The Recharla chiefs came to political prominence only in the reign
of the Kakatiyas, and they ruled an independent kingdom only after the fall of
the Kakatiyas. They ruled from Rachakonda in Nalgonda district. It is one of
the historically famous forts from Telengana.
RACHAKONDA FORT.
The sasanas describe the founder of the kingdom as Dachanaya also
known as Eradachanaya. Velugotivari Vamsavali however, describes the earlier
three generations and terms Bethala Reddy also known as Chevi Reddy as the
founder of this dynasty. It appears unlikely as none of the kings who ruled
Rachakonda had the name Reddy. It appears that this is a mistake which happened
as the Vamsavali was compiled subsequently. During the time of Chevi Reddy,
Pillalamarri was ruled by Reddi Mannis who are also of Recharla Gotra out of
whom he was prominent. Even the Velamas are from Pillalamarri and Anumagallu
area only.
The first known Velamas of this line are Dama, Prasaditya and Rudranayakas. All these were in the service of
the Kakatiyas under Ganapati Deva
and of them Prasadityanayaka was the most prominent. After Ganapatideva’s death
some Kakatiya senanis and samantas tried to prevent Rudrama Devi from coming to
the throne. Prasaditynayaka then defeated them and made her ascend the throne.
For this he is given the title “Kakatiyarajya Sthapanacharya” by Rudrama Devi.
Nothing is known about his brothers Damanayaka and Rudranayaka.
Nothing is also known about Damanayakas sons Vennamanayaka and Sabbinayaka. In
the Vamsavali it is mentioned that Vennamnayaka defeated a Muslim army.
Vennamanayakas son is
Dachanayaka or Eradachanayaka with whom the Rachakonda kingdom begins. Dachanayaka had three sons Singama,
Vennama and Yechama Nayakas. Dachanayaka and his son Singamanayaka were senanis
of Prataparudra. When Prataparudra attacked the Pandyas at Kanchi in 1316 AD,
Dachanayaka and Singamanayaka have shown great valor and helped the king in
winning the battle. Prataparudra gave the title of “Panchpandyadala Vibhala” to
Dachanayaka. He probably died in the battle of Orugallu with the Muslims in
1323 AD.
When the various Andhra Kings united under Musunuri Kapayanayaka in
1335 AD to fight the Muslims, Singamanayaka was also subservient to him but
when the Muslim danger was stemmed, as everyone else had done, he had also
started building a kingdom for himself.
When Kapanayaka was fighting the Bahamanis Singama defeated all the
nayakas of the Southern Andhra and extended his kingdom upto river Krishna. He
also wanted to extend his kingdom in the North and hence attacked Kapayanaka.
As per the Vamsavali he defeated Kapayanaka. This, however did not appear to
have yielded him much benefit because as per the Pillalamarri sasanam of
Kapayanaka in 1357 AD, Kapayas kingdom stretched right upto Pillalmarri. Singamanayaka
attacked Jallipalli fort with an intention to increase his kingdom further but
was killed by the ruling Somavamsa Kshatriyas by treachery.
Singamanayaka had two sons
Anapotanayaka and Madanayaka. When they heard about the death of their father, they marshalled
their forces and attacked Jallipalli fort in 1361 AD., and killed the Somavamsa
Kshatriyas as well as their supporters. At that time their capital appears to
have been Anumagallu. Anapotanayaka shifted the capital from Anumagallu to Rachakonda
and built a strong fort there.
Anapotanayaka and Madanayaka did not stop with the killing of the
Somakula Kshatriyas and went after the remaining kingdoms like Reddimannis and
Telugunayakas which supported them.
The Vamsavali mentions various victories obtained by the brothers.
Many of these places are on the Southern bank of the Krishna in the Guntur,
Kurnool and Nellore areas. There is evidence that they came to the southern
side of the Krishna, won the battle with the local kings and obtained control
of the Srisailam area. In a book called Rasarnava Sudhakaramu it is mentioned
that Anapotanayaka constructed steps for
Sriparvata and is described as ruling
the area between the Vindhyas and Srisailam. While occupying the Srisailam area
only they had a conflict with the Kondaveeti Reddy chiefs. At that time
Srisailam was under the Reddimannis. As per the Vamsavali Madanayaka and his
uncles son Naganayaka defeated Anapota Reddy near Dharanikota. Although
victorious Dharanikota did not fall into Anapotanayakas hands. This is the
first conflict between the Velama chiefs and the Reddy chiefs. From this time
onwards uptill the end of the Kondaveedu Reddy kingdom, this rivalry did not
abate.
After this southern conquest Anapotanayaka attacked the Orugallu
kingdom of Kapayanaka which was already weakened by the attacks of the Bahamani
kingdom. The battle took place at Bhimavaram in Warangal district and the
Recharla chiefs emerged victorious. Kapayanayaka was killed in the battle and
Anapotanayaka got the control of the kingdom. This must be around 1369 AD in
which the Ainavolu sasanam of Anapotanayaka describes him in possession of Tribhuvanagiri(Bhongir), Orugallu and
Singavaram forts. With this victory his kingdom stretched upto Godavari in the
North, Srisailam in the South, Bahamani kingdom in the West, and Kondaveedu in
the East.
Looking to the excellent relations these kings had with the
Bahamani Empire, it is possible that the Bahamanis have helped them in their
war against Kapayanayaka. After sometime Anapotanayaka made his brother king at
Devarakonda and divided the kingdom for administrative convenience. Devarakonda
was subservient to Rachakonda. Anapotanayaka attacked the Kalinga kingdom in
1380 AD. This is known by his Simhachalam sasanam. The Vamsavali however is
silent on this. Anapotanayaka ruled upto around 1384 AD.
After Anapotanayaka his son Singamanedu II ascended the throne of
Rachakonda. He is also known as Kumara Singabhupaludu. Before coming to the
throne he captured the fort of Kalyani in Gulbarga district. It appears that he
went to Karnataka to help the Bahamani kings and took this fort during the
campaign.
In the early days of Sighabhupala’s reign, the Vijayanagara kings
took Srisailam and marched against Rachakonda. The Vijayanagara sasanam in
Tumkur district dated 1384 AD states that the king of Vijayanagara Harihara
Devaraya II, sent his son Vira Bukkaraya against Orugallu. The Bahamani sultan
then laid siege to Kottakonda in Mahabubnagar district (possibly taken earlier
by the Vijayanagara forces) and one of the Vijayanagara commanders Saluva
Ramadevaraya died in the battle. As per the sasana the sultan has done this to
protect his samantas who owed allegiance to him. It appears from the sasana
that the Vijayanagara forces were defeated.
The reason for this aggression by Vijayanagara is unknown but Ziauddin
Barani mentions that Kapayanaka and Harihararaya (the founder of the
Vijayanagara kingdom) are related. Although this may not be certain they may
have been closely associated with each other and Kapayanayakas defeat, coupled
with the leanings the Rachakonda kings had shown towards the Bahamani kings
precipitated the attack.
In 1387 AD, Kumara Singha Bhupala has attacked the Gowtami banks
area via Southern Kalinga which was in his possession. As per his Simhachala
sasanam he scored a number of victories in the area which was lying in the
Kondaveedu kingdom at that time. With this campaign the authority of the Reddys
was extinguished in the southern Kalinga.
The Vijayanagara king Hariharadevaraya did not forget his defeat at
the hands of the Rachakonda kingdom and the Bahamanis. In 1397 he declared a
war against the Bahamani kingdom and as per his Vijayanagara sasana, one of the
Vijayanagara senanis, Gunda Dandadhinadha inflicted a defeat on Siaf Khan and
Fateh Khan.
To reduce the pressure on the Bahamani forces Singhabhupala sent
Ramachandranayaka, the son of Vedagirinayaka to attack the area of the
Vijayanagara kingdom on the banks of river Krishna. Ramachandranayaka crossed
the Krishna river, entered Kurnool and started plundering it whereupon he was
attacked by the Vijayanagara armies near Bandikanuma. Ramachndranayaka emerged
victorious in this battle.
Now Harihara II sent his son Bukkaraya to attack Ramachndranayaka.
Bukka then defeated Ramachandranayaka and drove him out of the Vijayanagara
kingdom. He then entered the Rachakonda kingdom and plundered it. It appears
that the victories enumerated in the Vamsavali attributed to Anapotanayaka son of Singhabhupala and Ramachandranayaka and
Madanayaka the sons of Pedavedagirinayaka seem to have taken place during this
campaign. Although both sides claimed victory in this campaign, it appears that
Vijayanagara kingdom had been victorious in this battle.
Bukkaraya took his armies crossed the Krishna and attacked the
Panugallu fort in Devarakonda kingdom. The Bahamani armies immediately came to
the rescue of Panugallu. In this campaign, Pedavadagirinayaka’s son
Kumaramadanayaka has defeated Era Krishnaraya and Pandadadhisa as per the
Vamsavali. In this Era Krishnaraya besieged Devarakonda. Although he was
defeated, Bukkaraya scored a victory and secured the Panugallu fort in 1397 AD.
In this campaign the son of Bukkaraya Anantabhupala had shown great valor. A
few days after the Panuganti war Kumara Singhabhupala died.
After Singhabhupala his son Immadi Anapotanayaka came to the throne
in 1399 AD. He is also known as Kumara Anapotanayaka and Pinnamanayaka. He is a
contemporary of the Bahamani sultan Firoz Shah. The burden of saving his
kingdom from Bukkaraya fell on him. As per Velugotivari Vamsavali he saved
10,000 people from Metuku (Medak) Fort. It is possible that Bukkaraya went up
to Medak fort victorious and laid seize to it and Anapotanayaka relieved and
saved the garrison during this campaign.
A number of victories were attributed to him by the Vamsavali. It
appears that on the side of Bahamani sultan Anapotanayaka scored a number of
victories against the Kondaveedu and Rajahmundry reddy kings and also
Vijayanagara kings. It is probable that the Raya supposed to have been stopped
by him is Devaraya I.
Contemporary to Anapotanayaka Devarakonda was ruled by Kumara
Madanayaka and Ramachandranayaka, the sons of Pedavedagirinayaka. Annadevachoda
took refuge in Devarakonda during Pedavedagirinayaka’s reign. Kumara Madanayaka
gave him an army and sent him via Kalinga to regain his kingdom. However, this
army was defeated by Chalukya Vishveshwara Bhupati a tributory king of the
Gangas in 1402 AD. After this Kumara Madanayaka proceeded with an army to help
Annadevachoda. It is possible that the victory attributed to him over the
Rajahmundry Reddy kings took place during this campaign.
Anapotanayaka mounted a successful campaign in 1417 AD against
Panugallu. During the campaign the Bahamani sultan Tajuddin Ferozshah laid
siege to Panugallu. At that time Panugallu was under the Vijayanagara kings.
The Velamanayakas also went along with their armies to help Ferozshah, but
during the campaign their relations soured. Seeing the opportunity Devaraya I
negotiated with the Velamanayakas and turned them into his favor. During a
fierce battle at Panagallu fort the Velamanayakas like Anapotanayaka came over
to the side of Devaraya along with their armies. Due to this Ferozshah ‘s
assumed victory turned into defeat and he could barely escape and reach his
capital Gulbarga. Anapotanayaka died
during this battle in 1421 AD.
After Anapotanayaka, his brother Madanayaka came to the throne in
1421 AD.,probably because Anapotanayaka’s eldest son Singamanayaka was too
young to assume charge. Madanayaka and his relations maintained a rivalry with
the Bahamani kings and tried to destroy their kingdom. In the war of 1424
AD.between Devaraya II and sultan Ahmedshah who ruled the Bahamani kingdom with
Bidar as his capital, Madanayaka helped the Vijayanagara kings. Due to this
after signing a truce with Devaraya II, sultan Ahmedshah declared a war on
Telengana in 1425 AD. and sent Azimkhan to besiege Orugallu. Azim Khan was
victorious in the war. After this Azim Khan also attacked a number of forts
under the Velama Kings and emerged victorious. The Rachakonda kings finally had
to sign a truce with Ahmad Shah, the ruler of the Bahamani kingdom. When Ahmad
Shah was immersed in a war with the Sultan of Gujarat, the Rachakonda kings
recovered all their lost forts.
After Madanayaka his brother Anapotanayaka’s son Mummadi Singamanayaka came to the throne. He
ruled from 1430 AD. onwards. From his time, the Rachakonda and Devarakonda
kingdoms fell into decline and by 1433
AD., the forts of Rachakonda and Orugallu were taken over by the Bahamani
Sultan. Only Devarakonda remained in the Padmanayaka’s hands.
After his war with the Sultan’s of Malwa and Gujarat, Ahmad Shah
again attacked the Rachakonda kingdom in 1433 AD. and emerged victorious. In
Devarakonda, the contemporary of Mummadi Singhabhupala was the son of Kumara
Madanayaka, known as Lingamanayaka. Lingamanedu was very valiant in battle and
at the age of 12 years itself, he led the forces and fought a battle. The
Vamsavali attributes a lot of victories to him, but many of them could not be
confirmed. However, it is certain that Lingamanedu’s attack on the
Rajamahendravaram Reddy kingdom weakened and destroyed it. The Padmanayakas of
Rachakonda and Devarakonda supported the Bahamani Sultan’s for sometime, the
Vijayanagara kings for sometime and the Gajapati’s of Orissa for sometime and
fought with their respective enemies.
After 1433 AD., the Rachakonda and Devarakonda kingdoms disappeared
and only some forts remained in the Padmanayaka’s control. They then sought the
help of the Gajapati’s of Orissa for regaining their kingdom. Kapileswara
Gajapati of Orissa attacked the Telengana areas of the Bahamani kingdom, but
was defeated by the Bahamani Sultan, Allauddin. In 1435 AD, the Rachakonda area
was given by the Sultan to his brother Mohammed Khan. The Padmanayakas then
supported Sikander Khan in his rebellion against the Bahamani Sultan Humayun
Shah.
Humayun Shah marched against Sikander Khan and killed him in
battle. To punish the Padmanayakas who supported Sikander khan, he sent Kwaza
Jahan and Nizam Ul Mulk. They raised an army of 20,000 cavalry, 40 elephants
and innumerable foot soldiers and laid seize to Devarakonda fort, which was
under the Padmanayakas.
The Padmanayakas then sent a message to Kapileswara Gajapati of
Orissa appealing for his help and also promising him a large amount of money.
The Gajapati then sent his son Hamviradeva (known to Muslims as Ambar Roy)
along with a huge force to help the Padmanayakas and also to release Telengana
from the control of the Bahamani Sultan. When Hamviradeva’s forces attacked the
Bahamani forces from the rear, Singamanayaka and Lingamanayaka came out from
the fort and attacked the Bahamani forces from the front. The Bahamani forces
were caught in between and suffered a humiliating defeat. Kwaja Jahan and Nizam
Ul Mulk somehow escaped from the battlefield. When Humayun Shah came to know of
the defeat, he becme enraged and killed Nizam Ul Mulk and imprisoned Kwaja
Jahan.
The Bahamani Sultan then assigned the work to Mohammed Gawan, his
minister. This was beyond Mohammed Gawan and the Muslim forces suffered one
defeat after another in the hands of Hamviradeva and the Padmanayakas. One fort
after another fell to them. They took Rachakonda, Bhuvanagiri and finally
Orugallu around 1461 AD. Mummadi Singamanayaka’s brother Rao Dharmanayaka
became the king of Orugallu. However, now Padmanayakas lost their independence
and became the tributaries of the Gajapatis of Orissa.
After the death of the Bahamani Sultan Humayun Shah, Nizam Shah
became the Bahamani Sultan. He again tried to recover the Telengana areas from
the Padmanayakas, but again Kapileswara Gajapti sent his armies which inflicted
a defeat on the Bahamani forces and came near the capital Bidar. Then one
Amirzada Muhibullah scored a tactical victory over the Gajapati forces, as a
result of which Bidar could be saved. This is however, not a complete victory
and the Orugallu kingdom remained under the Padmanayakas.
As long as Kapileswara Gajapati was alive, the Bahamanis could not
conquer the Orugallu kingdom and it remained with the Padmanayakas. He died
around 1470 AD. The Bahamani Sultan, then sent Malik Nizam Ul Mulk Bahri to
conquer Telengana. This man not only took the forts in Telengana, but also
Kondaveedu and Rajamahendravaram forts and occupied all of Telengana. The
Orugallu kingdom was given by the Sultan to Azim Khan. This happened around
1475 AD. The Recherla kingdom is thus over and the Padmanayakas joined the
court of Hampi Viajayanagar.
