199 to 1262. Parabrahma Sastry calls the reign the most brilliant in the history of Andhra.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Ganapati Deva's general Malyala Chaunda conquered Divi island in 1203. Ganapati Deva also restored Tikka to the throne of Nellore.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Ganapati Deva completed the double fort at Orugallu, which Rudra Deva had begun, and moved the capital there.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
The Pandyas defeated the Kakatiyas and their allies at Muttukur. Sastry links the final retirement of Ganapati Deva to this defeat.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Rudrama Devi, the daughter of Ganapati Deva, ruled as co-regent from 1259-60 under the name Rudradeva Maharaja. She is the only woman to rule the Kakatiya kingdom.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
Rudrama Devi repelled an invasion by the Yadava king Mahadeva. The Kayastha chief Ambadeva rebelled in her later years.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Pratapa Rudra, grandson of Rudrama Devi, was the last Kakatiya king. Records often call him Kumara Rudradeva, even late in his reign.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
A Kakatiya army took Tripurantakam from Ambadeva in 1291. In 1294 Gona Vithala, a Kakatiya feudatory, captured forts in the Raichur doab and fortified Raichur.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →

Where the sources disagree

Most sources on this site say that Rudra Deva died fighting the Yadavas of Devagiri (Parabrahma Sastry's 1975 thesis, Lakshmi Ranjanam 1975, Appanna Sastri 1934). Some give a different view: Parabrahma Sastry's 1978 book names Rudra Deva among the kings who did not die as warriors.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Lakshmi Ranjanam 1975 Appanna Sastri (ed.) 1934 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Most sources on this site give Ganapati Deva as the son of Mahadeva (Parabrahma Sastry, Epigraphia Telanganica, Gopalakrishna Murthy, Telangana – Land and People). One record calls Ganapati the son of Rudra Deva, probably by adoption.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964 Goel et al. 2022Rulers →
The sources are divided on the daughters of Rudrama Devi. Parabrahma Sastry lists three daughters: Mummadamma, Rudrama and Ruyyama. Lakshmi Ranjanam takes Mummadamma to be adopted. Gopalakrishna Murthy reports that Rudrama Devi adopted two daughters, Mummadamma and Ruyyamma.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Siddhesvara Charitra (ed. 1960)Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964Rulers →
Most sources on this site date the death of Rudrama Devi to November 1289 (Parabrahma Sastry, Epigraphia Telanganica, Telangana – Land and People). Some give later years: earlier historians believed that she lived until 1295, and Yashoda Devi gives her reign to 1296.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Goel et al. 2022 Yashoda Devi 1975Rulers →
Most sources on this site place the accession of Pratapa Rudra in 1289. Gopalakrishna Murthy, writing in 1964, gives 1296.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964Rulers →

Administration

Parabrahma Sastry notes that Mahamandalesvara, great lord of a province, was the only title that the Kakatiya kings kept throughout.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
Sastry calls the Kakatiya state a decentralised kind of monarchy. In his view, the kings left their subordinate chiefs free in almost every matter except military service.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Cynthia Talbot describes the Kakatiya state as a military and political coalition that drew local warrior-peasants into its network.Talbot 2001Administration →
The highest officers were the mahapradhanas, or chief ministers. Below them came officers called pradhani, preggada, amatya and mantri.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Officers were usually paid with vrittis, which were villages or plots of land held in return for service.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
The government had seventy-two niyogas, or departments. An officer called the bahattara-niyogadhipati supervised them, and the Kayastha chief Gangaya-sahini held this title under Ganapati Deva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Under the nayamkara system, the king gave a military commander, the nayaka, a grant of land in place of a salary. The nayaka kept a fixed number of elephants, horses and foot soldiers for the king.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Sastry holds that Rudrama Devi introduced the nayamkara system and that Prataparudra organised it fully.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
Lenka was a title of warriors and officers under Prataparudra. Lakshmi Ranjanam explains the lenkas as the leaders of the king's bodyguard.Lakshmi Ranjanam 1975 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Lenka, Inscriptions of LenkasAdministration →
The kingdom, or rajya, was divided into nadus, which were provinces. Each nadu was divided into sthalas, groups of about twenty villages or fewer, according to Sastry.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Village officers called ayagars ran the village. The ayagars included the talari, or watchman, and the nirukattu, who shared out the tank water.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Villages also had assemblies. Inscriptions speak of the ashtadasa-praja, the eighteen groups of people, and of samayas, which were corporate bodies of a community, a village or a sthala.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Sastry describes the dharmasastras, the Sanskrit law books, as the basic law of the kingdom. He found no permanent courts, and temporary local bodies of mahajanas and elders settled most disputes.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
The army had four arms: chariots, elephants, cavalry and foot soldiers. The commanders of the elephants, horses and foot soldiers were the gaja-sahini, the asva-sahini and the senadhipati.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Goel et al. 2022Administration →
Many families served as subordinate rulers and generals, among them the Recherla, Viriyala, Malyala, Kayastha, Kota and Natavadi families.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Administration →

Where the sources disagree

Parabrahma Sastry, followed by Telangana – Land and People, argues that the kings never claimed imperial status. Several inscriptions give them grander titles. Records of 1217 call Ganapati Deva Maharajadhiraja, and the Terala inscription of 1292 calls Prataparudra emperor among kings.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Administration →
A verse calls Prataparudra the lord of nine lakh archers. Sastry calls the phrase a meaningful boast. Telangana – Land and People estimates the population of Telangana then at about sixteen lakh and doubts the number.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
The Prataparudra Caritramu gives the Warangal fort 77 bastions, one for each Padmanayaka clan. Sastry gives seventy-two, seventy-five or seventy-seven in different passages, and his 1975 thesis gives seventy.Talbot 2001 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Administration →
Yashoda Devi writes that Prataparudra appointed only Padmanayaka, or Velama, nayakas. Sastry doubts this, and Cynthia Talbot points out that the chronicle itself never uses the name Velama.Yashoda Devi 1975 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Talbot 2001Administration →

Economy: agriculture, tanks and irrigation

The Kakatiya capitals had no perennial river close by. Farming there depended on rain and on water stored in tanks.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
The inscriptions divide land into wet land and dry land. Sastry splits wet land into nirunela, the paddy land, and tota, the garden.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
Sastry calls paddy the staple crop in every part of the kingdom. Telangana – Land and People names both paddy and millets as staples.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
Sesame was the main oil seed. Cotton grew over large areas for the handloom industry, according to Sastry.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
Recherla Rudra, a general of Ganapati Deva, built Ramappa Lake at Palampet. His inscription of 1213 records a town, a pond and the Rudresvara temple.Barnett 1919 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
The Pakhal inscription credits Pakhal Lake to Jagadala Mummadi, son of the minister Bayyana Nayaka, in the reign of Ganapati Deva. The editor assigns the inscription to about 1245.Pakhal inscription 1245 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
Mailama, a younger sister of Ganapati Deva, built the Bayyaram tank. She named it Dharmakirti-samudra after her title Dharmakirti.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Bayyaram Tank →
The builders closed the gap between two hills with a dam of earth and stone. The Ramappa bund is an earthen dam about 600 metres long that joins two hills.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 UNESCO dossier 2017Agriculture and irrigation →
Tanks were often built in chains, called golusu cheruvulu. In such a chain the surplus of an upper tank fills the next tank below.Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
Water left a tank through a sluice and reached the fields along channels called kaluvas. Farmers lifted well water with a ratana, a water lift worked by bullocks or men.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
Building a tank was one of the sapta-santana, the seven meritorious deeds. The Ganapesvaram inscription of 1231 lists the seven in verse 43.Epigraphia Indica III Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
Sastry writes that the digging of a tank usually began with the installation of Varuna, the god of waters.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
A table by T. Dayakara Rao counts 180 irrigation works of the Kakatiya period. Kings made 77, royal officials 75, royal women 17 and other people 11.Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
Sastry finds no royal department for irrigation. In each village a nirukattu, or waterman, shared out the tank water among the cultivators.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
B. Murali Krishna (2024) calls tank, temple and town the 'three T's' of the Kakatiyas. The phrase is a modern summary and does not come from the inscriptions.Murali Krishna 2024Agriculture and irrigation →
The Nizam's government formed an irrigation department in 1896. The department restored Laknavaram in 1909, Ramappa in 1919 and Pakhal in 1922.Warangal District Gazetteer 1976Agriculture and irrigation →

Where the sources disagree

The sources are divided on the builder of Pakhal Lake. The Pakhal inscription credits Jagadala Mummadi. The 1976 district gazetteer credits the Malyala chiefs, and the 1900 survey records that the lake is ascribed to Pratapa Rudra.Pakhal inscription 1245 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 ASI 1900Agriculture and irrigation →
The sources do not agree on which tank is the largest. By area, the Imperial Gazetteer calls Pakhal the largest artificial lake in Hyderabad State. By capacity, the UNESCO dossier gives Ramappa Lake more than Sastry gives Pakhal.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 UNESCO dossier 2017 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976Agriculture and irrigation →
The lists of the seven deeds differ. Hultzsch's translation of the Ganapesvaram inscription includes a poem and a marriage. Sastry's list includes an agrahara and a garden, and he notes that a temple is always included.Epigraphia Indica III Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →

Economy: taxes, trade, crafts and coins

Almost everything known about Kakatiya taxes comes from inscriptions that record gifts or remissions of dues to temples and brahmanas.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
In principle the king owned all land. According to Sastry, the cultivator held a secondary right and could sell, give away or mortgage the land.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Pannu was the basic tax for holding land. Pamgamu, also called koluchu, was the king's share of the harvest, paid in grain.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
The law books set the king's share at one sixth of the produce. Sastry notes that kings took a quarter, a third or even a half in some cases.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Other dues included pullari, a grazing tax, illari, a house tax, and niruvidi, a water charge on wet land.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Sumka was the general word for a toll on trade. A contractor called the sumkari leased the right to collect the tolls of a market each year.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Ganapati Deva set up a pillar edict at Motupalli, a port in Guntur district, in 1244-45. E. Hultzsch calls it an abhaya-sasana, an edict assuring safety for sea traders.Epigraphia Indica XII Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Taxes, trade and crafts →
The Motupalli edict says that earlier kings had seized the whole cargo of wrecked ships. Ganapati Deva promised to take only the fixed duty, one part in thirty on exports and imports.Epigraphia Indica XII Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →
Sastry divides merchants into svadesi, those of the kingdom, and paradesi, those who travelled from place to place. Merchant guilds bought licences to trade in particular regions and goods.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →
Sastry finds no large industries. Spinning, weaving, oil pressing, pottery and metalwork were done in homes and small workshops.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Marco Polo describes the kingdom under the name Mutfili. In Henry Yule's translation, Polo praises its very fine cotton cloth and says that diamonds were found there.Yule and Cordier 1903, Vol. IITaxes, trade and crafts →
The Kakatiyas used small gold coins called gadyanas or madas. The coins carry the boar, the royal emblem, with a legend such as Rayagajakesari or Dayagajakesari.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
Ten rukas made one gadyana. Sastry gives the visa as one sixteenth of a ruka.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Parabrahma Sastry 1978Coins, weights and measures →
The tumu and the putti were the basic measures of grain, and twenty tumus made one putti. The royal standards were the kesari-tumu and the kesari-putti.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
Copper coins with the legend Kakatiya Prataparudra belong to the Gajapati king Prataparudra of Orissa, not to Warangal.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Banerji 1930Coins, weights and measures →

Where the sources disagree

The sources are divided on Marco Polo's visit. Telangana – Land and People and Yashoda Devi give the year 1293. Sastry places the visit late in Rudrama Devi's reign. Polo's own book gives no date and does not say that he landed at Motupalli.Goel et al. 2022 Yashoda Devi 1975 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Yule and Cordier 1903, Vol. IITaxes, trade and crafts →
Parabrahma Sastry assigned the boar coins to the Kakatiyas in 1975. Earlier scholars, such as T. Streenivas in 1928 and M. Rama Rao in 1963, gave them to chiefs who served the Western Chalukyas.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Nizam Archaeological Report 1925-26Coins, weights and measures →
K. A. Nilakanta Sastri thought that foreign merchants alone controlled the trade of Motupalli. Parabrahma Sastry rejects this view and argues that traders normally moved in both directions.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →

Society, religion, literature, music and dance

Svayambhu, a name of Siva that means the self-born, was the family god of the Kakatiyas. Ganapati Deva's Motupalli pillar of 1244 opens with an invocation of Svayambhudeva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
Parabrahma Sastry concludes that the early members of the family were Jains. Beta I and Beta II gave gifts to Jain temples.Parabrahma Sastry 1978History →
The early Kakatiyas followed the Kalamukha school of Saivism. Under Ganapati Deva the Pasupata school won royal favour.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
Visvesvara Sambhu of the Golaki Matha initiated Ganapati Deva. The Malkapuram inscription records that Rudrama Devi gave him the village of Mandaram in 1261.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
At Mandaram, Visvesvara founded a college, a hospital with a maternity ward and a feeding house open to people of every caste and creed.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Punjala 2016Religion, literature and the arts →
In 1163 Rudra Deva installed Vasudeva, a form of Vishnu, beside Rudresvara and the Sun god. Sastry concludes that all the Kakatiya kings also worshipped Vishnu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
A Bekkallu inscription of Mallireddi says that the four faiths differ only on the surface and that god is one. Sastry concludes that people followed the four faiths without prejudice against each other.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Vidyanatha, the court poet of Prataparudra, wrote the Prataparudriya, a Sanskrit work on poetics.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Religion, literature and the arts →
Jaya, the commander of Ganapati Deva's elephants, wrote the Nritta Ratnavali, a Sanskrit treatise on dance. One chapter describes desi dances, the regional dances of Andhra.Nritta Ratnavali Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Tikkana, called Kavibrahma, wrote his part of the Telugu Mahabharata at the court of Manumasiddhi II of Nellore. Sastry's Telugu study says that Tikkana visited Ganapati Deva at Orugallu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)Religion, literature and the arts →
Palkuriki Somanatha of Palakurti near Warangal wrote lives of Basava and of Mallikarjuna Panditaradhya in plain Telugu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Each temple had a governing body called the sthana. Sastry calls the temple the largest employer after the royal palace.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Sastry describes society in terms of the four varnas. The inscriptions call the whole people the ashtadasa-praja, the eighteen groups.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Cynthia Talbot argues that names such as reddi and setti marked open occupational classes, not closed groups defined by birth.Talbot 2001Religion, literature and the arts →
Women appear often as donors. Kundamamba founded a village, a temple and a tank at Kundavaram in 1213, and Kuppamamba built a temple at Bothpur in 1277.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Sammakka and Sarakka are revered as goddesses, and the jatara at Medaram is held in their honour. Local tradition links them with the time of the Kakatiyas.Census 1961, Fairs and Festivals: Warangal District Census Handbook 1986 Goel et al. 2022History →
Telangana – Land and People tells the story of Samakka and Sarakka as Koya heroines who resisted the Kakatiyas. The other sources on this site record them only as goddesses of local tradition.Goel et al. 2022 Census 1961, Fairs and Festivals: WarangalNagunur Temples →

Where the sources disagree

The sources are divided on the fate of the Jains. Gopalakrishna Murthy links the destruction of Jain shrines around Hanamakonda to Saiva hostility. P. Sreenivasachar wrote that the stories of Jain persecution under Ganapati Deva have no reliable basis.Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964 Sreenivasachar 1942History →
Parabrahma Sastry holds that the sanis, the women who danced before the god, were respectable married women. Alekhya Punjala repeats this view in one passage but elsewhere calls these women devadasis.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Punjala 2016Religion, literature and the arts →
The colophons of the Ranganatha Ramayana name its author as Buddharaja of the Gona family. A tradition names a poet called Ranganatha, and Telangana – Land and People names Gona Buddha Reddy.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Religion, literature and the arts →
Some authorities on dance, reported by Sastry, see the styles of the Nritta Ratnavali in Kakatiya temple sculpture. Gopalakrishna Murthy holds that the Ramappa brackets show popular dance, not the poses of any treatise.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964Religion, literature and the arts →

Art and architecture

B. Murali Krishna (2024) groups Kakatiya temple plans by the number of shrines: ekakuta (one), dwikuta (two), trikuta (three), chatuskuta (four) and panchakuta (five).Murali Krishna 2024Architecture →
In a sandhara plan, a wide pillared hall encloses the shrine and roofs the path for walking round it. B. Murali Krishna names the Ekavira temple at Mogilicherla as an example.Murali Krishna 2024Ekavira Temple, Mogilicherla →
The Thousand Pillar Temple at Hanamakonda is a trikuta, a temple of three shrines. Rudresvara (Siva) is on the west, Vasudeva (Vishnu) on the north and Surya on the east.Rama Rao 1966 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Thousand Pillar Temple →
The Thousand Pillar Temple faces south and stands on a double platform with a star-shaped plan.Rama Rao 1966Thousand Pillar Temple →
Recherla Rudra built the Ramappa Temple in 1213 in his new town of Atukuru, now Palampet. The temple has one shrine and three entrance porches on a high star-shaped platform.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
The UNESCO dossier states that the temple takes its popular name from its chief sculptor, Ramappa. The dossier cites no inscription for the name, so the name rests on tradition.UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
UNESCO inscribed the temple on the World Heritage List in 2021 as Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple.UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
The Ramappa Temple stands on a sand-box foundation. The builders filled a pit with sand, and the sand reached a total depth of about six metres.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
The tower over the Ramappa shrine is built of bricks light enough to float on water. The dossier gives their density as 0.85 to 0.90 grams per cubic centimetre.UNESCO dossier 2017 ASI 1900Architecture →
Dolerite, a fine-grained black stone that takes a high polish, is the signature material of Kakatiya sculpture. The body of the Ramappa Temple is pink Chelvai sandstone.UNESCO dossier 2017 ASI 1900Architecture →
Madanikas are female bracket sculptures that spring from the pillars to carry the overhanging cornice. The dossier counts 38 bracket sculptures on the Ramappa hall, and twelve of them are madanikas.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
Parabrahma Sastry names the kirtimukha, a lion-like face, as the main decorative motif of Kakatiya art.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Punjala 2016Religion, literature and the arts →
The 1900 survey describes Warangal Fort as a great circular fort with an outer earthen wall and an inner stone wall. The survey recorded four gates, one on each side.ASI 1900Warangal Fort →
The stone wall was built of large, irregular granite blocks. A heritage leaflet says that flat and upright blocks alternate in layers to balance the outward pressure on the wall.HRIDAY Warangal leafletArchitecture →
The Swayambhu temple stood at the centre of the fort. Its four carved stone gateways, the Kakatiya Kala Thoranams, still stand.ASI 1900Swayambhu Temple, Warangal Fort →
The Early History of the Deccan compares the gateways with the toranas of the Great Stupa at Sanchi.Yazdani 1960 Census 1961, Fairs and Festivals: WarangalSwayambhu Temple, Warangal Fort →
The Ghanpur temples, also called Kota Gullu, are about twenty-two temples within a double enclosure 260 feet square in Mulug taluk.Kore & Sudhakar 2017 Rama Rao 1966Ghanpur Temple Complex →

Where the sources disagree

Most sources on this site date the Ramappa Temple to 1213 (Saka 1135), from its own inscription (L. D. Barnett, Parabrahma Sastry, Epigraphia Telanganica, the UNESCO dossier). Gopalakrishna Murthy (1964) gives 1215 as the year of dedication.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 UNESCO dossier 2017 Gopalakrishna Murthy 1964Ramappa Temple →
Most sources on this site describe Ramappa as a single-shrine temple with a great hall (the 1900 survey, M. Rama Rao). The UNESCO dossier calls the plan a trikuta form, because the temple has one shrine and three entrances.ASI 1900 Rama Rao 1966 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
The sources are divided on who built the Warangal fort. Parabrahma Sastry and Lakshmi Ranjanam say that Rudra Deva began it and Ganapati Deva completed it. Telangana – Land and People says that Rudra Deva completed the stone fort. The Imperial Gazetteer and the Siddhesvara Charitra give the completion to Rudrama Devi.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Lakshmi Ranjanam 1975 Goel et al. 2022 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Siddhesvara Charitra (ed. 1960)History →
Parabrahma Sastry records about three hundred surviving pillars at the Thousand Pillar Temple, from an original thousand. Appanna Sastri (1934) warns that the name does not prove a thousand pillars and may simply mean a temple of many pillars.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Appanna Sastri (ed.) 1934Thousand Pillar Temple →
The 1934-35 excavation report judged the Swayambhu temple unfinished. India's 2019 reply to UNESCO states that the temple was completed in 1261 but gives no evidence. Phillip Wagoner reads the excavated remains as a mosque of the Delhi Sultanate.Nizam Archaeological Report 1934-35 UNESCO additional information 2019 Wagoner 2017 (Encyclopaedia Iranica)Swayambhu Temple, Warangal Fort →

Language and inscriptions: how dates are written

The Kakatiya period left records on stone and on copper plates. Telugu writers call a stone inscription a sila-sasanam and a copper-plate grant a tamra-sasanam.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)How to read an inscription →
Parabrahma Sastry counted about a dozen copper-plate records that refer directly to the Kakatiya rulers. His 1978 book counts nearly one thousand stone records.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (thesis)Parabrahma Sastry 1978How to read an inscription →
Epigraphia Telanganica (2023) compiles 2,396 inscriptions of Telangana. Volume II covers the Kakatiyas up to Ganapati Deva, and Volume III covers Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
Kakatiya inscriptions use Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada, and many records mix them. The Thousand Pillar inscription opens with eight lines of old Telugu and continues in Sanskrit verse.Fleet 1882 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
Telugu and Kannada once shared one script, which scholars call the Telugu-Kannada script.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)How to read an inscription →
A typical record has up to nine parts: invocation, praise of the king (prasasti), date, donor, gift, purpose, boundaries, verses of blessing and curse, and the names of the poet and engraver.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Fleet 1882 Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)Kotagiri plates 1925 Barnett 1919How to read an inscription →
Most Kakatiya records count years in the Saka era. Some early records use the Chalukya-Vikrama era instead.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Epigraphia Indica IXHow to read an inscription →
To convert a Saka year, add 78 for a date between spring and December. Add 79 for a date in January, February or early March.Barnett 1919 Kotagiri plates 1925 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
Most records also name the year in a cycle of sixty years, such as Srimukha or Chitrabhanu. The cycle name lets a reader test the Saka number.Barnett 1919 Kotagiri plates 1925 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
A full date then gives the lunar month, the bright (sukla) or dark (bahula) fortnight, the tithi or lunar day, and the weekday.Barnett 1919 Kotagiri plates 1925 Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)How to read an inscription →
The Thousand Pillar inscription gives Saka 1084, Chitrabhanu, Magha, bright fortnight, thirteenth tithi, Saturday. Magha falls before the Saka new year, so 1084 plus 79 gives Saturday, 19 January 1163.Fleet 1882 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Sewell 1932How to read an inscription →
The Ramappa pillar gives Saka 1135, Srimukha, the eighth day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, Sunday. L. D. Barnett fixes the day as Sunday, 31 March 1213.Barnett 1919How to read an inscription →
Poets sometimes wrote numbers as words, with the units first. The Ramappa poet wrote arrows, worlds, moon and earth, which stand for 5, 3, 1 and 1 and give the year 1135.Barnett 1919 Burnell 1878How to read an inscription →
Rudra Deva calls himself only Mahamandalesvara in the Thousand Pillar inscription. J. F. Fleet judged the title a custom and thought that Rudra Deva was really an independent king.Fleet 1882 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
The Chandupatla inscription of 25 November 1289 records gifts for the merit of Rudrama Devi and her general Mallikarjuna, who had both recently died.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →

Where the sources disagree

Parabrahma Sastry writes that the Telugu-Kannada script had divided into two scripts by about 1150. A. C. Burnell, writing in 1878, placed the split after 1300.Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)Burnell 1878How to read an inscription →
Sewell and Dikshit take Saka years as expired unless the contrary is proved. Burnell wrote that counting the current year was the most usual practice in India.Sewell and Dikshit 1896 Burnell 1878How to read an inscription →
For the Vilasa grant of Prolaya Nayaka, Parabrahma Sastry gives about 1330, while Epigraphia Telanganica gives 1325.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023How to read an inscription →
Parabrahma Sastry equates the Chandupatla date with Friday, 25 November 1289. A modern biography by Alekhya Punjala gives 27 November, but that day was a Sunday, so the site keeps 25 November.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Punjala 2016How to read an inscription →

The fall in 1323, the Velamas and the Qutb Shahis

Parabrahma Sastry states that Pratapa Rudra met Muslim armies no fewer than seven times and sometimes bought peace with heavy tribute.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Kakatiya forces checked an invasion at Upparapalli in 1303. Malik Kafur besieged Warangal from 19 January 1310 and forced Pratapa Rudra to pay tribute.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
Amir Khusrau records that Khusrau Khan came against Warangal in 1318. Pratapa Rudra ceded five districts and promised an annual tribute of elephants and horses.Elliot & Dowson III Yashoda Devi 1975Rulers →
Ulugh Khan, the son of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, led the final attack. His first siege failed, and he returned to Warangal with fresh troops.Elliot & Dowson III Parabrahma Sastry 1978History →
Barani records that the conquerors renamed Warangal as Sultanpur. Pratapa Rudra surrendered and was sent towards Delhi with his family.Elliot & Dowson IIIHistory →
M. Somasekhara Sarma reconstructed the history of the Musunuri Nayaks from copper-plate grants. In his reconstruction, a confederacy of Telugu chiefs chose Prolaya Nayaka as their leader.Somasekhara Sarma 1945History →
Kapaya Nayaka expelled the Tughluq governor from Warangal and took the titles Andhradesadhisvara and Andhra Suratrana. Sarma dates the recapture to about 1336-37.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975History →
Kapaya sent troops to help Hasan, who founded the Bahmani kingdom in 1347. Kapaya later ceded Golconda to the Bahmanis, and the envoys of Warangal presented the turquoise throne.Yashoda Devi 1975 Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Haig 1907 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976History →
Anapota Nayaka of the Recherla family defeated and killed Kapaya at Bhimavaram near Warangal in about 1367-69.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
Anapota ruled from Rachakonda and his brother Mada from Devarakonda. Modern historians call this family the Velamas, but Cynthia Talbot finds the word Velama in inscriptions only from the sixteenth century.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 Talbot 2001History →
Parabrahma Sastry and Cynthia Talbot separate these Recherla chiefs from the Recherla Reddis, the Kakatiya generals who built the Ramappa temple.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Talbot 2001History →
The Bahmani Sultan Ahmad Shah later took Warangal. Inscriptions on the fort gateways record its capture on 2 February 1460 by the forces of the Gajapati king Kapilendra of Orissa.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Haig 1907 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Hirananda Sastri 1932History →
A pillar inscription records that Chittapa Khana, identified as Shitab Khan, took Warangal on 21 January 1504. He reinstalled the god Panchalaraya and the goddess Kakati.Hirananda Sastri 1932History →
Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, a Bahmani governor in Telangana, founded the Qutb Shahi dynasty. Golconda replaced Warangal as the political centre of Telangana.District Census Handbook 1986 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
Aurangzeb took Golconda in 1687, and Warangal passed to the Mughal empire. The Asaf Jahi Nizams ruled from 1724 until the Police Action of 1948.District Census Handbook 1986 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976History →

Where the sources disagree

Most sources on this site date the fall of Warangal to 1323 (Parabrahma Sastry, M. Somasekhara Sarma, the 1976 Warangal Gazetteer, Telangana – Land and People, the 1981 census handbook). Some give 1321 (the Imperial Gazetteer of 1909, and Haig for most of his sources).Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 Goel et al. 2022 District Census Handbook 1986 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Haig 1907History →
Most sources on this site say that Pratapa Rudra died on the way to Delhi (the Vilasa grant, Shams-i Siraj Afif, Yashoda Devi). Some say otherwise: Telugu traditions say that he returned and died at Kalesvaram, and Haig followed a view that he ruled as a vassal until 1325.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Elliot & Dowson III Yashoda Devi 1975 Talbot 2001 Haig 1907History →
The sources differ on the siege of 1310. Parabrahma Sastry gives its length as twenty-five days, while Cynthia Talbot describes a siege of four months.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Talbot 2001Rulers →
Parabrahma Sastry accepts a tradition that Harihara and Bukka, the founders of Vijayanagara, were treasury officers of Pratapa Rudra. Cynthia Talbot, following Hermann Kulke, treats that story as a late invention.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Talbot 2001Rulers →
The sources are divided on the Bahmani capture of Warangal. The Imperial Gazetteer and Hirananda Sastri give 1422. Haig gives late 1424, Ferishta gives 828 AH, and the 1976 Gazetteer gives 1425.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Hirananda Sastri 1932 Haig 1907 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976History →
The sources are divided on Shitab Khan. Hirananda Sastri and Cynthia Talbot treat him as a Hindu or Telugu warrior. Haig calls him a Muslim who had joined the Hindus.Hirananda Sastri 1932 Talbot 2001 Haig 1907History →
Most sources on this site date the start of Qutb Shahi rule to 1512 (the Imperial Gazetteer, and Firishta as summarised by B. De). An inscription of 1518 at Golconda still calls Sultan Quli a governor under the Bahmani Sultan.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Tabaqat-i-Akbari III Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →

Timeline of key dates

Each date is the one that the site's pages give with sources. Where the sources give two dates, both appear.

Year (CE)	Event
c. 956	A Kakatiya general serving the Rashtrakutas helps an Eastern Chalukya prince to take the throne.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Goel et al. 2022Timeline →
973	Rashtrakuta rule ends, and the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani take over.Goel et al. 2022 Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
1051	The Sanigaram inscription, the last dated record of Beta I, records a gift to a Jain temple.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
1090	The Kazipet Darga inscription records that Beta II founded Sivapura and a temple of Betesvara.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1117	Mailama, the wife of a minister of Prola II, builds a Jain temple on the Padmakshi hill.Epigraphia Indica IX Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Padmakshi Temple →
1163	The Anumakonda inscription of 19 January proclaims Rudra Deva's sovereignty, and the Thousand Pillar Temple is consecrated.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1195	The Bakkallu inscription of 26 April gives the last known date of Rudra Deva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1199	The earliest inscription of Ganapati Deva, at Manthena, is dated 26 December.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
1203	The Kondaparti inscription records the conquest of Divi island by Malyala Chaunda.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1213	Recherla Rudra builds the Ramappa Temple and Ramappa Lake at Palampet.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
1231	The Ganapesvaram inscription of the general Jaya lists the seven meritorious deeds.Epigraphia Indica III Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
1244–45	Ganapati Deva sets up the Motupalli pillar edict for sea traders.Epigraphia Indica XIITaxes, trade and crafts →
c. 1245	The Pakhal inscription credits Pakhal Lake to Jagadala Mummadi (date assigned by the editor).Pakhal inscription 1245 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Pakhal Lake →
1259–60	Rudrama Devi begins to rule as co-regent under the name Rudradeva Maharaja.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1261	The Malkapuram inscription records Rudrama Devi's gift of Mandaram to Visvesvara Sambhu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
1262	Rudrama Devi succeeds Ganapati Deva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1273	The Kotagiri copper plates of 31 December record a grant by Sura of the Viryala family.Kotagiri plates 1925Rulers →
1289	The Chandupatla inscription of 25 November records the recent death of Rudrama Devi. Pratapa Rudra succeeds her.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1294	Gona Vithala, a Kakatiya feudatory, fortifies Raichur.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rulers →
1303	Kakatiya forces check an invasion at Upparapalli.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1310	Malik Kafur besieges Warangal, and Pratapa Rudra pays tribute.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
1318	Khusrau Khan comes against Warangal, and Pratapa Rudra cedes five districts.Elliot & Dowson III Yashoda Devi 1975Rulers →
1321	Ulugh Khan's first siege of Warangal fails, according to Barani.Elliot & Dowson IIIHistory →
1323	Warangal falls to Ulugh Khan and is renamed Sultanpur. Some sources give 1321 for the capture.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Elliot & Dowson III Goel et al. 2022 Imperial Gazetteer 1909History →
c. 1336–37	Kapaya Nayaka recaptures Warangal, according to Sarma.Somasekhara Sarma 1945History →
1347	Hasan founds the Bahmani kingdom with help from Kapaya Nayaka's troops.Yashoda Devi 1975History →
1365	Three inscriptions of Anapota Nayaka at Rachakonda record its defences and the tank Anavota Samudra.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Rachakonda Fort →
c. 1367–69	Anapota Nayaka defeats and kills Kapaya Nayaka at Bhimavaram.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
1422 or 1424	The Bahmanis capture Warangal.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Hirananda Sastri 1932 Haig 1907History →
1460	Inscriptions on the fort gateways record the capture of Warangal by the forces of the Gajapati king Kapilendra.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Hirananda Sastri 1932History →
1504	Shitab Khan takes Warangal and reinstalls the images of Panchalaraya and Kakati.Hirananda Sastri 1932History →
1512 or 1518	Sultan Quli founds the Qutb Shahi dynasty (1512), but an inscription of 1518 still calls him a Bahmani governor.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Tabaqat-i-Akbari III Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →
1687	Aurangzeb takes Golconda, and Warangal passes to the Mughals.District Census Handbook 1986 Imperial Gazetteer 1909History →
1724	Asaf Jah becomes independent in the Deccan after the battle of Shakarkhelda.Imperial Gazetteer 1909 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976History →
1948	The Police Action ends Nizam rule, and Hyderabad State joins the Indian Union.Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 District Census Handbook 1986History →
1965	The Bayyaram tank inscription, with its long genealogy of the early chiefs, is discovered.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Bayyaram Tank →
2021	UNESCO inscribes the Ramappa Temple on the World Heritage List.UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →

Glossary

The spellings follow the pages of this site. Each meaning is the one that the cited source gives.

abhaya-sasana: An edict that assures safety. E. Hultzsch uses the word for the Motupalli edict for sea traders.Epigraphia Indica XIITaxes, trade and crafts →
agrahara: A village or estate given to Brahmins, also called a brahmadeya.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Kotagiri plates 1925Agriculture and irrigation →
ashtadasa-praja: The eighteen groups of people, a name that inscriptions use for the whole people.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
ayagar: A village officer or servant, such as the talari or the nirukattu, who held land as a vritti.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
bahattara-niyogadhipati: The head of the seventy-two niyogas, or departments of government.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Administration →
devavritti: Land given to a temple. Its produce paid for the worship of the god.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
dolerite: A fine-grained black stone that takes a high polish, used for Kakatiya pillars and sculpture.UNESCO dossier 2017 ASI 1900Architecture →
ekakuta, trikuta, panchakuta: Temple plans with one, three or five shrines.Murali Krishna 2024Architecture →
gadyana (mada, nishka): The main gold coin. Ten rukas made one gadyana.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
gaja-kesari: A motif of a lion over an elephant. Sastry links it to Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Golaki Matha: A Pasupata Saiva monastery. Its teacher Visvesvara Sambhu initiated Ganapati Deva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
golusu cheruvulu: A chain of tanks along one stream, in which the surplus of an upper tank fills the next.Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
illari: A house tax.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Kalamukha: A school of Saivism followed by the early Kakatiyas. Its teacher Ramesvara Pandita initiated Beta II.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
kaluva: A channel that took water from a tank to the fields.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
kirtimukha: A lion-like face, the main decorative motif of Kakatiya art in Sastry's view.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
Kakatiya Kala Thoranam: One of the four carved stone gateways of the Swayambhu temple in Warangal Fort.ASI 1900 UNESCO additional information 2019Swayambhu Temple, Warangal Fort →
lenka: A title of warriors and officers under Prataparudra. Lakshmi Ranjanam explains the lenkas as leaders of the king's bodyguard.Lakshmi Ranjanam 1975 Lenka, Inscriptions of LenkasAdministration →
madanika: A female bracket sculpture that springs from a pillar to carry the cornice, as at Ramappa.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
Mahamandalesvara: Great lord of a province, the only title that the Kakatiya kings kept throughout.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Administration →
mahapradhana: A chief minister, the highest rank of officer.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
marturu (martu): A measure of land, mainly of wet land. Barnett equates it with the Sanskrit nivartana.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
nadu: A province or district of the kingdom, usually governed by an amatya or a preggada.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
nayaka: A military commander in the king's service.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
nayamkara: Land granted to a nayaka for military service in place of a salary.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
nirukattu: The village waterman, who shared out the tank water among the cultivators.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →
niruvidi: A water charge on wet land watered from a tank, well or canal.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
niyoga: A department of government. The inscriptions name seventy-two niyogas.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
pannu: The basic tax for holding land, paid in coin in Sastry's view.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →
Pasupata: A Saiva school that won royal favour under Ganapati Deva.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
prasasti: The part of an inscription that praises the king and gives the family tree.Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)Fleet 1882How to read an inscription →
pullari: A grazing tax on herders who used the king's pastures, from pullu, grass, and ari, tax.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
putti and tumu: Measures of grain, also used for land. Twenty tumus made one putti.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
rachapolamu: The king's land, which the king leased to cultivators.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
ratana: A water lift at a well, worked by bullocks or men.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
ruka: A coin worth one tenth of a gadyana.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
Saka era: The era in which most Kakatiya records count years. Add 78 or 79 to get the year CE.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Barnett 1919How to read an inscription →
samaya: A corporate body of a community, a village or a sthala, such as the weavers of Orugallu.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
sand-box foundation: A foundation of sand filled into a pit, used at the Ramappa Temple to spread the load.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
sandhara: A temple plan in which a pillared hall encloses the shrine and roofs the path round it.Murali Krishna 2024 Department of Heritage, TelanganaEkavira Temple, Mogilicherla →
sani: A woman who danced and sang before the god in a temple.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
sapta-santana: The seven meritorious deeds, which include building a temple and digging a tank.Epigraphia Indica III Parabrahma Sastry 1978Agriculture and irrigation →
sarvamanya: A grant free of all taxes.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Agriculture and irrigation →
sila-sasanam, tamra-sasanam: A stone inscription, and a grant on copper plates.Parabrahma Sastry 1981 (Telugu)Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)How to read an inscription →
sthala: A group of villages with one chief village, usually about twenty or fewer.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
sumka, sumkari: A toll on trade, and the contractor who leased the right to collect it.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Taxes, trade and crafts →
Svayambhu: Siva as the self-born god, the family god of the Kakatiyas.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
talari: Usually a village watchman. Sastry notes that the talari of the palace was a high officer.Parabrahma Sastry 1978Administration →
tithi: A lunar day, numbered within the bright or dark fortnight of a month.Barnett 1919 Sewell and Dikshit 1896How to read an inscription →
varaha (boar): The royal emblem of the Kakatiyas, found on their coins and seals.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
vritti: A holding of land granted for a service, in place of a salary.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Agriculture and irrigation →

Test yourself

The questions below test the facts in these notes.

On screen, open each answer when you are ready. On paper, the answers print together at the end.

1. Multiple choice
The early Kakatiyas served which two powers before they ruled on their own?
1. (a) The Satavahanas and the Ikshvakus
2. (b) The Rashtrakutas and the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
3. (c) The Cholas and the Pandyas
4. (d) The Yadavas and the Hoysalas
Show the answer
Answer: (b) The Rashtrakutas and the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
Why: The sources first show the Kakatiyas as Rashtrakuta commanders, and then as local chiefs under the Western Chalukyas.Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
2. Multiple choice
Which inscription proclaims the sovereignty of Rudra Deva in 1163?
1. (a) The Motupalli pillar
2. (b) The Bayyaram tank inscription
3. (c) The Anumakonda (Thousand Pillar Temple) inscription
4. (d) The Chandupatla inscription
Show the answer
Answer: (c) The Anumakonda (Thousand Pillar Temple) inscription
Why: The Anumakonda inscription of 19 January 1163 records the consecration of the temple and lists the victories of Rudra Deva.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
3. Multiple choice
The three shrines of the Thousand Pillar Temple are dedicated to which gods?
1. (a) Siva, Vishnu and Surya
2. (b) Siva, Brahma and Vishnu
3. (c) Siva, Parvati and Ganesa
4. (d) Vishnu, Lakshmi and Surya
Show the answer
Answer: (a) Siva, Vishnu and Surya
Why: Rudresvara (Siva) is on the west, Vasudeva (Vishnu) on the north and Surya on the east.Rama Rao 1966 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Thousand Pillar Temple →
4. Multiple choice
According to its inscription of 1213, who built the Ramappa Temple?
1. (a) Rudra Deva
2. (b) Recherla Rudra, a general of Ganapati Deva
3. (c) Jagadala Mummadi
4. (d) Rudrama Devi
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Recherla Rudra, a general of Ganapati Deva
Why: The Palampet inscription of 1213 records that Recherla Rudra built a town, a pond and the Rudresvara temple.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
5. Multiple choice
Which feature of the Ramappa Temple spreads the load of the building on the ground?
1. (a) A sand-box foundation
2. (b) A plinth of floating bricks
3. (c) An iron frame
4. (d) A rock-cut base
Show the answer
Answer: (a) A sand-box foundation
Why: The builders filled a pit with sand, and the UNESCO dossier says that this confined bed of sand spreads the load.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
6. Multiple choice
Under the nayamkara system, what did a nayaka receive?
1. (a) A salary in gold coins
2. (b) A grant of land for military service
3. (c) A share of the temple income
4. (d) A licence to trade overseas
Show the answer
Answer: (b) A grant of land for military service
Why: The nayaka received land in place of a salary and kept a fixed number of troops for the king.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
7. Multiple choice
Consider the following statements about the Motupalli pillar edict. 1. Ganapati Deva issued the edict in 1244-45. 2. The edict promised that only the fixed duty would be taken from sea traders. 3. The edict was set up at Warangal. Which of the statements are correct?
1. (a) 1 only
2. (b) 1 and 2 only
3. (c) 2 and 3 only
4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 1 and 2 only
Why: Motupalli was a port in Guntur district, not Warangal. The edict of 1244-45 promised that only the fixed duty would be taken.Epigraphia Indica XII Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →
8. Multiple choice
Who wrote the Nritta Ratnavali, a Sanskrit treatise on dance?
1. (a) Vidyanatha
2. (b) Tikkana
3. (c) Jaya (Jayapa), the commander of Ganapati Deva's elephants
4. (d) Palkuriki Somanatha
Show the answer
Answer: (c) Jaya (Jayapa), the commander of Ganapati Deva's elephants
Why: Jaya, also called Jayapa, wrote the Nritta Ratnavali in eight chapters, and one chapter describes the regional dances of Andhra.Nritta Ratnavali Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
9. Multiple choice
The Prataparudriya, written in praise of Prataparudra, is a work on which subject?
1. (a) Dance
2. (b) Poetics
3. (c) Statecraft
4. (d) Astronomy
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Poetics
Why: Vidyanatha, the court poet of Prataparudra, wrote the Prataparudriya as a Sanskrit work on poetics.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Religion, literature and the arts →
10. Multiple choice
Which god did the Kakatiyas worship as their family god?
1. (a) Svayambhu, a form of Siva
2. (b) Ekavira
3. (c) Panchalaraya
4. (d) Narasimha
Show the answer
Answer: (a) Svayambhu, a form of Siva
Why: The Motupalli pillar opens with an invocation of Svayambhudeva, and Sastry calls him the only family god of the dynasty.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
11. Multiple choice
A Kakatiya record is dated in the month of Chaitra of Saka 1135. In which year CE does the date fall?
1. (a) 1057
2. (b) 1135
3. (c) 1213
4. (d) 1214
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 1213
Why: Chaitra falls after the spring start of the Saka year, so 1135 plus 78 gives 1213.Barnett 1919How to read an inscription →
12. Multiple choice
Which royal emblem appears on the Kakatiya gold coins?
1. (a) A bull
2. (b) A boar
3. (c) A lion
4. (d) A fish
Show the answer
Answer: (b) A boar
Why: The coins carry the boar with the sun, the moon and a legend such as Rayagajakesari or Dayagajakesari.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
13. Multiple choice
After the conquest of Warangal, the Delhi Sultanate renamed the city as which of these?
1. (a) Daulatabad
2. (b) Sultanpur
3. (c) Ahsanabad
4. (d) Muhammadabad
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Sultanpur
Why: Barani records that the conquerors renamed Warangal, or Arangal, as Sultanpur.Elliot & Dowson IIIHistory →
14. Multiple choice
Which chief expelled the Tughluq governor from Warangal and took the title Andhra Suratrana?
1. (a) Prolaya Nayaka
2. (b) Kapaya Nayaka
3. (c) Anapota Nayaka
4. (d) Shitab Khan
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Kapaya Nayaka
Why: Kapaya Nayaka took the titles Andhradesadhisvara and Andhra Suratrana after he recaptured Warangal.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975History →
15. Short answer
Explain the nayamkara system of the Kakatiyas.
Show the answer
Answer: A nayaka was a military commander. Under the nayamkara system the king gave him a grant of land in place of a salary. The nayaka kept a fixed number of elephants, horses and foot soldiers for the king's wars. Sastry holds that Rudrama Devi introduced the system and that Prataparudra organised it.
Why: The size of the force depended on the grant, and the holder also paid the usual tribute.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
16. Short answer
How do historians date the death of Rudrama Devi?
Show the answer
Answer: The Chandupatla inscription of 25 November 1289 records gifts for the merit of Rudrama Devi and her general Mallikarjuna, who had both recently died. Gifts for the dead were usually made about the twelfth day after death. Parabrahma Sastry therefore places her death about 13 November 1289. Earlier historians believed that she lived until 1295.
Why: The stone does not state the date of death. The date is Sastry's inference from the custom of gifts for the dead.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
17. Short answer
Why were tanks important to the Kakatiya kingdom?
Show the answer
Answer: The capitals had no perennial river close by, so farming depended on rain and stored water. Kings, chiefs, royal women and merchants built tanks, and a modern table counts 180 irrigation works of the period. Building a tank was one of the seven meritorious deeds. The 1976 gazetteer still records thousands of hectares watered by Ramappa and Pakhal.
Why: The tank, the temple and the new village were often founded together.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Indica III Warangal District Gazetteer 1976Agriculture and irrigation →
18. Short answer
Describe the main features of the Ramappa Temple.
Show the answer
Answer: Recherla Rudra built the temple at Palampet in 1213. The temple has one shrine and three entrance porches on a high star-shaped platform. The temple stands on a sand-box foundation, and its tower is built of bricks light enough to float. Dolerite bracket sculptures called madanikas carry the cornice. UNESCO inscribed the temple on the World Heritage List in 2021.
Why: The UNESCO dossier describes the sand box, the floating bricks and the bracket sculptures.Barnett 1919 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
19. Short answer
Why do the sources give both 1321 and 1323 for the fall of Warangal?
Show the answer
Answer: Barani dates Ulugh Khan's first expedition to 721 AH, which is 1321 CE. That siege failed, and Ulugh Khan returned with fresh troops. Parabrahma Sastry, Sarma and the 1976 Gazetteer date the fall of the fort to 1323. The Imperial Gazetteer of 1909 gives 1321, and this site follows 1323.
Why: The two dates belong partly to two different sieges.Elliot & Dowson III Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 Imperial Gazetteer 1909History →
20. Short answer
Who were the Musunuri Nayaks, and what did they achieve?
Show the answer
Answer: The Musunuri Nayaks were Telugu chiefs who rose after the fall of Warangal. Prolaya Nayaka led a confederacy of chiefs. His cousin Kapaya Nayaka, according to Sarma, expelled the Tughluq governor from Warangal in about 1336-37. Kapaya helped Hasan to found the Bahmani kingdom in 1347. The Recherla chief Anapota Nayaka killed Kapaya in about 1367-69.
Why: The Musunuri Nayaks restored Telugu rule at Warangal for a generation.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →

Answers to the questions

1. (b) The Rashtrakutas and the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani The sources first show the Kakatiyas as Rashtrakuta commanders, and then as local chiefs under the Western Chalukyas.Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Timeline →
2. (c) The Anumakonda (Thousand Pillar Temple) inscription The Anumakonda inscription of 19 January 1163 records the consecration of the temple and lists the victories of Rudra Deva.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
3. (a) Siva, Vishnu and Surya Rudresvara (Siva) is on the west, Vasudeva (Vishnu) on the north and Surya on the east.Rama Rao 1966 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Thousand Pillar Temple →
4. (b) Recherla Rudra, a general of Ganapati Deva The Palampet inscription of 1213 records that Recherla Rudra built a town, a pond and the Rudresvara temple.Barnett 1919 Parabrahma Sastry 1978 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
5. (a) A sand-box foundation The builders filled a pit with sand, and the UNESCO dossier says that this confined bed of sand spreads the load.UNESCO dossier 2017Architecture →
6. (b) A grant of land for military service The nayaka received land in place of a salary and kept a fixed number of troops for the king.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
7. (b) 1 and 2 only Motupalli was a port in Guntur district, not Warangal. The edict of 1244-45 promised that only the fixed duty would be taken.Epigraphia Indica XII Parabrahma Sastry 1978Taxes, trade and crafts →
8. (c) Jaya (Jayapa), the commander of Ganapati Deva's elephants Jaya, also called Jayapa, wrote the Nritta Ratnavali in eight chapters, and one chapter describes the regional dances of Andhra.Nritta Ratnavali Parabrahma Sastry 1978Religion, literature and the arts →
9. (b) Poetics Vidyanatha, the court poet of Prataparudra, wrote the Prataparudriya as a Sanskrit work on poetics.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Religion, literature and the arts →
10. (a) Svayambhu, a form of Siva The Motupalli pillar opens with an invocation of Svayambhudeva, and Sastry calls him the only family god of the dynasty.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023Religion, literature and the arts →
11. (c) 1213 Chaitra falls after the spring start of the Saka year, so 1135 plus 78 gives 1213.Barnett 1919How to read an inscription →
12. (b) A boar The coins carry the boar with the sun, the moon and a legend such as Rayagajakesari or Dayagajakesari.Parabrahma Sastry 1975 (coins)Coins, weights and measures →
13. (b) Sultanpur Barani records that the conquerors renamed Warangal, or Arangal, as Sultanpur.Elliot & Dowson IIIHistory →
14. (b) Kapaya Nayaka Kapaya Nayaka took the titles Andhradesadhisvara and Andhra Suratrana after he recaptured Warangal.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975History →
15. A nayaka was a military commander. Under the nayamkara system the king gave him a grant of land in place of a salary. The nayaka kept a fixed number of elephants, horses and foot soldiers for the king's wars. Sastry holds that Rudrama Devi introduced the system and that Prataparudra organised it. The size of the force depended on the grant, and the holder also paid the usual tribute.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022Administration →
16. The Chandupatla inscription of 25 November 1289 records gifts for the merit of Rudrama Devi and her general Mallikarjuna, who had both recently died. Gifts for the dead were usually made about the twelfth day after death. Parabrahma Sastry therefore places her death about 13 November 1289. Earlier historians believed that she lived until 1295. The stone does not state the date of death. The date is Sastry's inference from the custom of gifts for the dead.Epigraphia Telanganica 2023 Parabrahma Sastry 1978Rulers →
17. The capitals had no perennial river close by, so farming depended on rain and stored water. Kings, chiefs, royal women and merchants built tanks, and a modern table counts 180 irrigation works of the period. Building a tank was one of the seven meritorious deeds. The 1976 gazetteer still records thousands of hectares watered by Ramappa and Pakhal. The tank, the temple and the new village were often founded together.Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Goel et al. 2022 Epigraphia Indica III Warangal District Gazetteer 1976Agriculture and irrigation →
18. Recherla Rudra built the temple at Palampet in 1213. The temple has one shrine and three entrance porches on a high star-shaped platform. The temple stands on a sand-box foundation, and its tower is built of bricks light enough to float. Dolerite bracket sculptures called madanikas carry the cornice. UNESCO inscribed the temple on the World Heritage List in 2021. The UNESCO dossier describes the sand box, the floating bricks and the bracket sculptures.Barnett 1919 UNESCO dossier 2017Ramappa Temple →
19. Barani dates Ulugh Khan's first expedition to 721 AH, which is 1321 CE. That siege failed, and Ulugh Khan returned with fresh troops. Parabrahma Sastry, Sarma and the 1976 Gazetteer date the fall of the fort to 1323. The Imperial Gazetteer of 1909 gives 1321, and this site follows 1323. The two dates belong partly to two different sieges.Elliot & Dowson III Parabrahma Sastry 1978 Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Warangal District Gazetteer 1976 Imperial Gazetteer 1909History →
20. The Musunuri Nayaks were Telugu chiefs who rose after the fall of Warangal. Prolaya Nayaka led a confederacy of chiefs. His cousin Kapaya Nayaka, according to Sarma, expelled the Tughluq governor from Warangal in about 1336-37. Kapaya helped Hasan to found the Bahmani kingdom in 1347. The Recherla chief Anapota Nayaka killed Kapaya in about 1367-69. The Musunuri Nayaks restored Telugu rule at Warangal for a generation.Somasekhara Sarma 1945 Yashoda Devi 1975 Epigraphia Telanganica 2023History →

The notes were drawn from the pages of this site in October 2026. If you find an error, please use the correction form linked below.