Kakatiyas Of Warangal In South India (800 – 1200 AD)
Their earliest known chief was Beta I, a feudatory of the Western Chalukyas in the first half of the 11th century. He ruled over the Koravi country in A.P. and was succeeded by his son Prola I. The loyalty of Prola I to Chalukya Somesvara I earned for him Anumakonda-vishaya, as a permanent fief. Prola I thus became the founder of the Kakatiya principality.
The reign of Prola II forms an important landmark in the history of the Kakatiyas. He threw off the overlordship of the Chalukyas and carved out for himself an independent kingdom that was destined to grow under his successors into a powerful kingdom embracing the whole of Andhra country.
Rudradeva defeated a number of neighbouring princes and extended his dominion right up to the banks of the Godavari. In the south, Rudradeva defeated four kings of the Telugu Choda origin. He also invaded Vengi, but his authority in this area was challenged by the chiefs of Velanadu. In the last year of his reign, he came into conflict with the Seunas (Yadavas) of Devagiri which resulted in his defeat and death.
Rudradeva was a patron of art and letters. He built magnificent temples in his dominions, dedicated to the god Siva. It is probable that he built the famous Thousand-Pillar temple at Anumakonda. He founded near his capital Anumakonda, a new town called Orugallu, modern Warangal, which became the chief city under his successors.
The next important ruler was Ganapatideva. Ganapati captured Vijayawada and the island of Divi but the expansion of the Kakatiya power in the south was the direct outcome of its alliance with the Telugu Chodas of Nellore whom he helped by putting an end to dissensions in their family by installing Tikka on the throne. Ganapati was a good administrator and took measures for improving trade and agriculture. Motupalli, now in the Krishna district, was an important seaport in his kingdom, frequented by foreign merchants. Ganapati completed and beautified the city of Warangal. Ganapati had no sons, but two daughters, Rudramba and Ganapamba. Ganapati chose as the heir apparent Rudramba, who was married to Virabhadra, a prince of the Eastern Chalukyan lineage.
Rudramadevi was one of the foremost women rulers in Indian history. She crushed the rebellious nobles and externally, she defeated the Yadava king Mahadeva and a fierce feudatory Ambadeva of Nellore, who was defeated by Rudramadevi’s grandson Prataparudra. She was an efficient administrator and her reign even won the praise of the celebrated Venetian traveller, Marco Polo.
Rudramadevi was succeeded by her grandson, Prataparudra whose reign was marked by invasion by the Muslims from the north. Alauddin Khalji’s forces were first defeated in 1303 but Prataparudra was defeated by the forces led by Malik Kafur in 1310. But Ghivasuddin Tughlag decided to annex the Kakatiya kingdom in 1323 and Prataparudra committed suicide.
The Kakatiya rulers extended liberal patronage to Sanskrit. Several eminent Sanskrit writers and poets flourished under their patronage. A well-known scholar and poet, Sakalya Malla, lived at the court of Prataparudra and composed the Udattaraghavakavya.
Telugu literature also flourished in the Kakatiya kingdom. Several inscriptions were composed partly or wholly in Telugu verse. The new religious movements like Vaishnavism and Virasaivism gave a great impetus to Telugu literature. Several works on the two great national epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata – were produced during this period. The earliest and the most popular Telugu work on the Ramayana is Tikkana’s Nirvachanottara-Ramayanam. Next in point of time come the Bhaskara-Ramayanam (a composite work of five authors) and the RanganathaRamayanam (by Gona Buddha Reddi). The. Andhra Mahabharata, begun by Nannayabhatta in the eleventh century AD, was completed by Tikkana Somayaji, the minister and the poet laureate of the Telugu Choda king Manuma Siddhi II of Nellore in the middle of the thirteenth century AD under the patronage of Ganapati Deva.