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Bhima IV (Kota)

Bhima IV was one of the last Kota chiefs of Amaravati–Dharanikota, known from a few records of the 1260s. The Government Epigraphist took him to be probably a son of Manma-Keta, and named his queen Somamba. V. Yashoda Devi made him the brother and successor of the Kota chief Ganapati, and noted a record of 1264 in which the Kotas name the Kakatiya ruler Rudradeva, that is Rudramadevi, as overlord.

Bhima IV was one of the last chiefs of the Kotas, the family that ruled Amaravati–Dharanikota and the “Six-thousand” country south of the Krishna.1 He is known only from a few records of the 1260s.12 By then the Kakatiya queen Rudramadevi ruled the coast, and the Kotas served under her.3

Family

The Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1916 noted a record of Saka 1187, about 1265, of a Kota chief named Bhima (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).1 The Government Epigraphist suggested that he was Bhima IV, “a son (?)” of Manma-Keta.1 In the report’s family table his queen is Somamba or Somaladevi.4 Robert Sewell’s table (1932) also gives him a record of 1265 and the queen Somaladevi.5

V. Yashoda Devi, in a thesis printed in 1993, called him a son of Keta III, that is Manma-Keta, and a brother of the chief Ganapati.2 In her account he followed his brother and ruled for about six years.2

His records

Yashoda Devi found two records of his time.2 One at Velpuru, dated 1264, names a mahamandalesvara (great provincial lord) of the Kota family.2 Part of the name is lost, and she took it to be Bhima.2 The other, at Rompicherla in 1265, names Bhima, with a local chief Mallapanayaka.23

The Velpuru record of 1264 mentions the Kakatiya Rudradeva maharaja.3 Rudramadevi ruled under that male title.6 So Yashoda Devi concluded that Bhima, like his brother before him, accepted Kakatiya rule.3 See the Kakatiyas.

After him

Yashoda Devi placed the end of his rule about 1268.3 In that year Devaraja and Mummadiraja, sons of Ganapati, made gifts at Kollur for the merit of their father.3 She thought they were the last rulers of the main line, and that the Kota lands then came under the Kakatiyas.3

Where the sources disagree

  • Whose son was he? The report of 1916 called him only “a son (?)” of Manma-Keta.1 Yashoda Devi treated him as Manma-Keta’s son and as Ganapati’s brother without doubt.2
  • Did he rule with his queen? Yashoda Devi rejected an earlier suggestion that Bhima and his queen ruled jointly.3 The report of 1916 names the queen only in its family table.4

Footnotes

  1. Annual Report on Epigraphy, Madras, for 1915–16 (G.O. No. 99, Home (Miscellaneous), 29 August 1916), Part II, para. 55, p. 137 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 167 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 168 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. Annual Report on Epigraphy, Madras, for 1915–16 (1916), Part II, para. 55, p. 138, genealogy of the Kotas (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

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

  6. V. Yashoda Devi, The History of Andhra Country, 1000 A.D.–1500 A.D. (1993), p. 166 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

Dynasties

Kotas of Dharanikota

c. 1100–1276 CE

The Kota chiefs ruled Amaravati–Dharanikota on the south bank of the Krishna and the surrounding 'Six-thousand' country (Konnatavadi). Robert Sewell traced their family from about 1100, and their inscriptions continue to the 1270s. Keta II, who probably came to power in 1182, still gave lamps and villages to the Buddha at Amaravati. They had marriage ties with the Velanati Chodas and the Kakatiyas, and came under Kakatiya rule about 1185. Kota Beta married Ganapamba, daughter of the Kakatiya king Ganapatideva. After her husband's death, she ruled the family's lands in the 1250s.

References

Sources (3)
  1. Madras Government (Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy), Annual Reports on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1915-16 to 1919-20 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1920, pp. 137–138 (report for 1915–16). [Public domain]
  2. 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]
  3. V. Yashoda Devi, The History of Andhra Country, 1000 A.D.-1500 A.D. (opens in a new tab), Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 1993, pp. 166–168. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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