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Allaya Vema and Virabhadra Reddi

Allaya Vema and his younger brother Virabhadra, sons of Allada Reddi, ruled the eastern Reddi kingdom of Rajahmundry together from about 1423 into the 1440s. Virabhadra, the husband of Kataya Vema's daughter Anitalli, was crowned, while Vema seems to have held the real power. They served Vijayanagara as overlord, fought for southern Kalinga, and kept the poet Srinatha at their court. Soon after their last records the Gajapatis of Orissa took the Godavari delta.

Allaya Vema and his younger brother Virabhadra ruled the eastern Reddi kingdom of Rajahmundry together, from about 1423 into the 1440s.123 They were sons of Allada Reddi.4 Theirs was the last Reddi state on the coast, and the poet Srinatha spent his last years at their court.5 After them the Gajapatis of Orissa took the Godavari delta.3 See Reddis of Rajahmundry.

Family

G. V. Ramamurti summarised the family history that Srinatha gives in his poem Kasikhandam.4 In this account, Allada’s wife Vemamba was a granddaughter of King Anavema, and she bore four sons: Vema, Virabhadra, Doddaya and Annaya.4 Virabhadra married Anitalli, the daughter of Kataya Vema.6

Somasekhara Sarma explained why this marriage mattered.2 Anitalli’s mother Doddambika came from the Kondavidu royal family, and Anitalli was Kataya Vema’s only surviving heir.2 So her husband became the lawful claimant to the throne.2 Allaya Vema too was a son-in-law of Kataya Vema, but he was not the heir.2

Winning the throne

After Allada died, his nephews Komaragiri and Anavota held Rajahmundry for a short time.1 Somasekhara Sarma thought they may have come to the throne with the help of the Gajapati king of Kalinga.1 Then Vema made friends with the Gajapati, probably by giving up southern Kalinga.1 He defeated his cousins and took back Rajahmundry about Saka 1345 (1423).1 Saka is an Indian way of counting years.

The Konkuduru plates of 1431 say that Vema had his capital at Rajamahendranagara.67 They add that his brother Virabhadra “was also anointed to the kingdom”, so the two apparently ruled jointly.67 Srinatha says that Virabhadra “was crowned during the life-time of Vemareddi”.6 Somasekhara Sarma wrote that Virabhadra was king in name, while Vema seems to have held the real power.2 He dated the records of the two brothers from 1423 to 1434.2

Between Vijayanagara and the Gajapatis

The Vijayanagara kings soon came back to the coast. Somasekhara Sarma dated their reconquest to Saka 1350 (1428), the date of a record of their general Telunguraya at Simhachalam.2 The Velama family chronicle claims that Lingama Nayaka of Devarakonda defeated Allaya Vema and Virabhadra and captured Simhachalam.8 Somasekhara Sarma thought Lingama fought as an ally of Vijayanagara in the same campaign.8

The Velama chronicle also tells a story about Srinatha. J. Ramayya retold it: “Lingamanayudu of that family having killed Vema-Reddi of Rajahmundry in battle and taken his sword”, Virabhadra sent Srinatha to get it back.9 The poet won back the sword by praising Lingama in three verses.9

After this campaign the brothers became subordinates of Deva Raya II.8 But Somasekhara Sarma judged that Vema was practically independent.8 Between 1430 and 1434 the brothers won back southern Kalinga.10 A record of Vema at Simhachalam, dated 1434, cancels taxes on the lands of gods and Brahmans in places “acquired by the strength of his own arms”.10

Allaya Vema’s Vemavaram grant is dated 7 June 1434, a day of total solar eclipse.1112 It claims that he made many great gifts at Draksharama.11 It also claims that he conquered the kings of the “Sapta-madiya” and set up pillars of victory at Simhadri and Purushottama.1112 See the Vemavaram grant.

Ramamurti’s summary of the Kasikhandam adds three claims:46

  • Vema led an expedition as far as the Vindhyas.46
  • Virabhadra, “even more powerful than his brother”, subdued the chiefs of Kasimkota and other places.6
  • Doddaya marched north and took Oddadi and other places.6

Gifts

Their gifts are recorded at the great temples of the coast. Inscriptions at Draksharama dated 1433 and 1437 name both brothers.13 In 1434 Vema’s queen gave land to the Bhimesvara temple at Bhimavaram.14 Virabhadra gave a village, a golden vessel, pearl necklaces and cows to the god of Simhachalam.15 Their brother Doddaya gave the village of Gumpini to Brahmans on 14 January 1431.4 See the Konkuduru plates.

Srinatha at Rajahmundry

In Ramayya’s words, Srinatha, after the fall of Kondavidu, “seems to have gone to Rajahmundry where he was patronised by Vema-Reddi and Virabhadra-Reddi”.5 He dedicated the Kasikhandam to Virabhadra, and the Bhimakhandam to a minister.4 Ramamurti thought the brothers’ support for Telugu poets “entitles them to the gratitude of posterity”.16

The end

The kingdom’s last years are obscure.10 Somasekhara Sarma found two private records of 1437 that still name both brothers.10 Meanwhile, Kapilesvara took the throne of Orissa in 1434–35 and wanted southern Kalinga and Rajahmundry for himself.10 See Kapilendra Gajapati.

An inscription of 1444 at Draksharama was issued by Mallappa, a minister of Deva Raya II.103 Somasekhara Sarma thought Deva Raya sent him to help the Reddis against Kapilesvara.103 A fuller copy in the Mackenzie manuscripts says the gift was made at Allaya Vema’s command.3 Four years later, in 1448, an inscription at Penugonda in the Tanuku taluk names the rule of the Gajapati.3 Somasekhara Sarma took it as the end of Reddi rule.3

Where the sources disagree

  • Who was king. The Konkuduru plates make Vema the ruler at Rajahmundry, with Virabhadra also anointed.6 Somasekhara Sarma made Virabhadra the crowned king and Vema the real ruler.2
  • Hariharamba. L. D. Barnett read the Vemavaram grant as making Vema’s wife Harihara-amba a daughter of Kataya Vema.11 N. Ramesan instead has the Vijayanagara king Harihara II give his daughter Hariharamba to Kataya Vema himself.17
  • The minister of the Bhimakhandam. Ramamurti calls him a minister of Virabhadra.4 Somasekhara Sarma names him Annamantri of the Bendapudi family and calls him Vema’s minister.8
  • The last dates. Sewell’s family tree gives the brothers’ last dates as 1434 and 1437.18 Ramesan wrote that Virabhadra ruled until Saka 1360 (1438).19 The Godavari gazetteer has records of the family to 1447.20 Somasekhara Sarma has Allaya Vema alive in 1444 and a Gajapati record in 1448.3

Footnotes

  1. M. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (circa 1325 A.D. to circa 1448 A.D.) (1948), p. 189 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (1948), p. 190 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  3. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (1948), p. 193 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. G. V. Ramamurti, Konkuduru Plates of Allaya-Dodda, Saka-Samvat 1352, Epigraphia Indica V (1898–99), p. 55 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  5. J. Ramayya, Three Inscriptions of the Reddis of Kondavidu, Epigraphia Indica XI (1911–12), p. 315 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Ramamurti, Konkuduru Plates of Allaya-Dodda (1898–99), p. 56 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  7. Ramamurti, Konkuduru Plates of Allaya-Dodda (1898–99), p. 67 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (1948), p. 191 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. Ramayya, Three Inscriptions of the Reddis of Kondavidu (1911–12), p. 316 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  10. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (1948), p. 192 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased; the quoted phrase is from the inscription. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  11. L. D. Barnett, Vemavaram Grant of Allaya-Vema Reddi: Saka 1356, Epigraphia Indica XIII (1915–16), p. 238 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. Barnett, Vemavaram Grant of Allaya-Vema Reddi (1915–16), p. 239 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 742, Godavari Nos. 329–332 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  14. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1919), p. 714, Godavari No. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  15. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1687 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  16. Ramamurti, Konkuduru Plates of Allaya-Dodda (1898–99), p. 57 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  17. N. Ramesan, Copper Plate Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh Government Museum, Hyderabad, Vol. I (1962), p. 168 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  18. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 386 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  19. Ramesan, Copper Plate Inscriptions, Vol. I (1962), p. 170 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  20. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Reddis of Rajahmundry

c. 1386–1448 CE

The eastern Reddi kingdom centred on Rajahmundry and the Godavari delta. It began as part of Kondavidu, when Kumaragiri Reddi gave 'the eastern country' to his minister and brother-in-law Kataya Vema in the 1380s. After Kataya Vema died about 1414–16, his kinsman Allada Reddi fought off the Telugu Choda Annadeva, the Kondavidu king and a Bahmani army. Allada's sons Allaya Vema and Virabhadra ruled together until the 1440s, when the Gajapati Kapilesvara of Orissa took the delta. Srinatha wrote his last poems at their court.

References

Sources (9)
  1. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. V (1898–99) (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the 1959 Government of India Press facsimile reprint), 1899, pp. 55–57, 67. G. V. Ramamurti, Konkuduru plates of Allaya-Dodda (No. 9). [Public domain]
  2. Sten Konow (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XIII (1915–16) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta, 1916, pp. 238–239. L. D. Barnett, Vemavaram grant of Allaya-Vema Reddi (No. 23). [Public domain]
  3. Sten Konow (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XI (1911–12) (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the ASI 1981 facsimile reprint), 1912, pp. 315–316. J. Ramayya, Three inscriptions of the Reddis of Kondavidu (No. 33). [Public domain]
  4. M. Somasekhara Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdoms (circa 1325 A.D. to circa 1448 A.D.) (opens in a new tab), Andhra University, Waltair (Andhra University Historical Series No. 38), 1948, pp. 189–193. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  5. 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. 714, 742. [Public domain]
  6. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. III (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 1687. [Public domain]
  7. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1907, pp. 26. [Public domain]
  8. N. Ramesan, Copper Plate Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh Government Museum, Hyderabad, Vol. I (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series No. 6) (opens in a new tab), Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1962, pp. 168, 170. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  9. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 386. Public domain in India; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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