text:
Kakatiya dynasty
1163[1]–1323
(Subordinate to Western Chalukyas until 1163)
Orugallu (Warangal)
Sanskrit, Telugu
• Earliest rulers
• Disestablished
Preceded by Succeeded by
Western Chalukya Empire
Eastern Chalukyas
Bahmani Sultanate
Musunuri Nayaks
Reddy dynasty
Vijayanagara Empire
12th-14th century Indian dynasty
Chronology of the Telugu people, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana history
History and Kingdoms
Dynasties
Assaka
Satavahanas
Andhra Ikshvaku
Ananda Gotrika
Shalankayanas
Vishnukundinas
Chola dynasty
Kota Vamsa
Chagi
Velanati Chodas
Recherla Nayaks
Pemmasani Nayaks
Qutb Shahi dynasty
Hyderabad State
The Kakatiya dynasty was a South Indian dynasty whose capital was Orugallu, now known as Warangal. It was eventually conquered by the Delhi Sultanate.
The demise of Kakatiya dynasty resulted in confusion and anarchy under alien rulers for sometime, before the Musunuri Nayaks brought stability to the region.[2]
1 Etymology and names
3 Origin
4 Early feudatory chiefs
4.1 Relationship to the Rashtrakutas
5 As sovereigns
5.1 Prataparudra I
5.2 Ganapati
5.3 Rudrama Devi
5.4 Prataparudra II
6 Decline
7 Characterization
7.1 Geography
7.3 Society
9 Genealogy
9.1 Feudatory chiefs
9.2 Sovereign rulers
10 Legacy
Etymology and names
Studies of the inscriptions and coinage by the historian Dineshchandra Sircar reveal that there was no contemporary standard spelling of the family name. Variants include Kakatiya, Kakatiyya, Kakita, Kakati and Kakatya; the family name was often prefixed to the name of the monarch, giving constructs such as Kakatiya-Prataparudra. Some of the monarchs also had alternate names; for example, Venkata and Venkataraya may have been alternate names of Prataparuda I, with the former appearing on a coin in the form Venkata-Kakatiya.[3][a]
The dynasty's name derives from the word "Kakati", which is variously thought to be the name of a goddess or a place, it is possible that Kakati was the name of a deity worshipped by the early Kakatiya chiefs, and also the name of the place where they resided.[4]
Kumarasvami Somapithin, a 15th-century writer who wrote a commentary on Vidyanatha's Prataparudriya, states that the dynasty was named after Kakati, a form of the goddess Durga. Although the Hindu mythological texts do not mention any such form of Durga, the worship of a goddess named Kakati is attested by several other sources. For example, Vallabharaya's Krida-Bhiramamu mentions an image of Kakatamma (Mother Kakati) in the Kakatiya capital Orugallu. the 16th-century Shitap Khan inscription mentions the reinstallation of the image of goddess Jaganmatrika (mother of the universe) and the lotus seat of the Kakatirajya, which had been destroyed by the Turushkas (Turkic people).[5] According to one theory, Kakati was originally a Jain goddess (possibly Padmavati), and later came to be regarded as a form of Durga.[6]
The Bayyaram tank inscription from the reign of Ganapati-deva names the family's founder as Venna, and states that he resided at Kakati, because of which his descendants came to be known as Kakatishas.[5] Ganapati-deva's Garavapadu charter names the family's founder as Durjaya, and states that his descendant Karikala Chola arrived at a town called Kakati during a hunting expedition, and set up his camp there;[4] the modern identity of Kakati is uncertain: different historians have variously attempted to identify it with modern Kakati village in Karnataka and Kanker in Chhattisgarh. Siddeshvara Charitra, a later literary work, states that the ancestors of the Kakatiya family lived at Kandarapura (identified with modern Kandhar in Maharashtra). However, no other evidence supports this tradition.[7]
Much of the information about the Kakatiya period comes from inscriptions, including around 1,000 stone inscriptions, and 12 copper-plate inscriptions.[8] Most of these inscriptions document matters relating to religion, such as donations to Hindu temples, they are particularly abundant for the period 1175–1324 CE, which is the period when the dynasty most flourished and are a reflection of that. The probability is that many inscriptions have been lost due to buildings falling into disuse and also the ravages of subsequent rulers, most notably the Muslim Mughal Empire in the Telangana region. Inscriptions are still being discovered today but governmental agencies tend to concentrate on recording those that are already known rather than searching for new examples.[9] According to a 1978 book, written by P.V.P. Sastry's 1978 book on the history of the Kakatiyas, published by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
Information about the Kakatiya period also comes from Sanskrit and Telugu literary works written during Kakatiya and post-Kakatiya period; the most notable among these works include Prataparudriyam, Krida-bhiramamu, Panditaradhya-charitamu, Sivayogasaramu, Nitisara, Niti-shastra-muktavali, Nritta-ratnavali, Pratapa-charita, Siddheshvara-charitra, Somadeva-rajiyamu, Palnativira-charitra, Velugotivari-vamsavali, and Velugotivari-vamsacharitra.[10] Chronicles by Muslim authors such as Isami and Firishta describe Prataparudra's defeats against the Muslim armies; the Kannada text Kumara-Ramana-charita also provides information about Prataparudra's relations with the Kampili kingdom.[11]
Besides epigraphs and literature, the forts, temples, and tanks constructed during the Kakatiya period are an important source of information about the contemporary society, art and architecture.[12]
The Kakatiya rulers traced their ancestry to a legendary chief or ruler named Durjaya. Many other ruling dynasties of Andhra also claimed descent from Durjaya. Nothing further is known about this chief.[13]
Most of the Kakatiya records do not mention the varna (social class) of the family, but the majority of the ones that do, proudly describe them as Shudra.[14] Examples include the Bothpur and Vaddamanu inscriptions of Ganapati's general Malyala Gunda senani; the Kakatiyas also maintained marital relations with other Shudra families, such as the Kotas and the Natavadi chiefs. All these pieces of evidence indicate that the Kakatiyas were of Shudra origin.[15]
A few copper-plate inscriptions of the Kakatiya family describe them as belonging to the Kshatriya (warrior) varna; these inscriptions primarily document grants to brahmans, and appear to be inspired by the genealogies of the imperial Cholas.[14] For example, the Motupalli inscription of Ganapati counts legendary solar dynasty kings such as Rama among the ancestors of Durjaya, the progenitor of the Kakatiya family; the Malkapuram inscription of Vishveshvara Shivacharya, the preceptor of Kakatiya rulers Ganapati-deva and Rudrama-Devi, also connects the Kakatiyas to the solar dynasty (Sūryavaṃsa). [16] The term "Kshatriya" in these panegyric records appears to signify the family's warrior-like qualities rather than their actual varna.[17]
Early feudatory chiefs
The regnal years of the early members of the Kakatiya family are not certain. Venna, said to have been born in the family of Durjaya, is the earliest known Kakatiya chief; the Bayyaram tank inscription names his successors as Gunda I, Gunda II, and Gunda III, comparing them to the three Ramas (Parashurama, Dasharatha-Rama, and Balarama). Gunda III was succeeded by Erra, who ruled Kurravadi and other regions; the inscription states that Erra's successor Gunda IV alias Pindi-Gunda (c. 955-995) beheaded all his enemies.[18] Gunda IV is also mentioned in the Mangallu grant of the Eastern Chalukya ruler Dānārnava in 956 CE.[19][20]
Gunda IV was succeeded by Beta I (c. 996-1051), who was succeeded by Prola I (c. 1052-1076), called ari-gaja-kesari ("lion to the elephant-like enemies") in the Bayyaram inscription.[18] The succeeding chiefs included Beta II (c. 1076–1108), Tribhuvanamalla Durgaraja (c. 1108–1116) and then Prola II (c. 1116–1157).[21]
Relationship to the Rashtrakutas
Early members of Kakatiya family appear to have served as military generals of the Rashtrakutas, as indicated by a 956 inscription of the Vengi Chalukya prince Dānārnava;[22] the inscription suggests that an attack by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III forced the Vengi Chalukya king Amma II to flee his kingdom, after which Dānārnava (titled Vijayaditya) ruled the kingdom as a Rashtrakuta vassal. It records Dānārnava's grant of Mangallu village to a brahmana named Dommana, at the request of Kakatiya Gundyana. Dommana had performed a religious ceremony called Karpati-vrata for Gundyana, for which he received the village as an agrahara;[23] the inscription names Gundyana's ancestors as Gundiya-Rashtrakuta and Eriya-Rashtrakuta.[24] This suggests that Gundyana was a Rashtrakuta general, and not a Vengi Chalukya subordinate, as assumed by some earlier historians.[24]
The Bayyaram tank inscription, which records the construction of Dharma-kirti-samudra tank by Ganapati's sister Mailama (or Mailamba), provides another genealogical list;[18] the similarities of names mentioned in the Mangallu and Bayyaram inscriptions lists suggest that both of these refer to the same family:[25]
Genealogical list of early Kakatiyas[26]
Mangallu grant inscription
Bayyaram tank inscription
Kakatiya family Durjaya family
Venna-nripa
Gundiya Rashtrakuta Gunda I
Gunda II
Gunda III
Eriya Rashtrakuta Erra
Betiya (married Vandyanamba)
Kakartya Gundyana Pindi-Gunda (Gunda IV)
Historian P.V.P. Sastry theorizes that Betiya was the son of Eriya (alias Erra) and father of Gundyana (alias Pindi-Gunda), but may have become too insignificant to be mentioned by his descendants, because of premature death or another reason.[27]
The significance of the suffix "Rashtrakuta" in the names of the early Kakatiya chiefs is debated. According to one theory, the suffix implies that these chiefs were Rashtrakuta subordinates; this theory is based on the fact that the phrase Rashtrakuta-Kutumbinah appears in several Rashtrakuta-era copper-plate inscriptions and refers to the officers and subjects of the Rashtrakuta kingdom.[28]
According to another theory, the suffix implies that the Kakatiyas were a branch of the Rashtrakuta family, because the term Rashtrakuta-Kutumbinah was used for officers employed by the Rashtrakuta administration, not feudatory chiefs: the early records of the Kakatiya chiefs describe them as samantas (feudatory chiefs);[29] the Kazipet Darga inscription of Tribhuvanamalla Durgaraja states that the Kakatiya chief Beta was born in the family of Samanta Viṣṭi.[30] Historian P.V.P. Sastry theorizes that "Viṣṭi" is a corruption of Vrishni, the name of a clan from which some Rashtrakutas claimed descent, he notes that some chiefs of Rashtrakuta origin adopted the title "Viṭṭi-Narayana", which means "as great as Narayana (Krishna) of the Vitti (Vrishni) family.[31] Sastry further proposes that the term "Voddi", which appears in the phrase Voddi-kula ("Voddi family") in the Mangallu inscription may be same as "Viṣṭi".[32] Sastry also believes that the early Kakatiya chiefs followed Jainism, which was also patronized by the Rashtrakutas, thus strengthening the view that the two dynasties were connected (see Religion section below).[6]
The Kakatiyas seemed to have adopted the mythical bird Garuda as their royal insignia, as attested by the Ekamranatha temple inscription of Ganapati-deva, the Palampet inscription of the Kakatiya general Recharla Rudra, and Vidyanatha's Prataparudriya;[30] the Bayyaram tank inscription calls the Kakatiya chief Beta I (son of Gunda IV) Garudamka-Beta, and "Garuda" here appears to refer to the family's emblem.[33] In Hindu mythology, Garuda is the vahana of god Vishnu; the Rashtrakutas and some other dynasties of Deccan claimed descent from the Vrishni clan (associated with Vishnu's avatar Krishna), and had adopted Garuda as their royal insignia.[29] According to Sastry, this corroborates the theory that the Kakatiyas were associated with the Rashtrakuta family.[34] Sastry further speculates that the Kakatiyas may have adopted the Garuda symbol because of Jain influence: the yaksha of the Jain tirthankara Shantinatha is represented by the Garuda symbol.[34]
Based on Ganapati-deva's Garavapadu inscription, which names Karikala Chola among the family's ancestors, epigraphist C.R.K. Charlu theorized that the Kakatiyas were a branch of the Telugu Cholas. However, no other Kakatiya record mentions Karikala, and unlike the Telugu Cholas, the Kakatiyas did not claim to belong to the Kashyapa-gotra. Therefore, Sastry dismisses Charlu's theory as untenable.[32]
After the decline of the Rashtrakuta power, the Kakatiyas served as vassals of the Kalyani Chalukyas. After the decline of the Chalukya power in the 12th century, they assumed sovereignty by suppressing other Chalukya subordinates in the Telangana region.[35]
As sovereigns
Prataparudra I
The 1149 Sanigaram inscription of Prola II is the last known record of the Kakatiyas as vassals; the 1163 Anumakonda inscription of Prataparudra I is the earliest known record that describes the Kakatiyas as a sovereign power.[22]
According to Sastry, Prataparudra I reigned between around 1158 – 1195,[21] while Sircar gives the dates 1163–1195, he was also known as Rudra Deva, Kakatiya Rudradeva, Venkata, and Venkataraya[3][36] He was the son of Prola II, who had made efforts to assert greater Kakatiya influence on territories in the western parts of the declining Western Chalukyan empire and who died in a battle fought against the Velanati Choda ruler Gonka II around 1157/1158 while doing so,[37][38] it was during Prataparudra's reign, in 1163, that the Kakatiyas declared an end to their status as feudatory chiefs of the Chalukyas.[b] It is notable that inscriptions were henceforth written using the Kakatiya chiefs' vernacular Telugu rather than the Kannada language that had prevailed until that point.[39]
Mahadeva succeeded Prataparudra I as ruler, reigning probably from 1195 to 1199.[21]
Ganapati
Ramappa Temple.
Just as the Seuna and Hoysala dynasties took control of linguistically related areas during the 13th century, so too did the Kakatiyas under the rule of Ganapati,[39] he is also known as Ganapathi Deva and, according to Sastry, reigned between 1199–1262; Sircar gives regnal dates of 1199–1260.[21][36] He significantly expanded Kakatiya lands during the 1230s when he launched a series of attacks outside the dynasty's traditional Telangana region and thus brought under Kakatiya control the Telugu-speaking lowland delta areas around the Godavari and Krishna rivers; the outcome in the case of all three dynasties, says historian Richard Eaton, was that they "catalyzed processes of supralocal identity formation and community building".[39]
The Kakatiya capital at Orugallu, established in 1195, was not forgotten while Ganapati expanded his territory, he organized the building of a massive granite wall around the city, complete with ramps designed for ease of access to its ramparts from within. A moat and numerous bastions were also constructed.[40]
Ganapati was keen to bolster the dynasty's economy, he encouraged merchants to trade abroad, abolishing all taxes except for a fixed duty and supporting those who risked their lives to travel afar.[41] He created the man-made Pakhal Lake.
Rudrama Devi
Statue of Rudrama Devi.
Rudrama Devi, also known as Rudramadevi, reigned around 1262–1289 CE (alternative dates: 1261–1295 CE) and is one of the few queens in Indian history.[21][42][43] Sources disagree regarding whether she was the widow of Ganapati or his daughter.[44]
Marco Polo, who visited India probably some time around 1289–1293, made note of Rudrama Devi's rule and nature in flattering terms,[45][c] she continued the planned fortification of the capital, raising the height of Ganapati's wall as well as adding a second earthen curtain wall 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in diameter and with an additional 150 feet (46 m)-wide moat.[40]
A fragmentary Kannada language inscription also states that the Kakatiya general Bhairava defeated the Yadava army probably in or after 1263 CE, which may be a reference to his repulsion of Mahadeva's invasion. A coin of Mahadeva bears the Kakatiya emblem varaha with the Yadava symbols; this Varaha may have been stuck on Mahadeva's coins to mark the Kakatiya victory.[46]
Rudrama was married to Virabhadra, an Eastern Chalukyan prince of Nidadavolu who had been selected for that purpose by her father.[47] Having no son as an heir,[40] Rudrama abdicated in favour of her grandson when it became apparent that the expansionist sultan Alauddin Khalji was encroaching on the Deccan and might in due course attack the Kakatiyas.[44]
Prataparudra II
The earliest biography of Rudrama Devi's successor, Prataparudra II, is the Prataparudra Caritramu, dating from the 16th century,[48] his reign began in 1289 (alternative date: 1295) and ended with the demise of the dynasty in 1323.[21][43] It is described by Eaton as the "first chapter in a larger story" that saw the style of polity in the Deccan change from being regional kingdoms to transregional sultanates that survived until the arrival of the British East India Company in the 18th century.[49]
A replica of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The diamond was originally owned by the Kakatiya dynasty.
The Kakatiya kingdom attracted the attention of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji because of the possibility for plunder;[50] the first foray into the Kakatiya kingdom was made in 1303 and was a disaster due to the resistance of the Kakatiya army in the battle at Upparapalli.[51][d] In 1309 Alauddin sent his general, Malik Kafur, in an attempt to force Prataparudra into acceptance of a position subordinate to the sultanate at Delhi. Kafur organized a month-long siege of Orugallu that ended with success in February 1310. Prataparudra was forced to make various symbolic acts of obeisance designed to demonstrate his new position as a subordinate but, as was Alauddin's plan, he was not removed as ruler of the area but rather forced thereafter to pay annual tribute to Delhi,[52] it was probably at this time that the Koh-i-Noor diamond passed from Kakatiya ownership to that of Alauddin, along with 20,000 horses and 100 elephants.[50]
In 1311, Prataparudra formed a part of the sultanate forces that attacked the Pandyan empire in the south, and he took advantage of that situation to quell some of his vassals in Nellore who had seen his reduced status as an opportunity for independence. Later, though, in 1318, he failed to provide the annual tribute to Delhi, claiming that the potential for being attacked on the journey made it impossible. Alauddin's son Mubarak Shah responded by sending another of his generals, Khusrau Khan, to Orugallu with a force that bristled with technology previously unknown in the area, including trebuchet-like machines. Prataparudra had to submit once more, with his obeisance on this occasion being arranged by the sultanate to include a very public display whereby he bowed towards Delhi from the ramparts of Orugallu; the amount of his annual tribute was changed, becoming 100 elephants and 12,000 horses.[53]
The new arrangements did not last long. Taking advantage of a revolution in Delhi that saw the Khalji dynasty removed and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq installed as sultan, Prataparudra again asserted his independence in 1320. Tughlaq sent his son, Ulugh Khan, to defeat the defiant Kakatiya king in 1321. Khan's army was riven with internal dissension due to its containing factions from the Khalji and Tughluq camps; this caused the siege on this occasion to last much longer — six months, rather than the few weeks that had previously been the case. The attackers were initially repulsed and Khan's forces retreated to regroup in Devagiri. Prataparudra celebrated the apparent victory by opening up his grain stores for public feasting. Khan returned in 1323 with his revitalised and reinforced army and, with few supplies left, Prataparudra was forced into submission after a five-month siege; the unprepared and battle-weary army of Orugallu was finally defeated, and Orugallu was renamed as Sultanpur. It seems probable, from combining various contemporary and near-contemporary accounts, that Prataparudra committed suicide near to the Narmada River while being taken as a prisoner to Delhi.[54][55]
The Kakatiya base was the city of Orugallu[56] in the dry uplands of northern Telangana on the Deccan Plateau. From there they expanded their influence into Coastal Andhra, the delta between the Godavari and Krishna rivers that feed into the Bay of Bengal. According to Rao and Shulman, the latter contained a high proportion of Brahmins while the former was the haunt of "peasants, artisans, and warriors".[57] Under the Kakatiyas, cultural innovation often began in the uplands, was refined in the lowlands and then recycled back into the Deccan; this bi-directional flow of cultural influences brought into being a feeling of cultural affinity between those who spoke the Telugu language where nothing of that nature had previously existed.[e] The unification of the distinct upland and lowland cultures was their most significant political achievement, achieved through a process of binding many locally powerful figures in allegiance to the empire.[56]
The area of land under Kakatiya control reached its zenith around the 13th century CE during the rule of Ganapati Deva. By this time, South India and the Deccan was essentially under the aegis of four Hindu monarchies, of which the Kakatiyas were one.{{efn|Aside from the Kakatiyas, the dominant Hindu monarchies in South India and the Deccan around the 13th century CE were the Seunas, the Hoysalas and the Pandyas. The Seunas, Hoysalas, and Kakatiyas had carved up what had been the area controlled by the Western Chalukya Empire, while the Pandyas controlled lands formerly under the Chola Empire.Ventakaramanayya 1942, p. 1 The four dynasties were in a constant state of warfare with each other, with the Kakatiyas eventually exercising control from close to Anagondi in the west to Kalyani in the north-east, and down to Kanei and Ganjam district in southern Orissa.[58]
Main articles: Thousand Pillar Temple, Ramappa Temple, Warangal Fort, and Kota Gullu
A notable trend during the dynastic period was the construction of reservoirs for irrigation in the uplands, around 5000 of which were built by warrior families subordinate to the Kakatiyas; the dramatically altered the possibilities for development in the sparsely populated dry areas. Many of these edifices, often called "tanks", including the large examples at Pakala and Ramappa, are still used today.[59]
Another notable architectural feature of the dynasty relates to temples. Even before the arrival of the dynasty, there were large, well-established and well-endowed Hindu places of worship in the relatively populous delta areas; however, the temples of the uplands, which were smaller and less cosmopolitan in origin and funding, did not exist until the Kakatiya period. In the lowlands, where Brahmins were numerous, the temples had long benefited from a desire to build social networks for the purposes of domestic and foreign trade, as well as for obtaining grazing rights in the face of competition; in the uplands, the endowment of the buildings was often associated with the construction and continued maintenance of reservoirs and enabled a different type of networking based on political hierarchies; the strengthening of those hierarchies, which was achieved in part by donating land for the temples and then attending worship, was necessary as the inland agrarian society grew rapidly in number and location.[60]
There is a disparity between analysis of inscriptions, of which the work of Cynthia Talbot has been in the vanguard, and the traditional works of Vedic Hinduism that described pre-colonial India in terms of a reverent and static society that was subject to the strictures of the caste system. Colonial British administrators found much that appealed to them in the latter works but the Kakatiya inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, which depict a far wider range of society and events, suggest that the reality was far more fluid and very different from the idealized image.[61]
Caste itself seems to have been of low importance as a social identifier.[62] Even the Kakatiya kings, with one exception, considered themselves to be Shudras (in the ritual varna system),[f] they were egalitarian in nature and promoted their subordinate warrior-chiefs who were similarly egalitarian and spurned the Kshatriya rank. Anyone, regardless of birth, could acquire the nayaka title to denote warrior status, and this they did. There is also little evidence that Kakatiya society paid much regard to caste identities, in the sense of jāti. Although occupation does appear to have been an important designator of social position, the inscriptions suggest that people were not bound to occupation by birth.[63][64]
The population became more settled in geographic terms; the growth of an agricultural peasant class subsumed many tribal people who previously had been nomadic. The nexus of politics and military was a significant feature of the era, and the Kakatiya recruitment of peasants into the military did much to create a new warrior class, to develop social mobility and to extend the influence of the dynasty into areas of its kingdom that previously would have been untouched;[65] the Kakatiya kings, and in particular the last two, encouraged an egalitarian ethos. The entrenched landed nobility that had existed prior to the dynasty found its power to be on the wane; the royal gifting of lands formerly in the possession of nobles to people of lesser status did much to effect this dilution.[48]
Historian P. V. P. Sastry theorizes that the early Kakatiya chiefs were followers of Jainism. A story in the Siddheshvara-Charitra states that Madhavavarman, an ancestor of the Kakatiyas, obtained military strength by the grace of goddess Padmakshi; the 1123 Govindapuram Jain inscription of Polavasa, another family of feudatory chiefs, contains a similar account of how their ancestor Madhavavarman obtained military strength by the grace of the Jain goddess Yaksheshvari.[66]
According to tradition, Prola II was initiated into Shaivism by the Kalamukha preceptor Rameshvara Pandita and established Shaivism as his family's religion; the Shaivism-affiliated personal names of the later Kakatiya kings (such as Rudra, Mahadeva, Harihara, and Ganapati) also indicate a shift towards Shaivism. This, according to Sastry, strengthens the theory that the early Kakatiya chiefs were Jains.[34]
The following members of the Kakatiya family are known from epigraphic evidence; the rulers are children of their predecessors, unless otherwise specified.[67]
Feudatory chiefs
Nripa Venna, born in the family of Durjaya (r. c. 800-815)
Gunda I (r. c. 815-?)
Gunda II (r. c. ?-865)
Gunda III (died before 900)
Nripati Erra
Betiya
Nripati Gunda IV alias Pindi-Gunda (r. c. 955-995)
Nripati Beta I alias Garuda Beta (r. c. 996-1051)
Prola I (r. c. 1052-1076)
Beta II alias Tribhuvanamalla (r. c. 1076-1108)
Tribhuvanamalla Durgaraja (r. c. 1108-1116), son of Beta II
Prola II (r. c. 1116-1157), son of Beta II, married Muppama
His children included Rudra, Mahadeva, Harihara, Ganapati and Repolla Durga
Sovereign rulers
Rudra (r. c. 1158-1195), son of Prolla II, became a sovereign 1163
Mahadeva (r. c. 1196-1199), son of Prolla II, married Bayyama
Had three children, including Ganapati-deva, Mailamba, and Kundamba
Ganapati-deva (r. c. 1199-1262), married Somala-devi
Had two children, including Ganapamba (married Kota Beta) and Rudrama-devi
Rudrama-devi (r. c. 1262-1289), married Chalukya Virabhadra
Had three children, including Mummadamba (married Kakati Mahadeva), Rudrama (married Yadava prince Ellana-deva), and Ruyyama (married Induluri Annaya-mantri)
Prataparudra-deva (r. c. 1289-1323), son of Mummadamba, tributary to the Delhi Sultanate at times
Ruins of the Kakatiya Kala Thoranam (Warangal Gate).
Tughlaq control of the area lasted only for around a decade;[68] the fall of the Kakatiya dynasty resulted in both political and cultural disarray because of both disparate resistance to the sultanate and dissension within it.[55] The structure of the Kakatiya polity disintegrated and their lands soon fell under the control of numerous families from communities such as the Reddies and Velamas;[69] as early as 1330,[70] Musunuri Nayaks who served as army chiefs for Kakatiya kingdom united the various Telugu clans and recovered Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate and ruled for half a century.[71] Surrounded by more significant states,[69] by the 15th century these new entities had ceded to the Bahamani Sultanate and the Sangama dynasty, the latter of which evolved to become the Vijayanagara empire.[72]
A brother of Prataparudra II, Annamaraja, has been associated with ruling what eventually became the princely state of Bastar during the British Raj period; this appears likely to be historical revisionism, dating from a genealogy published by the ruling family in 1703 because it records only eight generations spanning almost four centuries of rule. Such revisionism and tenuous claims of connection to the Kakatiyas were not uncommon because it was perceived as legitimizing the right to rule and warrior status. Talbot notes that there is a record of a brother called Annamadeva and that:
He is said to have left [Orugallu] for the northeast after anointing Prataparudra's son as monarch. Thus, the founder of the family fortunes in Bastar may very well have been a Telugu warrior from Telangana who was familiar with the prevalent legends about the Kakatiyas.[73]
According to Talbot and Eaton, a revisionist interpretation of Prataparudra II himself appeared much sooner, within a few years of his death, and for broadly similar reasons. A stone inscription dated 1330 mentions a Musunuri Prolaya Nayaka, who was said to have restored order, as in Prataparudra days, he presented himself as a legitimate successor to Prataparudra, by portraying both of them as righteous monarchs, meanwhile reconstructing Prataparudra's life and career in a favorable way.[74][g] By 1420, Muslim rulers had become accommodated to the Deccan society, and strong dichotomies between Hindus and Muslims were no longer useful. Muslim rulers were no longer conceived as diametrically opposed to the figure of Prataparudra, but rather as rulers of equal status.[75]
Hanamakonda
Ramappa Temple
Kakatiya Kala Thoranam
^ Kakatiya coins bore the Nandinagari script.(Prasad 1988, p. 9)
^ Talbot (2001, p. 128): "Soon after he came to power, Rudradeva had the Thousand Pillared temple built in Hanumakonda, then the Kakatiya capital. The Sanskrit inscription recording its foundation in 1163 contains an elaborate genealogy of Rudradeva's ancestry... Since it was the earliest of Rudradeva's inscriptions to omit any mention of the Chalukya dynasty of Kalyani, we can assume that the construction of the temple was meant to mark Rudradeva's new status as an overlord in his own right."
^ Marco Polo referred to the kingdom as Mutfili, which was the name for the area around a major port of the dynasty, now known as Masulipatnam.(Chakravarti 1991)
^ Sharma (1992, p. 234): "Vennama, the son of Dāma, led his troops in a defeat of the Turks very probably during Ala-ud-din Khalji's first invasion of Telangana in 1303. This success against the Turkish arms took place in the battle of Upparapalli, where Potuganti Maili is said to have put the enemies to flight."
^ The term Andhra bhasha, meaning language of Andhra, appeared as a synonym for the Telugu language at least as early as 1053 and suggests an emerging correlation of linguistics and geography. (Eaton 2005, p. 13) The linguistic mapping of regions of India continues to the present day and formed a part of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
^ Talbot (2001, p. 51): "An inscription reads: `The Kakatiya dynasty, praised by the entire world and belonging to the fourth varna, then came into existence. In it was born the king named Prola, who was renowned for being exceedingly judicious.'... [In a handful of inscriptions], the Kakatiyas are linked with the solar dynasty of the ancient kshatriyas, stemming from Ikshvaku through Dasharatha and Rama... The lack of consistency regarding the varna rank of the Kakatiya dynasty is noteworthy, as is the fact that their kshatriya claims were put forth primarily in documents associated with gifts to brahmans."
^ Chattopadhyaya (1998, pp. 57–58) quotes from the Vilasa grant of Prolaya Nayaka: "[W]hen Prataparudra of the Kakati family ruled, even such celebrated rulers of the past as Yayati, Nabhaga and Bhagiratha were completely forgotten."... "[W]hen the Sun, viz., Prataparudra set, the world was enveloped in the Turuska darkness. The evil (Adharma), which he had up to that time kept under check, flourished under them, as the conditions were very favorable for its growth."
^ Talbot 2001, p. 26.
^ Talbot 2001, p. 178; Eaton 2005, pp. 26–27; Chattopadhyaya 1998, pp. 57–59
^ a b Sircar 2008, p. 241.
^ a b Sastry 1978, pp. 22-23.
^ a b Sastry 1978, p. 22.
^ Sastry 1978, p. 23.
^ Sastry 1978, pp. 3-6.
^ Talbot 2001, pp. 11, 17, 19.
^ Sastry 1978, pp. 8-12.
^ Sastry 1978, pp. 12-13.
^ a b Talbot 2001, p. 51.
^ a b c Sastry 1978, p. 30.
^ Sharma, R. S.; Shrimali, K. M. (1992), A Comprehensive history of India: A.D. 985-1206, People's Publishing House, pp. 196, &nbsp, 198, ISBN 978-81-7007-121-1 Quote: "Eriya was succeeded not by his son Beta but by his grandson Gunda IV who, according to the Mangallu grant, in his early career had been deputed by Rashtrakuta Krishna III in 956 to help the Chalukya prince Danarnava in his attempts to oust his step-brother..."
^ Epigraphia Āndhrica, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1969, p. 68
^ a b c d e f Sastry 1978, p. 36.
^ a b Sastry 1978, p. 2.
^ Sastry 1978, p. 19, 25.
^ Sastry 1978, p. 6.
^ Prasad 1988, pp. 119, 124.
^ Talbot 2001, p. 184.
^ a b c Eaton 2005, p. 13.
^ Desai 1962.
^ Kalia 1994, p. 21.
^ a b Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 56–58. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
^ a b Rubiés 2000, p. 73.
^ Rubiés 2000, pp. 50, 73.
^ T. V., Mahalingam (1957). Seuna-Kakatiya. p. 150.
^ Suryanarayana 1986, p. 163.
^ a b Eaton 2005, p. 16.
^ Eaton 2005, pp. 9-11.
^ a b Asher & Talbot 2006, p. 40.
^ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 160 "An earlier attack on Warangal in 1304 had been unsuccessful.".
^ Eaton 2005, pp. 17–18.
^ Eaton 2005, pp. 20-21.
^ a b Talbot 2001, p. 176.
^ a b Rao & Shulman 2012, p. 17.
^ Rao & Shulman 2002, p. 4.
^ Ventakaramanayya 1942, pp. 1–2.
^ Eaton 2005, p. 14.
^ Subrahmanyam 1998.
^ Talbot 2001, pp. 50-52.
^ Asher & Talbot 2006, p. 43.
^ Talbot 2001, pp. 177-182.
^ Talbot 2001, pp. 192–193.
Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia, eds. (2006), "The expansion of Turkic power, 1180–1350", India before Europe, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-52180-904-7
Chakravarti, Ranabir (1991), "Horse Trade and Piracy at Tana (Thana, Maharashtra, India): Gleanings from Marco Polo", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 34 (3): 159–182, doi:10.2307/3632243, JSTOR 3632243
Chattopadhyaya, B. D. (1998), Representing the Other? Sanskrit Sources and the Muslims, New Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 978-8173042522
Desai, V. R. M. (1962), "Savings in Ancient Hindu Polity", The Indian Journal of Political Science, 23 (1/4): 268–276, JSTOR 41853935
Eaton, Richard M. (2005), A Social History of the Deccan: 1300–1761, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-52125-484-7
Jackson, Peter (2003), The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History (Reprinted ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-52154-329-3
Kalia, Ravi (1994), Bhubaneswar: From a Temple Town to a Capital City, Southern Illinois University Press – via Questia
Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar, eds. (2004) [1986], A History of India (4th ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-41532-920-0
Prasad, G. Durga (1988), History of the Andhras up to 1565 A. D. (PDF), Guntur: P. G. Publishers
Rao, P. (1994), History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh, Sterling
Rao, Velcheru Narayana (2003), "Court, Temple, and Public", in Pollock, Sheldon (ed.), Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press – via Questia
Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David, eds. (2002), Classical Telugu Poetry: An Anthology, University of California Press – via Questia
Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David (2012), Srinatha: The Poet Who Made Gods and Kings, Oxford University Press – via Questia
Rubiés, Joan-Pau (2000), Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250–1625, Cambridge University Press – via Questia
Sastry, P. V. Parabhrama (1978). N. Ramesan (ed.). The Kākatiyas of Warangal. Hyderabad: Government of Andhra Pradesh. OCLC 252341228.
Sharma, R. S. (1992). A Comprehensive History of India. Orient Longmans. p. 234. ISBN 978-81-7007-121-1.
Sircar, D. C. (1979), Some Epigraphical Records of the Medieval Period from Eastern India, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 978-8-17017-096-9
Sircar, D. C. (2008) [1968], Studies in Indian Coins (Reprinted ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8-12082-973-2
Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1998), "Hearing Voices: Vignettes of Early Modernity in South Asia, 1400–1750", Daedalus, 127 (3): 75–104, JSTOR 20027508
Suryanarayana, Kolluru (1986), History of the Minor Chaḷukya Families in Medieval Andhradesa, B. R. Publishing, ISBN 978-8-17018-330-3
Talbot, Austin Cynthia (2001), Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19803-123-9
Ventakaramanayya, N. (1942), The Early Muslim Expansion in South India, University of Madras
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kakatiya dynasty.
Talbot, Cynthia (May 1991). "Temples, Donors, and Gifts: Patterns of Patronage in Thirteenth-Century South India". The Journal of Asian Studies. 50 (2): 308–340. doi:10.2307/2057210. JSTOR 2057210.
Middle kingdoms of India
Timeline and
cultural period Northwestern India
(Punjab-Sapta Sindhu) Indo-Gangetic Plain Central India Southern India
Upper Gangetic Plain
(Ganga-Yamuna doab) Middle Gangetic Plain Lower Gangetic Plain
Culture Late Vedic Period Late Vedic Period
(Srauta culture)[a]
Painted Grey Ware culture Late Vedic Period
(Shramanic culture)[b]
Northern Black Polished Ware Pre-history
6th century BC Gandhara Kuru-Panchala Magadha Adivasi (tribes)
Culture Persian-Greek influences "Second Urbanisation"
Rise of Shramana movements
Jainism - Buddhism - Ājīvika - Yoga Pre-history
5th century BC (Persian conquests) Shaishunaga dynasty Adivasi (tribes)
4th century BC (Greek conquests) Nanda empire
HISTORICAL AGE
Culture Spread of Buddhism Pre-history Sangam period
(300 BC – 200 AD)
3rd century BC Maurya Empire Early Cholas
Early Pandyan Kingdom
Satavahana dynasty
Cheras
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam
Culture Preclassical Hinduism[c] - "Hindu Synthesis"[d] (ca. 200 BC - 300 AD)[e][f]
Epics - Puranas - Ramayana - Mahabharata - Bhagavad Gita - Brahma Sutras - Smarta Tradition
Mahayana Buddhism Sangam period
2nd century BC Indo-Greek Kingdom Shunga Empire
Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty Early Cholas
1st century BC
1st century AD
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Parthians
Kuninda Kingdom
2nd century Kushan Empire
3rd century Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom Kushan Empire Western Satraps Kamarupa kingdom Kalabhra dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom (Under Kalabhras)
Culture "Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. AD 320-650)[g]
Co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism
4th century Kidarites Gupta Empire
Varman dynasty Kalabhra dynasty
Kadamba Dynasty
Western Ganga Dynasty
5th century Hephthalite Empire Alchon Huns Kalabhra dynasty
Vishnukundina
6th century Nezak Huns
Kabul Shahi Maitraka Adivasi (tribes) Badami Chalukyas
Kalabhra dynasty
Culture Late-Classical Hinduism (ca. AD 650-1100)[h]
Advaita Vedanta - Tantra
7th century Indo-Sassanids Vakataka dynasty
Empire of Harsha Mlechchha dynasty Adivasi (tribes) Pandyan Kingdom (Under Kalabhras)
Pandyan Kingdom(Revival)
Pallava
8th century Kabul Shahi Pala Empire Pandyan Kingdom
Kalachuri
9th century Gurjara-Pratihara Rashtrakuta dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom
Medieval Cholas
Pandyan Kingdom (Under Cholas)
Chera Perumals of Makkotai
10th century Ghaznavids Pala dynasty
Kamboja-Pala dynasty Kalyani Chalukyas
Rashtrakuta
References and sources for table
^ Samuel
^ Michaels (2004) p.39
^ Hiltebeitel (2002)
^ Micheals (2004) p.40
Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
Hiltebeitel, Alf (2002), Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture", Routledge
Michaels, Axel (2004), Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kakatiya_dynasty&oldid=902158592"
Dynasties of India
Telugu people
History of Telangana
Empires and kingdoms of India
Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages
EngvarB from May 2014
The Satavahanas referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the first century BCE and lasted until the second century CE, although some assign the beginning of their rule to as early as the 3rd century BCE; the Satavahana kingdom comprised the present-day Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. At different times, their rule extended to parts of modern Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka; the dynasty had different capital cities including Pratishthana and Amaravati. The origin of the dynasty is uncertain, but according to the Puranas, their first king overthrew the Kanva dynasty. In the post-Maurya era, the Satavahanas established peace in the Deccan region, resisted the onslaught of foreign invaders. In particular their struggles with the Saka Western Satraps went on for a long time; the dynasty reached its zenith under the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni and his successor Vasisthiputra Pulamavi.
The kingdom fragmented into smaller states by the early 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas were early issuers of Indian state coinage struck with images of their rulers, they formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade and the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India. They supported Brahmanism as well as Buddhism, patronised Prakrit literature; the date and place of origin of the Satavahanas, as well as the meaning of the dynasty's name, are a matter of debate among the historians. Some of these debates have happened in the context of regionalism, with the present-day Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana being variously claimed as the original homeland of the Satavahanas. According to one theory, the word "Satavahana" is a Prakrit form of the Sanskrit Sapta-Vahana; this would indicate that the Satavahanas claimed association with the legendary solar dynasty, as was common in ancient India. According to Inguva Kartikeya Sarma, the dynasty's name is derived from the words vahana.
Another theory connects their name to the earlier Satiyaputa dynasty. Yet another theory derives their name from the Munda words Sadam and Harpan, implying "son of the performer of a horse sacrifice". Several rulers of the dynasty bear the name or title "Satakarni". Satavahana, Satakarni and Shalivahana appear to be variations of the same word. Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi theorized that the word "Satakarni" is derived from the Munda words sada and kon; the Puranas use the name "Andhra" or "Andhra-Bhritya" for the Satavahanas. The term "Andhra" may refer to territory of the dynasty, it does not appear in the dynasty's own records. Tamil epic Silappatikaram mentions a "Nurruvar Kannar", who helped Chera king Senguttuvan during his Himalaya campaign; the direct translation of the term Nurruvar Kannar is "the hundred Karnas" or "Satakarni", hence the Nurruvar Kannar has been identified with the Satavahana dynasty. The use of the name "Andhra" in the Puranas has led some scholars to believe that the dynasty originated in the eastern Deccan region.
At Kotilingala in Telangana, coins bearing the legend "Rano Siri Chimuka Satavahanasa" were found. Epigraphist and numismastist P. V. P. Sastry identified Chimuka with the dynasty's founder Simuka, because of which Kotilingala came to be known as the only place where coins attributed to Simuka were found. Coins attributed to Simuka's successors Kanha and Satakarni I were discovered at Kotilingla. Based on these discoveries, historians such as D. R. Reddy, S. Reddy and Shankar R. Goyal theorized that Kotlingala was the original home of the Satavahanas. However, the coin samples from Kotlingala are small, it is not certain if these coins were minted there or reached there from somewhere else. Moreover, the identification of Chimuka of Kotilingala with the dynasty's founder Simuka has been contested by several scholars including P. L. Gupta and I. K. Sarma, who identified Chimuka as a ruler. P. V. P. Sastry later changed his view, stated that the two kings were different; as for the Puranas, these texts were compiled much during the Gupta period, it is not certain if the Satavahanas were referred to as Andhras during their time.
Another section of scholars believe. All four extant inscriptions from the early Satavahana period have been found in and around this region; the oldest known Satavahana inscription was found at Cave No.19 of the Pandavleni Caves in Nashik district, was issued during the reign of Kanha. An inscription found at Naneghat was issued by Nayanika, the widow of Satakarni I. A later inscription dated to the reign of Satakarni II has been found at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, located to the north of Maharashtra; the majority of the other Satavahana inscriptions have been found in western Deccan. On the other hand, the epigraphic evidence from eastern Deccan does not mention the Satavahanas before the 4th century CE. At Nevasa, a seal and coins attributed to Kanha have been discovered. Coins attributed to Satakarni I have been discovered at Nashik and Pauni in Maharashtra (besides places in eastern Deccan and present-day Madhya Pra
The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India; the region under British control was called British India or India in contemporaneous usage, included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, those ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British tutelage or paramountcy, called the princely states. The whole was informally called the Indian Empire; as India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, 1936, a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria, it lasted until 1947, when it was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was a part of British India. The British Raj extended over all present-day India and Bangladesh, except for small holdings by other European nations such as Goa and Pondicherry; this area is diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, the Thar Desert. In addition, at various times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland, Singapore. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948; the Trucial States of the Persian Gulf and the states under the Persian Gulf Residency were theoretically princely states as well as presidencies and provinces of British India until 1947 and used the rupee as their unit of currency. Among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798.
The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a princely state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861; the Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, but not part of British India. India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory: British India and the Native States. In its Interpretation Act 1889, the British Parliament adopted the following definitions in Section 18: The expression "British India" shall mean all territories and places within Her Majesty's dominions which are for the time being governed by Her Majesty through the Governor-General of India or through any governor or other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India; the expression "India" shall mean British India together with any territories of any native prince or chief under the suzerainty of Her Majesty exercised through the Governor-General of India, or through any governor or other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India.
In general, the term "British India" had been used to refer to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has been used to refer to the "British in India"; the terms "Indian Empire" and "Empire of India" were not used in legislation. The monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was used in Queen Victoria's Queen's Speeches and Prorogation Speeches; the passports issued by the British Indian government had the words "Indian Empire" on the cover and "Empire of India" on the inside. In addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. Suzerainty over 175 princely states, some of the largest and most important, was exercised by the central government of British India under the Viceroy. A clear distinction between "dominion" and "suzerainty" was supplied by the jurisdiction of the courts of law: the law of British India rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament and the legislative powers those laws vested in the various governments of British India, both central and local.
At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. During the partition of Bengal, the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, the new provinces in the east becam
Kampili kingdom
The Kampili kingdom was a short-lived Hindu kingdom of early 14th-century in the Deccan region. The kingdom existed near Gulbarga and Tungabhadra river in northeastern parts of the present-day Karnataka state, India, it ended after a defeat by the armies of Delhi Sultanate, a jauhar in 1327/28 CE when it faced a certain defeat. The Kampili kingdom in some historical accounts is called the Basnaga kingdom, as what inspired and led to the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire; the founder of the kingdom was a Hoysala commander, Singeya Nayaka-III, who declared independence after the Muslim forces of the Delhi Sultanate defeated and captured the territories of the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri in 1294 CE. Nayaka-III was succeeded by his son Kampilideva in 1300, who remained in dispute with the territorial claims of Delhi Sultanate; the Kampili kingdom fell to the invasion in 1327/28 CE from the north by the forces of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi. The triumphant army led by Malik Zada sent the news of its victory, over Kampili kingdom, to Muhammad bin Tughluq in Delhi by sending a straw-stuffed severed head of the dead Hindu king.
From the ruins of the Kampili kingdom, soon rose the Vijayanagara Empire in 1336 CE, grew into one of the famed empires of India that ruled Southern India for over 200 years. Kammata Durga, the capital of the Kampili kingdom Kumara Rama, a Kampili prince
Hinduism is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life practised in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal way", beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder; this "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the end of the Vedic period, flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India. Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, shared textual resources, pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Smṛti; these texts discuss theology, mythology, Vedic yajna, agamic rituals, temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Āgamas.
Sources of authority and eternal truths in its texts play an important role, but there is a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in order to deepen the understanding of these truths and to further develop the tradition. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha and Moksha. Hindu practices include rituals such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, occasional pilgrimages; some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, forbearance, self-restraint, compassion, among others; the four largest denominations of Hinduism are the Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Smartism. Hinduism is the world's third largest religion. Hinduism is the most professed faith in India and Mauritius, it is the predominant religion in Bali, Indonesia.
Significant numbers of Hindu communities are found in the Caribbean, North America, other countries. The word Hindū is derived from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit root Sindhu; the Proto-Iranian sound change *s > h occurred between 850–600 BCE, according to Asko Parpola. It is believed that Hindu was used as the name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. According to Gavin Flood, "The actual term Hindu first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus", more in the 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I; the term Hindu in these ancient records did not refer to a religion. Among the earliest known records of'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by Xuanzang, 14th-century Persian text Futuhu's-salatin by'Abd al-Malik Isami. Thapar states that the word Hindu is found as heptahindu in Avesta – equivalent to Rigvedic sapta sindhu, while hndstn is found in a Sasanian inscription from the 3rd century CE, both of which refer to parts of northwestern South Asia.
The Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people. This Arabic term was itself taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū, which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus"; the term Hindu was used in some Sanskrit texts such as the Rajataranginis of Kashmir and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata. These texts used it to distinguish Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas or Mlecchas, with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and the 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma", it was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th century to denote the religious and cultural traditions native to India. Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet nor any binding holy book.
Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, "a way of life". From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion. In India the term dharma is preferred, broader than the Western term religion; the study of India and its cultures and religions, the definition of "Hinduism", has been shaped by th
Karnataka is a state in the south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973; the state corresponds to the Carnatic region. The capital and largest city is Bangalore. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the northeast, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, Kerala to the south; the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the sixth largest Indian state by area. With 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the classical languages of India, is the most spoken and official language of the state alongside Konkani, Tulu, Telugu, Malayalam and Beary. Karnataka contains some of the only villages in India where Sanskrit is spoken.
The two main river systems of the state are the Krishna and its tributaries, the Bhima, Vedavathi and Tungabhadra in North Karnataka Sharavathi in Shivamogga and the Kaveri and its tributaries, the Hemavati, Arkavati, Lakshmana Thirtha and Kabini, in the south. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward. Though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning "elevated land". Karu nadu may be read as karu, meaning "black" and nadu, meaning "region", as a reference to the black cotton soil found in the Bayalu Seeme region of the state; the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval India; the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day.
Karnataka has contributed to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. The economy of Karnataka is the third-largest state economy in India with ₹15.88 lakh crore in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹174,000. Karnataka's pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have been found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prompting scholars to hypothesise about contacts between ancient Karnataka and the Indus Valley Civilisation ca. 3300 BCE. Prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed; the decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas and the Western Gangas, marking the region's emergence as an independent political entity.
The Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi. These were the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription and a fifth-century copper coin discovered at Banavasi; these dynasties were followed by imperial Kannada empires such as the Badami Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta and the Western Chalukya Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Deccan and had their capitals in what is now Karnataka. The Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of the 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of the 11th century; the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region. Literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture.
The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under its rule. In the early 14th century and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district; the empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, which it controlled for over two centuries. In 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota; the Bijapur Sultanate, which had risen after the demise of the Bahmani Sultanate of Bidar, soon took control of the Deccan. The Bahmani and Bijapur rulers encouraged Urdu and Persian literature and Indo-Saracenic architecture, the Gol Gumbaz being one of the high points of this style. During the sixteenth century, Konkani Hindus migrated to Karnataka from Salcette, while during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Goan Catholics migrated to North Canara and South Canara from Bardes, Goa, as a result of food shortages and heavy taxation imposed by the Portuguese.
In the period that followed
Eastern Chalukyas known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they became a sovereign power, ruled the Vengi region of present-day Andhra Pradesh until c. 1130 CE. They continued ruling the region as feudatories of the Cholas until 1189 CE; the capital of the Eastern Chalukyas was located at the Vengi city. It was subsequently moved to Rajamahendravaram. Throughout their history the Eastern Chalukyas were the cause of many wars between the more powerful Cholas and Western Chalukyas over the control of the strategic Vengi country; the five centuries of the Eastern Chalukya rule of Vengi saw not only the consolidation of this region into a unified whole, but saw the efflorescence of Telugu culture, literature and art during the half of their rule. The Chalukyas of Vengi branched off from the Chalukyas of Badami; the Badami ruler Pulakeshin II conquered the Vengi region in eastern Deccan, after defeating the remnants of the Vishnukundina dynasty.
He appointed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana the governor of this newly acquired territory in 624 A. D. Vishnuvardhana's viceroyalty subsequently developed into an independent kingdom after Pulakeshin died fighting the Pallavas in the Battle of Vatapi.. Thus the Eastern Chalukyas were of Kannada stock; as per the Timmapuram plates of Kubja Vishnuvardhana, the progenitor of the Eastern Chalukyas, they belonged to the Manavya Gotra and were Haritputras just like the Kadambas and Western Chalukyas. From the 11th century onward, the dynasty started claiming legendary lunar dynasty origins. According to this legend, the dynasty descended from the Moon, via Budha, the Pandavas and Udayana. 59 unnamed descendants of Udayana ruled at Ayodhya. Their descendant Vijayaditya was killed in a battle with Trilochana Pallava, during an expedition in Dakshinapatha, his pregnant widow was given shelter by Vishnubhatta Somayaji of Mudivemu. She named her son Vishnuvardhana after her benefactor; when the boy grew up, he became the ruler of Dakshinapatha by the grace of the goddess Nanda Bhagavati.
Between 641 AD and 705 AD some kings, except Jayasimha I and Mangi Yuvaraja, ruled for short durations. Followed a period of unrest characterised by family feuds and weak rulers. Meanwhile, the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed ousted Western Chalukyas of Badami; the weak rulers of Vengi had to meet the challenge of the Rashtrakutas, who overran their kingdom more than once. There was no Eastern Chalukya ruler who could check them until Gunaga Vijayaditya III came to power in 848 AD; the Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha treated him as his ally and after Amoghavarsha's death, Vijayaditya proclaimed independence. In its early life, the Eastern Chalukya court was a republic of Badami, as generations passed, local factors gained in strength and the Vengi monarchy developed features of its own. External influences still continued to be present as the Eastern Chalukyas had long and intimate contact, either friendly or hostile, with the Pallavas, the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas and the Chalukyas of Kalyani; the Eastern Chalukyan government was a monarchy based on the Hindu philosophy.
The inscriptions refer to the traditional seven components of the state, the eighteen Tirthas, such as: Mantri Purohita Senapati Yuvaraja Dauvarika Pradhana Adhyaksha and so on. No information is available as to; the Vishaya and Kottam were the administrative subdivisions known from records. The Karmarashtra and the Boya-Kottams are examples of these; the royal edicts are addressed to all Naiyogi Kavallabhas, a general term containing no indication of their duties, as well as to the Grameyakas, the residents of the village granted. The Manneyas are occasionally referred in inscriptions, they held assignments of revenue in different villages. Fratricidal wars and foreign invasions disturbed the land; the territory was parcelled out into many small principalities held by the nobility consisting of collateral branches of the ruling house such as those of Elamanchili and Mudigonda, a few other families such as the Kona Haihayas (Heheya, Kolanu Saronathas, Parichedas, Kota Vamsas and Kondapadamatis connected by marriage ties with the Eastern Chalukyas and families who were raised to high position for their loyal services.
When the Vengi ruler was strong, the nobility paid allegiance and tribute to him, but when the weakness was apparent, they were ready to join hands with the enemies against the royal house. The population in the Vengi country was heterogeneous in character. Xuanzang, who travelled in the Andhra country after the establishment of the Eastern Chalukya kingdom, noted that the people were of a violent character, were of a dark complexion and were fond of arts; the society was based on hereditary caste system. The Buddhists and Jains who disregarded caste, adopted it. Besides the four traditional castes, minor communities like Boyas and Savaras existed; the Brahmins were held in high esteem in the society. They were given gifts of land and money, they held lucrative posts such as councillors and members of civil service. They entered the army and some of them rose to positions of high command; the Kshatriyas were the ruling class. Their love of int
The Pallava dynasty was an Indian dynasty that existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a portion of southern India. They gained prominence after the eclipse of the Satavahana dynasty, whom the Pallavas served as feudatories. Pallavas became a major power during the reign of Mahendravarman I and Narasimhavarman I and dominated the Telugu and northern parts of the Tamil region for about 600 years until the end of the 9th century. Throughout their reign they were in constant conflict with both Chalukyas of Badami in the north and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas in the south and Pallava were defeated by the Chola Aditya I in the 9th century CE. Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of architecture, the finest example being the Shore Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mahabalipuram; the Pallavas, who left behind magnificent sculptures and temples, established the foundations of medieval South Indian architecture. They developed the Pallava script from which Grantha descended; the Pallava script gave rise to several other southeast Asian scripts.
Chinese traveller Xuanzang extolled their benign rule. There were numerous theories about the origin of Pallavas. According to many notable scholars like Gabriel Jouveau, N. S Ramaswamy early pallavas originated in Andhradesa, which forms present day Andhra region and extended till kanchipuram of present day Tamilnadu; the early literary works of pallavas were traced in Prakrit and sanskrit from third century to sixth centuary and tamil literary records of pallavas were only available from seventh century. Velurpalaiyam plates dated to 852 AD, mentioned Virakurcha to be the first king of the Pallava dynasty as grant tells that Virakurcha grasped the complete insignia of royalty after marrying a Naga princess of Cutu-Nagas of Vanavasi who were feudatories of Andhras. Early relations between Nagas and Pallavas became well-established before the myth of Pallava's birth to Ashvatthama took root. A prashasti, composed in 753 on the dynastic eulogy in the Kasakadi plates, by the Pallava Trivikrama, traces the Pallava lineage from creation through a series of mythic progenitors, praises the dynasty in terms of two similes hinged together by triple use of the word avatara, as below:The Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of South Indian History Congress notes: The word Tondai means a creeper and the term Pallava conveys a similar meaning.
Since the Pallavas ruled in the territory extending from Bellary to Bezwada, it led to the theory that they were a northern dynasty who contracted marriages with princesses of the Andhra Dynasty and so inherited a portion of southern Andhra Pradesh. Historian K. R. Subramanian says the Pallavas were a Telugu power rather than a Tamil one. Telugu sources know of a Trilochana Pallava as the earliest Telugu king and they are confirmed by inscriptions; the first Chalukya king is said to have been met and killed by the same Trilochana near Mudivemu. A Buddhist story describes Kala the Nagaraja, resembling the Pallava Kalabhartar as a king of the region near Krishna district; the Pallava Bogga may be identified with the kingdom of Kala in Andhra which had close and early maritime and cultural relations with Ceylon. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri postulated that Pallavas were descendants of a North Indian dynasty who moved southwards, adopted local traditions to their own use, named themselves as Tondaiyar after the land called Tondai.
K. P. Jayaswal proposed a North Indian origin, putting forward the theory that the Pallavas were a branch of the Vakatakas; the earliest inscriptions of the Pallavas were found in the districts of Bellary and Nellore and all the inscriptions of the dynasty till the rise of Simhavishnu were found in the latter two of those. The mention of the Pallava king Vishnugopa of Kanchi, in the Allahabad record of Samudragupta in the fourth century, is noted as an important milestone in early Pallava history; the Pallavas captured Kanchi from the Cholas as recorded in the Velurpalaiyam Plates, around the reign of the fifth king of the Pallava line Kumaravishnu I. Thereafter Kanchi figures in inscriptions as the capital of the Pallavas; the Cholas drove the Pallavas away from Kanchi in the mid-4th century, in the reign of Vishugopa, the tenth king of the Pallava line. The Pallavas re-captured Kanchi in the mid-6th century in the reign of Simhavishnu, the fourteenth king of the Pallava line, whom the Kasakudi plates state as "the lion of the earth".
Thereafter the Pallavas held on to Kanchi until the 9th century, until the reign of their last king, Vijaya-Nripatungavarman. The Pallavas were in conflict with major kingdoms at various periods of time. A contest for political supremacy existed between the Kadambas. Numerous Kadamba inscriptions provide details of Pallava-Kadamba hostilities. Kadamba dynasty's founder Mayurasharma first succeeded in establishing himself in the forests of Shriparvata by defeating the Antharapalas of the Pallavas and subduing the Banas of Kolar in 345 CE; the Pallavas under Skandavarman were unable to contain Mayurasharma and recognised him as a sovereign in the regions from the Amara Ocean to Prehara. Some historians feel that Mayurasharma was appointed as a commander in the army of the Pallavas, as the inscription uses such terms as Senani and calls Mayurasharma Shadanana. After a period of time, due to the confusion caused by the defeat of Pallava Vishnugopa by Samudragupta, Mayurasharma formed his kingdom with Banavasi as his capital.
Western Chalukya Empire [videos]
The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the modern Bidar District of Karnataka state, and alternatively …
Western Chalukyas of Kalyana, coin of King Somesvara I Trailokyamalla (1043-1068). Temple façade / Ornate floral ornament.
Coin of the Chalukyas of Kalyana (Western Chalukyas). King Somesvara IV (1181-4/1189). Garuda, with prominent beak, running right / "Dapaga dapasa Murari(?)" in Kannada in three lines divided by pelleted lines.
Warangal [videos]
Warangal is a city in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the district headquarters of Warangal Urban District. Warangal is the second largest city in Telangana after Hyderabad, spreading across 471 km2 with a population of 819,406. Warangal City Development Plan is …
Warangal years ago
Sculptures at Warangal Fort
Kakatiyas well at Warangal
Waddepally Lake
Sanskrit [videos]
Sanskrit is a language of ancient India with a history going back about 3,500 years. It is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and the predominant language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the …
Historic Sanskrit manuscripts: a religious text (top), and a medical text.
Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century
Colin P. Masica
Hinduism [videos]
Hinduism is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practised in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal …
A Balinese Hindu family after puja at Bratan temple in Bali, Indonesia.
Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon
Temple wall panel relief sculpture at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu, representing the Trimurti: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu
Monarch [videos]
A monarch is a sovereign head of state in a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Typically a monarch either personally inherits the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights (often …
The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII, photographed on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians, King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia, King George I of the Hellenes and King Albert I of the Belgians. Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.
Postcard from 1908 showing nineteen of the world's reigning monarchs: (left to right) King Rama V/Chulalongkorn of Siam, King George I of Greece, King Peter I of Serbia, King Carol I of Romania, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Tzar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Emperor Nicholas II of the Russia, King Edward VII of Britain, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Gustav V of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, King Frederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Guangxu Emperor of China, Meiji Emperor of Japan, King Manuel II of Portugal and King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Ramesses II, the third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Mohamoud Ali Shire, the 26th Sultan of the Somali Warsangali Sultanate
Reddy dynasty [videos]
The Reddy dynasty was established in southern India by Prolaya Vema Reddy. The region that was ruled by the Reddy dynasty is now part of modern-day coastal and central Andhra Pradesh. Prolaya Vema Reddy was part of the confederation that started a movement against the invading …
Water colour painting - Kondavidu fort, Reddy Kingdom.
Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple, Srisailam
Lord Narasimha, Narasimha Swamy Temple, Ahobilam
Image: Flag of vijaynagara
Vijayanagara Empire [videos]
The Vijayanagara Empire was based in the Deccan Plateau region in South India. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of …
Natural fortress at Vijayanagara.
Royal Insignia: boar, sun, moon, and dagger.
Kannada inscription of King Krishnadeva Raya, dated 1509, at the Virupaksha temple in Hampi, describing his coronation and the construction of the large open mantapa.
Ancient market place and plantation at Hampi.
History of Andhra Pradesh [videos]
Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India whose recorded history begins in the Vedic period. It is mentioned in Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana. The Assaka Mahajanapada was an ancient kingdom located between the Godavari and Krishna Rivers in southeastern …
Sculpture depicting the stupa, now at the Government Museum, Chennai.
Amaravati Marbles, a series of marble sculptures and inscriptions excavated from the site.
The surviving foundation of the stupa.
One of the Undavalli Caves, built in the 7th century CE by the Vishnukundina dynasty.
History of Telangana [videos]
The history of Telangana, located in the Deccan region, includes its governance by many rulers. It was ruled by the Satavahana Dynasty, the Kakatiya Dynasty, the Musunuri Nayaks the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani Sultanate and Vijayanagara …
Kakatiya Kala Thoranam at Warangal Fort
Thousand Pillar Temple
Andhra Pradesh [videos]
Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India. Situated in the south-east of the country, it is the seventh-largest state in India, covering an area of 162,970 km2. As per the 2011 census, it is the tenth most populous state, with 49,386,799 inhabitants. The …
Telugu Thalli
Rajmahal of Chandragiri Fort
Andhra Pradesh topographical map
Krishna River at Srisailam
Telangana [videos]
Telangana is a state in India situated on the centre-south stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the twelfth largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of 112,077 km2 and 35,193,978 residents as per …
Montage of Telangana sidewise from left: Charminar, Warangal Fort, Hyderabad city, Nizamabad Railway Station, Kuntala Waterfalls, Falaknuma Palace
Chital
Ramagiri Fort ruins at Kalvacherla in Peddapalli district is an ancient fort initially built by the Sathavahanas and modified many times by other dynasties till 16th century.
Kota Gullu, temple ruins built in the 12th century by Kakatiyas at Ghanpur, Mulug in Warangal district.
Satavahana dynasty [videos]
The Satavahanas, also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the first century BCE and lasted until the second century CE, although some assign the …
Cave No.19 of Satavahana king Kanha at the Nasik caves, 1st century BCE.
Carla M. Sinopoli
Satavahana depiction of the city of Kushinagar in the War over the Buddha's Relics, South Gate, Stupa no. 1, Sanchi.
Andhra Ikshvaku [videos]
The Ikshvaku dynasty ruled in the eastern Krishna River valley of India, from their capital at Vijayapuri during approximately 3rd and 4th centuries CE. The Ikshvakus are also known as the Andhra Ikshvakus or Ikshvakus of Vijayapuri to …
Nagarjunakonda Ayaka pillar inscription of the time of Vira-Purushadatta (250-275 CE)
"Scythian" soldier, Nagarjunakonda Palace site.
Nagarjunakonda pillar inscription of the time of Rudra-Purushadatta (300-325 CE)
A goddess relief from Nagarjunakonda
Pallava dynasty [videos]
The Pallava dynasty was an Indian dynasty that existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a portion of southern India. They gained prominence after the eclipse of the Satavahana dynasty, whom the Pallavas served as feudatories.Pallavas became a major power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (571 – 630 …
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, 685-705
Inner court or the circumambulatory passage with 58 subshrines. Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram
Pillar with multi-headed lions. Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram
The Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram built by Narasimhavarman II
Chola dynasty [videos]
The Chola dynasty was one of the longest-ruling dynasties in history. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE left by Ashoka, of the Maurya Empire. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, the dynasty …
South India in BC 300, showing the Chera, Pandya and Chola Kingdoms
Subrahmanian
Gopuram Corner View of Thanjavur Brihadisvara Temple.
The sikhara of Brihadisvara Temple, a cupolic dome (25 tons), is octagonal and rests on a single block of granite, weighing 80 tons.
Hyderabad State [videos]
Hyderabad State, also known as Hyderabad Deccan, was an Indian princely state located in the south-central region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into Telangana state, Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka and Marathwada region of …
On 22 February 1937 a cover story by Time called Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII the wealthiest man in the world
Five-rupee note from Hyderabad
Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad was the Prime Minister of Hyderabad State between 1901-1912 and 1926-1937
General El Edroos (at right) offers his surrender of the Hyderabad State Forces to Major General (later General and Army Chief) Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri at Secunderabad.
British Raj [videos]
The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called British India or simply India in …
British India in 1880
Lord Canning, the last Governor-General of India under Company rule and the first Viceroy of India under Crown rule
Lord Salisbury was Secretary of State for India 1874–78
Viceroy, Lord Canning, meets the ruler of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, Ranbir Singh, 9 March 1860. Kashmir, like Hyderabad, Mysore, and the states of the Rajputana, supported the British during the Rebellion of 1857.
South India [videos]
South India is the area including the five Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, as well as the three union territories of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, occupying 19% of India's area. Covering the …
Satellite image of South India
South India has the largest elephant population.
Population Pyramid in South India
The growth of information technology hubs in the region have spurred economic growth. Pictured is Tidel Park in Chennai
Delhi Sultanate [videos]
The Delhi Sultanate was a sultanate based mostly in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years. Five dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk dynasty, the Khalji dynasty …
Image: Alai Gate and Qutub Minar
Image: The Lat of Ferozeh Shah Delhi
Image: Ashoka Pillar at Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi 05
Image: Benares The Golden Temple, India, ca. 1915 (IMP CSCNWW33 OS14 66)
Durga [videos]
Durga, identified as Adi Parashakti, is a principal and popular form of Hindu Goddess. She is the warrior goddess, whose mythology centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity and dharma of the good. She is the fierce form of the …
Durga as Mahishasura-Mardini, the slayer of the buffalo demon
Statue of Goddess Durga, Tamil Nadu
Durga festival images (clockwise from top): Durga puja pandal in Kolkata, dancing on Vijayadashami, women smearing each other with color, and family get together for Dasain in Nepal.
An image of Maa Durga on display during Durga Puja in Kolkata
Turkic peoples [videos]
The Turkic peoples are a collection of ethno-linguistic groups of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western Asia as well as parts of Europe and North Africa. They speak related languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits, common ancestry …
Eastern Hemisphere in 500 BCE
Al-Mu'tasim
Uyghur king from Turpan region attended by servants
Bashkirs, painting from 1812, Paris
Jainism [videos]
Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient, non-theistic, Indian religion, founded by Jina Mahavira in the 5th century BCE. Followers of Jainism are called "Jains", a word derived from the Sanskrit word jina and connoting the path of victory in crossing over life's …
Painting with the message Ahiṃsā Paramo Dharma (non-violence is the highest virtue or religion)
Nishidhi stone, depicting the vow of sallekhana, 14th century, Karnataka
Left: Jain nuns meditating, Right: 10th century Gommateshwara statue depicting standing meditation (Kayotsarga posture)
Praying at the feet of a statue of Bahubali
Padmavati (Jainism) [videos]
Padmāvatī is the protective goddess or śāsana devī of Pārśvanātha, the twenty-third Jain tīrthāṅkara, complimenting Parshwa yaksha, the shasan deva.There is another pair of souls of a nāga and nāginī who were saved by Parshwanath while being burnt alive in a log …
Padmavati, 10th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image: Karkala 1
Image: Backside view of Basadi in Humcha
Image: Indian Mandala of Padmavati Walters 543007
Karnataka [videos]
Karnataka is a state in the south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state corresponds to the Carnatic region. The capital and …
Sala fighting the Lion, the emblem of Hoysala Empire
Statue of Ugranarasimha at Hampi, located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire
1792 Portrait of Tipu Sultan, kept at the British Library
Chief Minister Dr. Devaraj Urs announcing the new name of the Mysore state as 'Karnataka'
Kanker, Chhattisgarh [videos]
Kanker city, a municipality, is the headquarter of Kanker District of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.It is second largest city of Bastar division after Jagdalpur. — Geography — Kanker is located at 20.27°N 81.49°E / 20.27; 81.49. It has an average elevation of 388 metres. — Demographics …
Image: Kanker view from DIET
Image: Dood River in Kanker
Image: Kanker outskirts
Image: Stream that joins Dood river Kanker district
Chhattisgarh [videos]
Chhattisgarh is one of the 29 states of India, located in the centre-east of the country. It is the tenth-largest state in India, with an area of 135,191 km2. With a 2011 population of 25.5 million, Chhattisgarh is the 16th-most populated …
Chitrakote Falls is located in Kanger Ghati National Park in Chhattisgarh.
Sal- The State Tree of Chhattisgarh
Raipur Railway Station Entrance
Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur
Maharashtra [videos]
Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India. It is the second-most populous state and third-largest state by area in India. Spread over 307,713 km2, it is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka …
Dried up Godavari at Puntamba, Ahmadnagar district after a poor Monsoon
Bramhagiri hills in Sahyadri mountain range (Western Ghats)
Wainganga River near Bhandara district.
Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, Hinduism is the dominant religion in Maharashtra
Hindus [videos]
Hindus are persons who regard themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.The historical …
Image: Hindu percent 1909
Image: Sikhs buddhists jains percent 1909
Image: Holi Celebrations in Bangalore India Culture and Sights
Image: Deepawali festival
Mughal Empire [videos]
The Mughal Empire or Mogul Empire was an empire in the Indian subcontinent, founded in 1526. It was established and ruled by the Timurid dynasty, with Turco-Mongol Chagatai roots from Central Asia …
Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, and his warriors visiting a Hindu temple in the Indian subcontinent.
Ruins of the Great Caravanserai in Dhaka.
Taj Mahal in Agra, India
Buland Darwaza in Fatehpur Sikiri, Agra, India
Kannada [videos]
Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Kannada people in India, mainly in the state of Karnataka, and by significant linguistic minorities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and abroad. The language has roughly 43.7 million …
The Halmidi inscription at Halmidi village, in old-Kannada, is usually dated to AD 450 (Kadamba Dynasty)
Old-Kannada inscription dated AD 578 (Badami Chalukya dynasty), outside Badami cave no.3
Old-Kannada inscription of c. AD 726, discovered in Talakad, from the rule of King Shivamara I or Sripurusha (Western Ganga Dynasty)
Old-Kannada inscription of the 9th century (Rashtrakuta Dynasty) at Durga Devi temple in Hampi, Karnataka
Kampili kingdom [videos]
The Kampili kingdom was a short-lived Hindu kingdom of early 14th-century in the Deccan region. The kingdom existed near Gulbarga and Tungabhadra river in northeastern parts of the present-day Karnataka state, India. It ended after a defeat by the armies of Delhi Sultanate, and a jauhar (ritual …
Shiva temple on Hemakuta hill in Hampi was built by Kampili Raya, ruler of the Kampili Kingdom.
Image: Old Kannada inscription (1326 AD) of Kampili Raya in Shiva temple on Hemakuta hill in Hampi
Image: Old Kannada inscription (1326 AD) of Kampili Raya on rock face of Hemakuta hill in Hampi
Image: Old Kannada inscription (1309 A.D.) of Kampili Raya on rockface of Hemakuta hill in Hampi
Varna [videos]
Varna is the third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, the city has been a major economic, social and cultural centre for almost three millennia. Varna …
From top left: Asparuh Bridge, Black Sea beach, Euxinograd, Varna Archaeological Museum, Stoyan Bachvarov Dramatic Theatre, Dormition of the Mother of God Cathedral, Drazki torpedo boat, The Navy Club, Palace of Culture and Sports, The ancient Roman baths, Varna Ethnographic Museum
Varna Sea Garden
Varna Sea beach
Varna at night
Eastern Chalukyas [videos]
Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they became a sovereign power, and ruled the Vengi region of …
Eastern Chalukya coin. Central punchmark depicting lion standing left. Incuse of punchmarks.
The Bhimeshvara temple at Draksharama
Image: Copper plates NMND 9
Qutb Shahi dynasty [videos]
The Qutb Shahi dynasty was a territory in south India. It was initially a highly Persianate muslim Turkmen dynasty established in the 16th century that eventually adopted the regional culture of the Deccan (Telugu culture, language and the newly developed Deccani dialect of …
Golkonda Painting - Finch, Poppies, Dragonfly, and Bee India (Deccan, Golconda), 1650-1670 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Overall
Tomb of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah in Hyderabad.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
Vishnukundina dynasty [videos]
The Vishnukundina dynasty was an Indian imperial power controlling the Deccan, Orissa and parts of South India during the 5th and 6th centuries, carving land out from the Vakataka Empire. It played an important role in the history of the Deccan during the 5th and 6th centuries …
Vishnukundina Empire, 420-674 AD, Cast Copper, 4.65g, Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Bull type
Vishnukundina Empire, 420-674 AD, Cast Copper, 7.80g, Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Lion type


The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAAN they established a huge Eurasian empire through conquest. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and in the late 17th century came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing and a communist regime was installed in 1924. The modern country of Mongolia, however, represents only part of the Mongols' historical homeland; today, more ethnic Mongolians live in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China than in Mongolia. Following a peaceful democratic revolution in 1990, the ex-communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) - which took the name Mongolian People's Party (MPP) in 2010 - has competed for political power with the Democratic Party (DP), the main opposition party, and several other smaller parties, including a new party formed by former President ENKHBAYAR, which confusingly adopted for itself the MPRP name. In its most recent Parliamentary elections in June 2016, Mongolians handed the MPP overwhelming control of Parliament, largely pushing out the DP, which had overseen a sharp decline in Mongolia's economy during its control of Parliament in the preceding years. President ELBEGDORJ, a DP member, will finish his second term as president in 2017, and is not eligible to run for reelection.
etymology: the name means "Land of the Mongols" in Latin; the Mongolian name Mongol Uls translates as "Mongol State"
Foreign direct investment in Mongolia's extractive industries – which are based on extensive deposits of copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, fluorspar, uranium, tin, and tungsten - has transformed Mongolia's landlocked economy from its traditional dependence on herding and agriculture. Exports now account for more than half of GDP. Mongolia depends on China for more than 60% of its external trade - China receives some 90% of Mongolia's exports and supplies Mongolia with more than one-third of its imports. Mongolia also relies on Russia for 90% of its energy supplies, leaving it vulnerable to price increases. Remittances from Mongolians working abroad, particularly in South Korea, are significant. Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990 and 1991 at the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. The following decade saw Mongolia endure both deep recession, because of political inaction, and natural disasters, as well as strong economic growth, because of market reforms and extensive privatization of the formerly state-run economy. The country opened a fledgling stock exchange in 1991. Mongolia joined the WTO in 1997 and seeks to expand its participation in regional economic and trade regimes. Growth averaged nearly 9% per year in 2004-08 largely because of high copper prices globally and new gold production. By late 2008, Mongolia was hit by the global financial crisis and Mongolia's real economy contracted 1.3% in 2009. In early 2009, the IMF reached a $236 million Stand-by Arrangement with Mongolia and it emerged from the crisis with a stronger banking sector and better fiscal management. In October 2009, Mongolia passed long-awaited legislation on an investment agreement to develop the Oyu Tolgoi (OT) mine, among the world's largest untapped copper-gold deposits. However, a dispute with foreign investors developing OT called into question the attractiveness of Mongolia as a destination for foreign investment. This caused a severe drop in FDI, and a slowing economy, leading to the dismissal of Prime Minister ALTANKHUYAG in November 2014. The economy had grown more than 10% per year between 2011 and 2013 - largely on the strength of commodity exports and high government spending - before slowing to 7.8% in 2014 and 2.3% in 2015. The current government has made restoring investor trust and reviving the economy its top priority, but has failed to invigorate the economy in the face of the large drop off in foreign direct investment. Mongolia's economy faces near-term economic risks from the government's loose fiscal and monetary policies, from uncertainties in foreign demand for Mongolian exports, and on Mongolia's ability to access financing. The May 2015 agreement with Rio Tinto to restart the OT mine and the subsequent $4.4 billion finance package signing in December 2015 have served to increase investor confidence but are unlikely to overcome the downward economic pressures in the short term.


i can't even tell you how many times I have watched this.
well, maybe I could but it would be really embarrasing.
i know you have already seen this before.
especially if you are my friend.
but just in case, here you are.
but i highly recommend watching the entire episode here.
can you hear my heart beating??
& let's just be serious for a second.
but the glee britney songs.
seriously -my house is clean -my car is clean -even my bathtub is scrubbed because jamming out to them gives me so much energy.