Gajapatis of Orissa

The Gajapatis (“lords of elephants”) of the Suryavamsa, the Solar line, ruled Orissa from Cuttack for about a century after 1434–35.¹ In that year Kapilendra, also called Kapilesvara, took the throne of the last Eastern Ganga king.¹ R. D. Banerji wrote in 1930 that the fall of the Gangas “was followed by a sudden accession of power of the monarchs of Kalinga and Orissa”.¹ This rise, he wrote, was “unparalleled except, perhaps, in the time of Kharavela”.¹

For the Telugu country their century was decisive.² The Godavari gazetteer of 1907 records that by 1454 Kapilesvara “was recognized as suzerain as far south as Kondavid”.² It adds that “a minister of his was ruling at Rajahmundry in 1458”.² The Visakhapatnam (then Vizagapatam) gazetteer of the same year says that he extended his dominions “from the Ganges to the Kistna”.³ See the Eastern Gangas and Nayakas, Reddis and Bahmanis.

Telugu tradition knew the Gajapatis as one of three powers that divided the south.⁴ In 1872 W. W. Hunter summarised the Telugu palm-leaf manuscripts of the Mackenzie collection.⁴ He described how “the Lords of Elephants ruled in Orissa and the north of Madras; the Lords of Men held the country to the southward”.⁴ The Lords of Horses were the Muslim kings.⁴

The Charikonda inscription of 1427 comes from the Devarakonda kingdom of the Velama chief Lingama Nayaka.⁵ It already names the kingdoms of the Gajapatis, the Asvapatis (the Bahmanis) and the Narapatis (Vijayanagara).⁵ See Lingama Nayaka.

The sources

Four kinds of evidence are used here, and they often disagree. The first is the inscriptions.⁶⁷ In Orissa the kings dated their orders by anka years, a count of the reign that skips certain numbers.⁶⁷ They engraved them on the Jaya-Vijaya gate of the Jagannatha temple at Puri.⁶⁷ Monmohan Chakravarti published fourteen of these records in 1893.⁷ He called them “the earliest known Uriya writings found in Orissa”.⁷

In the Telugu country there are copper-plate grants of the kings and their viceroys:^89101161213

• Kondavidu (1455)⁸
• Raghudevapuram (1456)⁹
• Veligalani (1458)¹⁰
• Chiruvroli (1461)¹¹
• Potavaram (1489)⁶
• Velicherla (1510 or 1511)¹²

There are also stone records in the temples of Srikurmam and Simhachalam and in the fort of Warangal.^89101161213 Banerji complained that most of them are “votive inscriptions” (records of gifts to temples).¹⁴ From these, he said, the exact chronology of the reigns cannot be fixed.¹⁴

The second kind of evidence is the chronicle of the Jagannatha temple, the Madala Panji.¹⁵¹⁶ English readers know it through Stirling’s essay in the Asiatic Researches and Hunter’s chronicle of the kings of Orissa of 1872.¹⁵¹⁶ It gives the three great kings 1452–1479, 1479–1504 and 1504–1532.¹⁵¹⁶ Banerji followed Chakravarti’s calculations.¹ He held that “all manuscripts of the Madala Panji and, therefore, modern accounts based on them, are hopelessly wrong” in the date of Kapilendra’s accession.¹

The third is the Persian histories of the Bahmani sultans.¹⁷¹⁸¹⁴ These are Ferishta in John Briggs’s translation, and the Burhan-i Ma’asir in J. S. King’s.¹⁷¹⁸ They speak of the “Ray of Orissa” or the “Raya of Uriya”, but rarely name him.¹⁷¹⁸ Banerji thought them “always unreliable where Hindu kingdoms are concerned”.¹⁴

The fourth is the literature of Vijayanagara.¹⁹²⁰ This includes Sanskrit and Telugu works collected by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar in 1919.¹⁹ It also includes the Portuguese chronicle of Fernao Nuniz, translated by Robert Sewell in 1900.²⁰

Kapilendra’s rise

How Kapilendra came to the throne is told in several ways. The temple chronicle, in Hunter’s version, calls him “originally a common herd-boy, tending the flocks of his Brahman master, but afterwards raised to the throne”.¹⁵ Stirling wrote that the last Ganga king, Bhanudeva IV, who was childless, adopted him.²¹

Chakravarti read the chronicle to mean that Kapilendra won the throne with the help of the Bahmani sultan Ahmad Shah.²² The Godavari gazetteer also says that he “obtained the assistance of the Bahmani king of Kulbarga”.²

The Visakhapatnam gazetteer calls him the Ganga king’s minister.³ It says he “usurped the throne and in 1434-35 founded the Gajapati (‘lords of elephants’) dynasty of Orissa under the title of Pratapa Kapilesvara”.³ Banerji calls him “originally a Mahapatra”, a high officer.¹

D. C. Sircar edited the grants of his nephew Raghudeva in 1963.²³ They show that Kapilendra came of a family of chiefs.²³ Their verses name his grandfather, also called Kapilesvara, as a Nayaka.²³ They name his father Jagesvara as a hero who owned many elephants.²³ His elder brother Balarama died in battle with his father.²³ The verses credit Kapilendra with winning the throne of the Gajapati by his own valour.²³ Sircar took this as a more sensible account than the herd-boy story.²⁴

From the Veligalani grant, Sircar worked out that Kapilendra’s mother was called Vellamamba in Telugu and Velama in Oriya.²⁵ He suggested that Kapilendra may have had Andhra blood, perhaps from the Velama community.²⁵ But he admitted that the question could not yet be settled.²⁵

In the Warangal inscription of Raghudeva, the family god of Kapilendra’s ancestors is Mallinatha.²⁶ This name was popular in the Telugu country, and Sircar suggested that the family’s original home may have been there.²⁶ See Kapilendra.

The conquest of the Reddi kingdoms

Kapilendra’s first southern conquest was the Reddi kingdom of Rajahmundry.²⁷ Sircar dated it between 1444 and 1448.²⁷ In 1444 an inscription at Draksharama still seems to show the Reddi king alive under the protection of Vijayanagara.²⁷ In 1448 an inscription at Penugonda in the Tanuku taluk speaks of the rule of the Gajapati.²⁷ The temple chronicle says that he conquered the country of Mahendra (Rajahmundry) in his fourteenth anka, about 1446–47.²⁷

In Sircar’s account Kapilendra first subdued the chiefs of Nandapur and Viraghattam.²⁸ With their help he attacked Rajahmundry.²⁸ The Rajahmundry Reddis were enemies of their Kondavidu kinsmen.²⁸ So with their help Kapilendra then took Kondavidu and the other forts to the south.²⁸ See the Reddis of Rajahmundry and the Reddis of Kondavidu.

Kapilendra governed the conquests through members of his family.²⁷²⁹ His nephew Raghudeva, son of his younger brother Parasurama, was governor of the province of Rajahmundry at least from 1455–56 to 1460.²⁷²⁹ Raghudeva’s grant of 1456 describes the province as stretching from Simhachalam to a place it calls Giripraja.²⁷²⁹ Sircar took Giripraja to be Kondavidu.²⁷²⁹

A pillar inscription of 1458 at Tirupati in the Peddapuram taluk records that a minister of Kapilesvara was then governing Rajahmundry.³⁰ Kondavidu was ruled by Ganadeva, called Rautaraya, a member of the king’s family.³¹⁸ His inscription of 1454 at Chintapallipadu names the forts of Addanki and Vinukonda.³¹⁸ His grant of 1455 calls Kapila the reigning king at “Kataka” (Cuttack).³¹⁸

H. Luders edited an inscription of Krishnadeva Raya in 1901.³² He concluded that after the last Reddi grants “the country must have been occupied by the Gajapatis”.³² See the Kondavidu plates of Ganadeva, the grants of Raghudeva and Kondavidu.

The chronicle of Kondavidu that Robert Sewell summarised in 1884 tells a different story.³³ It makes a Langala Gajapati rule Kondavidu after the last Reddi, from 1420 to 1431.³³ Two kings of the Vijayanagara family followed until 1454, when “another Gajapati named Kapilesvara” conquered the second of them.³³ Banerji read this sequence as showing that Vijayanagara had taken Kondavidu from the last Gangas, and that Kapilendra won it back.³⁴

The 1942 gazetteer of the Nellore district says that Kapilendra subdued the Reddis and pushed his forces into the Nellore district.³⁵ It says that Udayagiri and Kondavidu became viceroyalties (provinces under viceroys) under him and Purushottama.³⁵

Kapilendra himself made grants in the Krishna country.³⁶³⁷ In April 1458, camping on the bank of the Godavari, he gave the village of Veligalani to 120 Brahmins.³⁶³⁷ He renamed it after himself and his parents.³⁶³⁷ Among its boundary villages Sircar identified Kanumuru, near the present Kapilesvarapuram, and Penamakuru, in the Krishna district.³⁶³⁷

A record of Saka 1387 (1465; Saka is an Indian way of counting years) in the Vijayawada (then Bezwada) taluk registers his gift of a village near Kondapalli to two temples.³⁸³⁹ An undated grant at Zakkampudi was made by a son of his called Ambadeva.³⁸³⁹ See the Veligalani grant.

Telangana: Devarakonda and Warangal

The Bahmani sultans soon met the Orissan power in the uplands.⁴⁰⁴¹ The Burhan-i Ma’asir says that in the reign of Ala-ud-din Ahmad II the general Sanjar Khan was fighting “against the Uriah leader of the infidels of Telingana”.⁴⁰⁴¹ It records the sultan’s remark that the Bahmanis had no more than about one hundred and fifty elephants, “whilst those infidels had nearly two hundred thousand”.⁴⁰⁴¹ Banerji took the Oriya chief to be “the great Gajapati king himself”.⁴²

In 1459 the Bahmani sultan Humayun Shah besieged the hill fort of Devarakonda.¹⁷⁴³ Ferishta says that the defenders “applied for assistance to the Ray of Orissa”.¹⁷⁴³ The Ray, “being tempted by offers of great sums of money sent a considerable body of troops, with several war-elephants”.¹⁷⁴³ The Bahmani generals, attacked from both sides, were routed and pursued for eighty miles.¹⁷⁴³

The Burhan-i Ma’asir calls the Raya of Uriya “at that time … chief of the infidels of that country”.¹⁸⁴⁴ It says he sent a hundred elephants.¹⁸⁴⁴ Banerji wrote that Kapilendra “marched so swiftly to the relief of Devarkonda that he caught the Musalman army unawares”.⁴⁵ He wrote that the Bahmanis never again attacked Telangana in Kapilendra’s lifetime.⁴⁵ The siege is told on the page on the Recherla Velamas. See also Devarakonda.

On 2 February 1460, Kapilendra’s son Hamvira and his nephew Raghudeva set up inscriptions in the fort of Warangal.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶ By the dates of the two records, both were set up on the same day.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶ Hamvira’s, on the eastern gate, records that he captured the fort.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶ Raghudeva’s, on the western gate, is in Oriya written in Telugu characters.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶ It records that he subdued the fort’s governor, and spared the lives of the governor and his soldiers.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶ Sircar took the two princes to have attacked the fort from two sides.⁴⁶⁴⁷²⁶

The Nizam’s Archaeological Department suggested in 1938 that the force which had relieved Devarakonda went on to take Warangal from the Bahmanis.⁴⁸ A Telugu verse quoted by Sircar credits the general Gajaravu Tippa with defeating the Muslims outside Khammam, in the presence of Hamvira.⁴⁹ See the Warangal inscriptions and Warangal Fort.

After Humayun’s death in 1461 the Orissan army marched on the Bahmani capital.⁵⁰⁵¹⁵² Ferishta says that “the rays of Orissa, in conjunction with the zemindars of Tulingana, invaded the kingdom by the route of Rajmundry”.⁵⁰⁵¹⁵² They went on “plundering and laying waste the country as far as Kowlas”.⁵⁰⁵¹⁵² The Ray came within ten miles of Bidar, demanding “restitution of the country of Tulingana” and tribute.⁵⁰⁵¹⁵² Then he retreated, and paid “a large sum of money” for a safe return.⁵⁰⁵¹⁵²

The Burhan-i Ma’asir reports the invasion, and a Bahmani victory within ten farsakhs (Persian leagues) of the capital.⁵³⁵⁴ Wolseley Haig, in the Cambridge History of India (1928), wrote that the raja of southern Orissa paid “half a million of silver tangas” to secure his retreat.⁵⁵ Banerji rejected the ransom and Haig’s account.⁵⁶ To him “the only established fact” was that Kapilendra advanced within a short distance of the capital.⁵⁶ Hunter, following Stirling, had put a similar campaign in 1457.⁵⁷

The southern conquests

The claims of Kapilendra’s records reach much further.³⁶⁵⁸ As Sircar read it, the Veligalani grant of 1458 boasts of his war-drums.³⁶⁵⁸ It says their noise shook Hampi, pressed Dhara, put the horses of Gulbarga to flight and filled Delhi with savage women.³⁶⁵⁸ It is the first record to give him the titles Gajapati, Gaudesvara and Navakoti-Karnata-Kalavaragesvara.³⁶⁵⁸ His successors kept these titles.³⁶⁵⁸ Banerji explained the last as the claim to be “the master of ninety millions of people of Karnata” and of Gulbarga.⁵⁹

A Sanskrit drama, the Gangadasa-pratapa-vilasam, describes what happened after the death of Devaraya II.⁶⁰ The Bahmani sultan and the Gajapati besieged Vijayanagara, and Mallikarjuna routed them.⁶⁰ The Oriya romance Kanchi-Kaveri-Pothi claims an advance to Kanchi.¹⁹

Two inscriptions of 1464 at Munnur in the South Arcot district show the conquests in the Tamil country.⁶¹³¹ They record gifts by Dakshina-Kapilesvara, Hamvira’s son.⁶¹³¹ He was governor of Kondavidu, Kondapalli, Addanki, Vinukonda, Padaividu, Tiruvarur, Tiruchirappalli and Chandragiri.⁶¹³¹

In 1919 H. Krishna Sastri admitted what these records establish.⁶² In his words, “the earlier conquest by Gajapati was not a passing inroad only but almost an occupation of the southern country”.⁶² It reached “right upto Tiruvarur in the Tanjore district and Trichinopoly”.⁶²

K. H. V. Sarma and Sircar added Tamil inscriptions of 1471–73 in the Arcot country.⁶³ These speak of the “Oriya confusion”, and of temples restored by an agent of Saluva Narasimha.⁶³ Sircar and Sarma concluded that the occupation lasted nearly ten years.⁶³ Banerji wrote that “except Kharavela no other king of Kalinga or Orissa had succeeded in ruling over such a wide stretch of the eastern coastland”.¹⁴

S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar wrote the Cambridge History chapter on the Hindu states.⁶⁴⁶⁵ He described rather a gradual extension along the coast to the Godavari, with “raids as far south as Nellore and Udayagiri”.⁶⁴⁶⁵ He also described a combined Bahmani and Orissan siege of Vijayanagara, which Mallikarjuna repulsed about 1450.⁶⁴⁶⁵

Kapilendra’s death and the disputed succession

Kapilendra’s last dated record is of December 1466.²¹ The second anka of his son Purushottama fell in April 1470.²¹ The Burhan-i Ma’asir records news that came in AH 875 (1470; AH is the Islamic way of counting years).⁶⁶⁶⁷ It says that “a messenger arrived from Telingana and informed the Sultan” of a death.⁶⁶⁶⁷ The dead man was “the Raya of Orisa, who was the principal raya of Telingana”.⁶⁶⁶⁷ The temple chronicle says that he died on the bank of the Krishna.⁵⁹⁶⁸

Who succeeded him is disputed. Ferishta says that in AH 876 “Ambur Ray, cousin to the Ray of Oorea” complained to the Bahmani sultan Muhammad Shah III.⁶⁹⁷⁰ He said that “the Ray being dead, Mungul Ray, a bramin, his adopted son, had usurped the government”.⁶⁹⁷⁰ The Bahmani general Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri put Ambur Ray on the throne.⁶⁹⁷⁰ He took Kondapalli and Rajahmundry for the sultan.⁶⁹⁷⁰ Haig followed Ferishta, calling the rivals Hambar and Mangal.⁷¹

In 1900 Chakravarti read the temple chronicle in another way.⁷²⁷³ In his reading, Kapilendra’s sons fought for the throne, and Purushottama won it with Bahmani help, ceding Kondapalli and Rajahmundry.⁷²⁷³ He took Ferishta’s “Ambur Rai” to be a corruption of a princely title, and so a name for Purushottama himself.⁷²⁷³ The Godavari gazetteer and L. D. Barnett also make Purushottama pay for Bahmani help with the Telugu districts.²⁶

Banerji rejected the whole story.⁷⁴⁷⁵ An inscription at Puri is dated in the second anka of Purushottama, in April 1470.⁷⁴⁷⁵ Purushottama reigned without a break to 1496–97.⁷⁴⁷⁵ The Burhan-i Ma’asir says nothing of a disputed succession.⁷⁴⁷⁵

Sircar and Sarma, on the other hand, noted a tradition that Purushottama was chosen over his elder brother Hamvira.⁶³⁷⁶ They noted a verse of the Sarasvativilasa that makes Purushottama the destroyer of Hammira.⁶³⁷⁶ They suggested that a civil war followed Kapilendra’s death.⁶³⁷⁶ But they concluded that the circumstances could not be determined.⁶³⁷⁶

V. Rangacharya used a Srikurmam inscription dated in Saka 1393 and Purushottama’s seventh year.⁷⁷ From it he dated Purushottama’s accession to 1464–65.⁷⁷ See Purushottama and Hamvira.

The loss and recovery of the coast

The Bahmanis took the Godavari country.⁶⁷ The Burhan-i Ma’asir says that Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri defeated the army of the infidels and took Rajahmundry.⁶⁷ Then he took Kondavidu, “situate on the summit of an extremely high mountain”.⁶⁷ Banerji noted that Ferishta has Kondapalli instead of Kondavidu.⁷⁴ An inscription at Kondapalli, in Sewell’s imperfect copy, gave the date of the conquest as 1470 or 1471.⁷⁸

The Orissan king soon tried to recover it.⁷⁹⁸⁰ Ferishta says that after a famine of two years, the garrison of Kondapalli murdered its governor.⁷⁹⁸⁰ They gave the fort to “Bhimraj Oorea”, who invited the Ray of Orissa to recover “his hereditary dominions in Tulingana”.⁷⁹⁸⁰ The Ray came with ten thousand horse and eight thousand foot, and besieged the Bahmani governor in Rajahmundry.⁷⁹⁸⁰ But when Muhammad Shah marched in person, the Ray retreated across the river.⁷⁹⁸⁰

Muhammad followed him, and “penetrated to the capital of Orissa” in AH 882.⁸⁰⁸¹⁸² He made peace only when the Ray surrendered twenty-five elephants that had belonged to the late Ray.⁸⁰⁸¹⁸² He then took Kondapalli after six months and destroyed its temple.⁸⁰⁸¹⁸² He stayed nearly three years at Rajahmundry.⁸⁰⁸¹⁸² Haig dates the invasion of Orissa to February 1478.⁸³

The Burhan-i Ma’asir says nothing of the march to the Orissan capital.⁸⁴⁸⁵ But it describes a “Narsinha Raya” who waited beyond the river at Rajahmundry with 700,000 infantry and 500 elephants, and then fled.⁸⁴⁸⁵ Banerji identified him with Saluva Narasimha, the rising general of Vijayanagara.⁷⁵⁸⁶⁸⁷ In Banerji’s view Narasimha had taken the coast as far as the mouth of the Godavari after Kapilendra’s death.⁷⁵⁸⁶⁸⁷ Banerji thought that the war of 1474–77 cost Orissa the whole Godavari–Krishna doab.⁷⁵⁸⁶⁸⁷ See Kondapalli Fort and the Bahmanis.

The Godavari gazetteer says that the kings of Orissa recovered the district after the Bahmani kingdom broke up.⁸⁸ Banerji held that Purushottama overran the Godavari–Krishna doab within six years of Muhammad Shah’s death in 1482.⁸⁹ By then, he held, Purushottama had driven the Muslims from Kondavidu.⁸⁹

The Kondavidu chronicle records an inscription by which Purushottama exempted the people of Kondavidu from taxes.³³ The copper-plate grant of Saka 1412 (1489) gave the village of Potavaram, in the Ongole taluk, to a temple of Siva at Chadaluvada.⁶ See Ongole.

A record on a slab near Kondapalli names Mogalaraju-Mahapatra as his governor of that country.⁹⁰ At Srikurmam his inscriptions run from 1470 to 1495.⁹¹ See the Potavaram grant and the Gajapati inscriptions at Srikurmam.

The chronicle and the Bengali biographers of Chaitanya credit Purushottama with a war against Kanchi or Vijayanagara.¹⁵⁷³ In the chronicle the king of “Conjevaram” refused him his daughter.¹⁵⁷³ So he invaded the south and carried her off.¹⁵⁷³ The Chaitanya-charitamrita says that he conquered Vijayanagara and brought back a jewelled throne for Jagannatha.¹⁵⁷³

Aiyangar noted that Purushottama’s records claim a conquest as far as Kanchi.⁹² He noted that Saluva Narasimha was unable to recover Udayagiri, which “remained in the possession of the raja of Orissa”.⁹²

Prataparudra and Krishnadeva Raya

Prataparudra succeeded his father in 1496–97.⁹³⁹⁴ At his accession, Banerji says, his empire stretched from the Hughli to the Guntur district.⁹⁴ The uplands of Khammam belonged to him.⁹⁴

As a young prince he governed the Srikurmam country.⁹⁵⁹⁶ In 1510 or 1511, while holding court in the great fort of Undrakonda, he granted the village of Velicherla in the Nellore country.⁹⁵⁹⁶ His records at Srikurmam (1503) and Simhachalam (1510) show him master of the northern coast.⁹⁷⁹⁸ See Prataparudra and the Velicherla grant.

The Vijayanagara king Krishnadeva Raya took the southern half of this empire in a series of campaigns.²⁰⁹⁹ Nuniz says that Krishnadeva found in the testament (will) of an earlier king the order to take three fortresses.²⁰⁹⁹ Among them was “Odigair” (Udayagiri), which “belonged to the King of Orya”.²⁰⁹⁹ He besieged it for a year and a half and cut roads through the rocks.²⁰⁹⁹ Then he took it, and captured an aunt of the Orissan king.²⁰⁹⁹

An inscription at Vijayanagara dates his triumphant return from Udayagiri to 1513.³³ Sewell, Aiyangar and Banerji put the capture in 1513 or 1512–13.^100101102 But G. Ramadas, editing the Velicherla grant, argued that Prataparudra was still in the south in October 1511.¹⁰³

Krishnadeva then besieged Kondavidu.^99104102 He defeated the Orissan king in a battle across a river of salt water, and took the fort after two months.^99104102 A pillar inscription at Mangalagiri dates its capture to 23 June 1515.^99104102 Prataparudra’s son Virabhadra was taken there.^99104102

Kondapalli fell after a siege of three months.¹⁰⁴¹⁰⁵ A wife and a son of the king were taken there, with seven of his principal captains.¹⁰⁴¹⁰⁵ See Udayagiri, Kondaveedu Fort and Vijayanagara and the Qutb Shahis.

The campaign ended in the north.¹⁰⁵ Nuniz says that Krishnadeva marched on to “Symamdary”, where he halted six months and built a temple.¹⁰⁵ There he had an insulting inscription cut, inviting the king of Orissa to battle.¹⁰⁵

Sewell identified Symamdary with Rajahmundry.¹⁰⁵ The Visakhapatnam gazetteer took it for Simhadri (Simhachalam).³¹⁰⁶ The temple there still has Krishnadeva’s records of his victories and gifts, though not the insult.³¹⁰⁶

The Telugu Rayavachakamu and other works say that Krishnadeva planted a pillar of victory at Potnuru near Simhadri.¹⁰⁷¹⁰⁸ The pillar, the gazetteer noted, had disappeared.¹⁰⁹ See Potnuru and the Simhachalam temple.

Peace was made by a marriage.¹¹⁰ In Nuniz’s chronicle the Orissan king gave Krishnadeva a daughter, to recover his queen.¹¹⁰ Krishnadeva then “restored the lands on the other side of the river, and kept those on the hither side for himself”.¹¹⁰

The Rayavachakamu calls the princess Jaganmohini.¹⁰⁷ It makes her father give all the country south of the Krishna as her dowry.¹⁰⁷ Aiyangar also put the new boundary on the Krishna.¹¹¹ But Banerji wrote that Prataparudra had to cede everything south of the Godavari.¹¹² According to Banerji, in 1519 Krishnadeva gave to the Simhachalam temple some villages that the Gajapati had granted him.¹¹²

Golconda and the end

The Qutb Shahi sultans of Golconda then took the coast.^113114115 A Golconda chronicle translated by Briggs tells the story.^113114115 It says that Sultan Quli defeated “Raja Ramchundur, the son of Gujputty, who held his court at Condapilly”, and his nephew Vidiadry, near Palanchinur.^113114115 He took Kondapalli, Eluru (then Ellore) and Rajahmundry.^113114115

Then he made a treaty with “Vusnad Dew, commonly called Gujputty”.^113114115 By this treaty the Godavari became the boundary between Golconda and Orissa, and the Eluru district was ceded.^113114115

Banerji pointed out that there was no Orissan king named Ramachandra in these years.¹¹⁶¹¹⁷ He accepted Chakravarti’s date of about 1522 for the invasion.¹¹⁶¹¹⁷ The Nizam’s Archaeological Department thought the treaty less favourable to Golconda than it seemed.¹¹⁸ The forts south of the Krishna, it noted, stayed in Gajapati hands.¹¹⁸ See Sultan Quli and the Qutb Shahis.

Prataparudra died about 1540.¹¹⁹¹²⁰ The chronicle knows his two sons as Kalua Deva and Kakharua Deva.¹¹⁹¹²⁰ The minister Govinda Vidyadhara murdered them in turn.¹¹⁹¹²⁰ He took the throne in 1541–42, and founded the short-lived Bhoi dynasty.¹¹⁹¹²⁰

The Godavari gazetteer says that the Golconda kings finally took Rajahmundry in 1571–72.¹²¹ Then they marched north as far as Srikakulam (then Chicacole).¹²¹ Hunter dated the conquest of Rajahmundry by Ibrahim Qutb Shah’s general Malik Naib to 1571.¹²²

Mukunda Harichandana, “an inhabitant of Telingana”, seized the Orissan throne in 1559–60.^123124125 He still left an inscription at Draksharama on the Godavari.^123124125 In Banerji’s reading it is dated in his eighth year.^123124125

An inscription of 1604 at Simhachalam records how a chief serving Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah drove Mukunda-Bahubalendra beyond the frontier.⁹⁸¹²⁶ Rangacharya took him for a Telugu usurper of the Gajapati throne.⁹⁸ Banerji took him for one of a line of hereditary officers of that name in the Ganjam country.¹²⁶

Records in the Telugu districts

The Gajapati inscriptions in the Telugu districts include these:

• At Srikurmam there are records of Kapilendra (1452, 1455, 1460), Purushottama (1470–1495) and Prataparudra (1503).^771397127128 At Mukhalingam there is an Oriya record of Kapilendra.^771397127128 See the Srikurmam temple and Mukhalingam.
• At Simhachalam there are a damaged record of Kapilendra’s thirty-second year, and an Oriya record of his twenty-seventh year cut below an inscription of the Rajahmundry Reddi Allaya Vema.^{12913013198132} There are also a gift by Hamvira Kumara Mahapatra (1459), a record of Purushottama (1472–73) and a record of Prataparudra (1510).^{12913013198132}
• At Tirupati near Peddapuram there is the record of 1458 naming the governor of Rajahmundry.³⁰¹²⁵ At Draksharama there is the inscription of Mukunda.³⁰¹²⁵
• At Srisailam there is a Telugu record of July 1460 sharing its slab with an Oriya record.¹³³
• At Kondavidu there is an Oriya inscription on a pillar of a ruined temple on the hill.¹³⁴⁹⁰ At Kondapalli there is an Oriya record on a boulder near the fort.¹³⁴⁹⁰
• In the fort of Warangal are the inscriptions of Hamvira and Raghudeva of February 1460.⁴⁷

Coins

V. A. Smith’s catalogue of the Indian Museum (1906) lists a gold “Gajapati or elephant pagoda”.¹³⁵ It has a standing elephant on one side and a scroll on the other.¹³⁵ Smith describes it as ”(?) of Orissa, (?) thirteenth century”.¹³⁵ Banerji wrote that the Gajapati pagoda “with the fine arabesque on the reverse” ought to be ascribed to Kapilendra.¹³⁶

In 1886 Walter Elliot had linked the gold coins with an elephant, known as “gajapati kasu”, with the elephant emblem of the Kongu kings of the south.¹³⁷

Chronicle and inscription

The local histories of the Telugu country remember the Gajapatis in their own way.¹³⁸¹³⁹ The Nellore manual of 1873 records the tradition that the Udayagiri fort was first built by “Longula Gazapatti”.¹³⁸¹³⁹ It says that Kanigiri was taken about the tenth century by “Kaketa Rudrudu, of the Gazapatti family, who had the seat of their government at Cuttack”.¹³⁸¹³⁹ His descendants, Pratapa Rudrudu, Purushottama Rudrudu and Vira Rudrudu, held it until Krishnadeva Raya took it.¹³⁸¹³⁹

The Kondavidu chronicle begins its history with a Gajapati king from Orissa, Visvambaradeva, who built the first fort.¹⁴⁰ In the Kanigiri tradition, the Pratapa Rudrudu of this Gajapati family was taken prisoner by the emperor of Delhi.¹³⁹ His minister Yugandharudu freed him.¹³⁹ The same story is told elsewhere of the Kakatiya king.¹³⁹ See Prataparudra (Kakatiya).

Evidence and disagreements

• Kapilendra’s accession. 1434–35, from the anka dates (Chakravarti; the Godavari and Visakhapatnam gazetteers).⁶⁸²³ 1435 (Banerji; Aiyangar).¹⁶⁴ 1434 (Haig).¹⁴¹ 1452 (the temple chronicle in Hunter’s version).¹⁵ 1454 (the Kondavidu chronicle).³³ About 1429–30, from a Srikurmam record (Rangacharya).¹³
• How he came to the throne. A herd-boy raised by the god’s favour (the chronicle).¹⁵ Adopted by the childless Bhanudeva IV (Stirling).²¹ Helped by the Bahmani sultan (Chakravarti; the Godavari gazetteer).²²² A minister who usurped (the Visakhapatnam gazetteer).³ A chief’s son who won by his own valour (the Raghudeva grants).²³
• His death. By 1470, from the Burhan-i Ma’asir and Purushottama’s second anka in April 1470 (Banerji; Chakravarti).²¹⁶⁸ 1479 (the chronicle in Hunter’s version).¹⁵ 1461 (the Kondavidu chronicle).³³
• The southern conquests. An occupation reaching Tiruvarur and Tiruchirappalli for about ten years (Krishna Sastri, Banerji, Sircar and Sarma).⁶²⁶³ Raids along the coast to Nellore and Udayagiri, with a siege of Vijayanagara repulsed by Mallikarjuna (Aiyangar; the Gangadasa-pratapa-vilasam).⁶⁴⁶⁰
• Purushottama and Hamvira. A usurping adopted son, Mangal, displaced by a cousin, Ambur Ray or Hambar, with Bahmani help (Ferishta; Haig).⁶⁹⁷¹ Purushottama himself, helped by the Bahmanis against his brothers (Chakravarti; the Godavari gazetteer; Barnett).⁷²²⁶ A peaceful succession (Banerji).⁷⁵ Purushottama chosen over his elder brother Hamvira, with a probable civil war (Sircar and Sarma).⁶³
• Kondavidu or Kondapalli in 1470–71. Kondavidu (the Burhan-i Ma’asir).⁶⁷ Kondapalli (Ferishta).⁷⁰
• Udayagiri. Taken in 1513 (Sewell; Banerji), in 1512–13 (Aiyangar), after a siege of a year and a half (Nuniz).^10010210120
• Symamdary. Rajahmundry (Sewell).¹⁰⁵ Simhadri or Simhachalam (the Visakhapatnam gazetteer).¹⁰⁶
• The boundary of 1516–19. The Krishna (the Rayavachakamu; Aiyangar).¹⁰⁷¹¹¹ The Godavari (Banerji).¹¹² Nuniz says only “the river”.¹¹⁰
• The Golconda war. About 1522 (Chakravarti; Banerji).¹¹⁷ Against a “Ramchundur, son of Gujputty” at Kondapalli (the Golconda chronicle), a king unknown to the Orissan records (Banerji).¹¹³¹¹⁶

Footnotes

1. R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period, Vol. I (1930), p. 289 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 26 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (1907), p. 28 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Hunter, Orissa, Vol. II (1872), p. 8 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica, vol. 4 (2023), p. 35, No. 19. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

6. L. D. Barnett, “Potavaram Grant of Pratapa-Purushottama-deva: Saka 1412”, Epigraphia Indica XIII (1915–16), p. 156 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

7. Monmohan Chakravarti, “Uriya Inscriptions of the 15th and 16th Centuries”, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LXII, Part I (1893), p. 88 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. E. Hultzsch, “Copper-plate Grant of Ganadeva of Kondavidu, dated Saka-Samvat 1377”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), p. 390 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

9. D. C. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 1 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

10. D. C. Sircar and K. H. V. Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara, Saka 1380”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 275 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. D. C. Sircar and K. H. V. Sarma, “Chiruvroli Grant of Hambira, Saka 1383”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIV (1961–62), p. 177 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. G. Ramadas, “Velicherla Grant of Prataparudra Gajapati: Saka 1432”, Epigraphia Indica XXVIII (1949–50), p. 205 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), pp. 687 and 689, Ganjam Nos. 162, 191 and 195 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

14. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 291 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

15. Hunter, Orissa, Vol. II (1872), Appendix VII, p. 188 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

16. Hunter, Orissa, Vol. II (1872), Appendix VII, p. 189 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

17. Muhammad Qasim Ferishta, tr. John Briggs, History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Vol. II (1829), p. 456 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

18. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 83 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

19. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), introduction, p. 6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

20. Fernao Nuniz, “Chronicle”, in Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 316 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

21. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 303 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

22. Chakravarti, “The last Hindu Kings of Orissa”, JASB LXIX, Part I (1900), p. 182 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

23. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 4 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

24. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

25. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 7 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

26. Sircar, “Warangal Inscription of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 128 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

27. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 2 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

28. Sircar and Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 279 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

29. Sircar, “Two Grants of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 5 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

30. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 718, Godavari No. 58 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

31. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 297 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

32. H. Luders, “Two Pillar Inscriptions of the time of Krishnaraya of Vijayanagara”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 110 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

33. Robert Sewell, Lists of Inscriptions, and Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India (Archaeological Survey of Southern India, Vol. II, 1884), p. 188 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

34. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 290 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

35. Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938, Vol. A (1942), p. 54 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

36. Sircar and Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 277 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

37. Sircar and Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 285 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

38. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 881, Kistna No. 60 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

39. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 887, Kistna Nos. 110 and 113 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

40. J. S. King, The History of the Bahmani Dynasty, founded on the Burhan-i Ma’asir (1900), p. 70 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

41. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 71 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

42. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 292 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

43. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 457 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

44. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 84 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

45. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 293 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

46. Sircar, “Warangal Inscription of Raghudeva”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 125 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

47. D. C. Sircar, “Warangal Inscription of Raghudeva, Kali Year 4561”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 126 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

48. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness the Nizam’s Dominions, 1344 F. (1934-35) (1938), p. 30 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

49. Sircar and Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 280 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

50. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 466 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

51. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 467 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

52. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 468 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

53. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 89 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

54. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 90 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

55. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 412 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

56. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 296 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

57. W. W. Hunter, Orissa, Vol. II (1872), p. 6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

58. Sircar and Sarma, “Veligalani Grant of Kapilesvara”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIII (1959–60), p. 278 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

59. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 302 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

60. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 65, extract from the Gangadasa-pratapa-vilasam (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

61. Sircar and Sarma, “Chiruvroli Grant of Hambira”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIV (1961–62), p. 180 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

62. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 295, quoting the Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1919 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

63. Sircar and Sarma, “Chiruvroli Grant of Hambira”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIV (1961–62), p. 181 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

64. S. Krishnaswami Ayyangar, “Hindu States in Southern India, A.D. 1000–1565”, in Haig (ed.), Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 491 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

65. Aiyangar, in Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 493 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

66. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 103 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

67. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 104 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

68. Monmohan Chakravarti, “An Inscription of the time of Kapilendra Deva of Orissa, from Gopinathapura”, appendix “The last Hindu Kings of Orissa”, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LXIX, Part I (1900), p. 181 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

69. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 487 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

70. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 488 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

71. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 415 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

72. Chakravarti, “The last Hindu Kings of Orissa”, JASB LXIX, Part I (1900), p. 183 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

73. Chakravarti, “The last Hindu Kings of Orissa”, JASB LXIX, Part I (1900), p. 184 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

74. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 306 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

75. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 307 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

76. Sircar and Sarma, “Chiruvroli Grant of Hambira”, Epigraphia Indica XXXIV (1961–62), p. 182 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

77. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 686, Ganjam No. 152 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

78. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) (1900), p. 100 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

79. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 494 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

80. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 495 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

81. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 496 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

82. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. II (1829), p. 497 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

83. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 417 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

84. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 108 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

85. King, History of the Bahmani Dynasty (1900), p. 109 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

86. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 310 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

87. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 313 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

88. Hemingway, Godavari Gazetteer, Vol. I (1907), p. 27 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

89. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 315 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

90. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 885, Kistna Nos. 95 and 100 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

91. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 318 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

92. Aiyangar, in Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 494 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

93. Chakravarti, “The last Hindu Kings of Orissa”, JASB LXIX, Part I (1900), p. 185 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

94. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 322 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

95. Ramadas, “Velicherla Grant of Prataparudra Gajapati”, Epigraphia Indica XXVIII (1949–50), p. 208 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

96. Ramadas, “Velicherla Grant of Prataparudra Gajapati”, Epigraphia Indica XXVIII (1949–50), p. 206 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

97. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 691, Ganjam Nos. 224–225 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

98. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1686, Vizagapatam Nos. 194 and 198 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

99. Nuniz, in Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 317 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

100. Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 130 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

101. Aiyangar, in Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 496 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

102. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 324 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

103. Ramadas, “Velicherla Grant of Prataparudra Gajapati”, Epigraphia Indica XXVIII (1949–50), p. 207 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

104. Nuniz, in Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 318 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

105. Nuniz, in Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 319, with Sewell’s note (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

106. Francis, Vizagapatam Gazetteer, Vol. I (1907), p. 29 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

107. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 116, extract from the Rayavachakamu (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

108. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 133, extract from the Amuktamalyada (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

109. Francis, Vizagapatam Gazetteer, Vol. I (1907), p. 230 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

110. Nuniz, in Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (1900), p. 320 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

111. Aiyangar, in Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 497 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

112. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 326 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

113. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 362 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

114. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. III (1829), p. 363 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

115. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Vol. III (1829), p. 364 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

116. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 329 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

117. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 330 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

118. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department … 1934-35 (1938), p. 42 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

119. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 337 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

120. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 338 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

121. Hemingway, Godavari Gazetteer, Vol. I (1907), p. 28 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

122. Hunter, Orissa, Vol. II (1872), Appendix VIII, p. 193 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

123. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 341 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

124. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 342 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

125. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), pp. 347–348 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

126. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), pp. 348–349 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

127. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 693, Ganjam Nos. 243–244 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

128. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 699, Ganjam No. 292 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

129. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1678, Vizagapatam No. 106 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

130. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1679, Vizagapatam No. 113 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

131. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1684, Vizagapatam No. 168 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

132. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1687, Vizagapatam No. 199 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

133. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 955, Kurnool No. 466 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

134. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 771, Guntur No. 216 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

135. Vincent A. Smith, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, Vol. I (1906), p. 318 and plate XXX, 18 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

136. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 304 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

137. Walter Elliot, Coins of Southern India (1886), p. 116 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

138. John A. C. Boswell, A Manual of the Nellore District (1873), p. 424 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

139. Boswell, Manual of the Nellore District (1873), p. 431 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

140. Sewell, Lists of Inscriptions, and Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India (1884), p. 187 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

141. Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 255 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩