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Kondavidu fort

Hill fortress on a small range of hills west of Guntur. It was the capital of the Reddi kings from the time of Anavema (after 1361) to the 1420s. The Imperial Gazetteer dates the fortress to the 12th century, and local chronicles credit Prolaya Vema with rebuilding its inner fort. Its walls run for miles along the tops of the hills. Orissa, Vijayanagara and Golconda fought over it until 1579.

The fortress of Kondavidu stands on a small range of hills in the old Narasaraopet taluk of the Guntur district. The Imperial Gazetteer of 1908 describes it: “The fortifications, erected upon the crests of a small range of hills, are extensive and strongly built with large stones.”1 “They are many miles in circumference and in a fair state of preservation.”1

The inside of the fort was overgrown with jungle and held the ruins of storehouses and magazines.1 The highest point of the hill is 1,701 feet above the sea.1 Officers stationed at Guntur had used it as a sanatorium (a place to rest and recover health).1

Date

The gazetteer says that the fortress was “constructed in the twelfth century”.1 The Kistna manual says that the hill fort “had doubtless been a stronghold for some centuries” before the Reddi founder settled in it.2

Robert Sewell summarised a chronicle of Kondavidu in 1884.3 It begins with a Gajapati king of Orissa named Visvambaradeva, who built the first fort, the Puttakota.3 It says that Prolaya Vema later “came to Kondavidu, and rebuilt the Puttakota”.3 Sewell also cited J. A. C. Boswell’s report of 1870 that the Puttakota “was built by ‘Odiya sovereigns when they held this part of the country’”.3

Sewell’s lists of 1882 describe the range as “the site of a strong fort, said to have been built by the Reddi chiefs”.4

Capital of the Reddis

The Reddi kings first ruled from Addanki.567 J. Ramayya showed that Addanki was still the capital in 1361.567 He presumed that Kondavidu became the capital only under Anavema.567 The Vanapalli plates of 1380 seat Anavema in “the prosperous city of Kontoviti”.567

A badly damaged record of the Reddi king Peda Komati Vema survives in a ruined hall called Varahalakottu on the hill.8 See the Reddis of Kondavidu.

After the Reddis

The fort passed to the Gajapatis of Orissa. In 1515 the Vijayanagara king Krishnadeva Raya took it.98 A pillar inscription at Mangalagiri dates its capture to 23 June 1515.98 It also records the appointment of Nadindla Appa as governor.98

An inscription of 1520 at Kondavidu records gifts by his brother Nadindla Gopa, governor of Kondavidu.98 It also gives a list of the tolls of the Kondavidu country.98

Sewell’s notes record a tradition that Krishnadeva Raya took the fort “by stratagem” (by a trick).4 According to this tradition he “murdered 72 chiefs in the temple under the hill”.4

The Sultans of Golconda took the fort in 1531, 1536 and 1579, and called it Murtazanagar.1 See Kondavidu.

Footnotes

  1. Imperial Gazetteer of India: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 336 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), p. 10 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  3. Robert Sewell, Lists of Inscriptions, and Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India (1884), p. 187 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Robert Sewell, Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras, Vol. I (1882), Appendix, p. xi (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. J. Ramayya, Madras Museum Plates of Vema, A.D. 1345, Epigraphia Indica VIII (1905–06), p. 11 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Ramayya, Madras Museum Plates of Vema (1905–06), p. 12 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. E. Hultzsch, Vanapalli Plates of Anna-Vema, Saka-Samvat 1300, Epigraphia Indica III (1894–95), p. 64 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 771, Guntur Nos. 208 and 217 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  9. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1919), p. 765, Guntur No. 148 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

Photos

References

Sources (7)
  1. Government of India, Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1908, pp. 336. [Public domain]
  2. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras (Lawrence Asylum Press), 1883, pp. 10. [Public domain]
  3. Robert Sewell, Archaeological Survey of Southern India, Vol. II: Lists of Inscriptions, and Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India (Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras, Vol. II) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1884, pp. 187–188. [Public domain]
  4. Robert Sewell, Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1882, Appendix, p. xi. [Public domain]
  5. Archaeological Survey of India, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VIII (1905–06) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1906, pp. 11–12. J. Ramayya (No. 3). [Public domain]
  6. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. II (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 765, 770–772. [Public domain]
  7. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III (1894–95) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1895, pp. 64. [Public domain]

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