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Kota Beta

Chief of Amaravati–Dharanikota, grandson of Kota Keta II, who married Ganapamba, daughter of the Kakatiya king Ganapatideva. He was alive in 1251, when he founded a temple at Yenamadala, and dead by 1257. His widow built temples in his memory and ruled his lands with the masculine titles of the family.

Beta was the son of Rudra and grandson of Keta II, of the Kotas of Dhanyakataka (Amaravati).12 See Kota Keta II. The Yenamadala inscription of his widow describes the family as local chiefs who ruled the Konnatavadi district.1 They lived at Sri-Dhanyankapura, that is, Amaravati.1 The inscription names Keta, his son Rudra, and Rudra’s son Beta, to whom the Kakatiya king Ganapa gave his daughter Ganapambika in marriage.1

Gordon Mackenzie printed an abridged (shortened) translation of the same stone.3 It says: “His son Betaraj conquered enemies, trampled under foot the heads of great kings, fulfilled his desires and shone with the lustre of the sun”.3 It adds that “Betaraj, after a glorious reign over Dhanyakataka, died”.3 See Ganapamba and Ganapatideva.

Dates

The Government Epigraphist found in 1914 that Beta was alive in Saka 1173 (1251; Saka is an Indian way of counting years).4 In that year he founded a temple of Gopinatha-Vasudeva at Yenamadala.4 The Epigraphist also found that Beta was dead by Saka 1179 (1257), when inscriptions at Ipuru call his widow a mahamandalesvara (great provincial lord).4

Robert Sewell’s table (1932) has him alive in 1250 and dead before 1253.5 P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, on the other hand, thought that Beta had died before 1218.67 He gave that date to a copper-plate grant by Ganapamba of the village of Mogalutla to a Brahman, who performed the Gaya rites (funeral rites at Gaya) for her husband.67

After his death

After Beta’s death Ganapamba built a temple of Siva called Betesvara after him, and endowed it with the village of Benadevi.8 Mackenzie printed the Yenamadala genealogy as a list of “Jain Kings of Dharanikota” ending with “Kota Beta raja”. He did not trust it, and the tradition that the family was Jain is not supported by the inscriptions cited here.910

Footnotes

  1. E. Hultzsch, “Yenamadala Inscription of Ganapamba”, Epigraphia Indica III (1895), p. 94 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. E. Hultzsch, “Two Pillar Inscriptions at Amaravati”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1901), p. 147 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  3. Mackenzie, Kistna District Manual (1883), Appendix to chapter I, p. 13 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Annual Report on Epigraphy, Madras, for 1913–14 (G.O. No. 920, Public, 4 August 1914), Part II, para. 40, p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 363 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  6. P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal (1978), p. 155. ↩ ↩2

  7. Parabrahma Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal (1978), p. 156. ↩ ↩2

  8. Hultzsch, “Yenamadala Inscription of Ganapamba” (1895), p. 95 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), p. 7 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. Mackenzie, Kistna District Manual (1883), p. 8 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Kotas of Dharanikota

c. 1100–1276 CE

A family of chiefs of Amaravati–Dharanikota on the south bank of the Krishna, lords of the 'Six-thousand' country (Konnatavadi). Robert Sewell traced their line from about 1100, and their inscriptions run to the 1270s. Keta II, who probably came to power in 1182, still gave lamps and villages to the Buddha at Amaravati. Related by marriage to the Velanati Chodas and the Kakatiyas, they were brought under Kakatiya rule about 1185. Kota Beta married Ganapamba, daughter of the Kakatiya king Ganapatideva, and she ruled the family's lands as a widow in the 1250s.

Kakatiyas

c. 1163–1323 CE

Dynasty of Anumakonda (Hanamkonda) and Orugallu (Warangal). The Kakatiyas were Rashtrakuta and then Western Chalukya feudatories from the tenth century. They declared their sovereignty under Rudradeva in 1163, and under Ganapatideva they ruled the Telugu country from Telangana to the coast. Rudramadevi reigned as king under the name Rudradeva, and her grandson Prataparudra fell to the Delhi Sultanate in the 1320s. Their rule rested on allied chiefs, nayaka commanders holding land for military service, and village assemblies. It is remembered for its tanks, its temples, the Motupalli sea-trade edict and its court literature.

References

Sources (6)
  1. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III (1894–95) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1895, pp. 94–95. E. Hultzsch, Yenamadala inscription of Ganapamba. [Public domain]
  2. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VI (1900–01) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1901, pp. 147. E. Hultzsch, Two pillar inscriptions at Amaravati. [Public domain]
  3. Madras Government (Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy), Annual Reports on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1910-11 to 1914-15 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1915, pp. 104 (report for 1913–14). [Public domain]
  4. 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. 7–8, 13. [Public domain]
  5. 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. 363. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  6. P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1978, pp. 155–156. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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