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Manmasiddhi III (Nellore)

Manmasiddhi III was the last king of the Telugu Chodas of Nellore in Robert Sewell's family table, which treats him as one man with the names Ranganatha, Raya-Gandagopala and Manuma-Gandagopala. Sewell dates his reign from about 1290 to at least 1316. An inscription of 1297–98 at Narasaraopet calls Manma-Gandagopala, eldest son of Nallasiddhi, a subordinate of the Kakatiya Prataparudra and the conqueror of Kanchipuram. V. Yashoda Devi held that Manma-Gandagopala and Ranganatha were two different kings.

Manmasiddhi III was the last king of the Telugu Chodas of Nellore in Robert Sewell’s family table of 1932.1 Sewell gave him several names: Ranganatha, Raya-Gandagopala, Manuma-Gandagopala and Jagadobbaganda.1 His reign, from about 1290 to at least 1316, saw the Telugu Chodas come under the Kakatiyas of Warangal.12 Later writers split Sewell’s one king into two, so the story of this reign is still unsettled.34

Family

An inscription of 1297–98 at Narasaraopet names Manma-Gandagopala, also called Raya-Gandagopala, as the eldest son of Nallasiddhi.2 Sewell’s table makes Manmasiddhi III a grandson of Manumasiddhi II, and notes four other sons of his father.1 V. Yashoda Devi, in a thesis printed in 1993, read the same inscription as saying that Nallasiddhi had five sons “equal to the five Pandavas”.4

Subordinate of Prataparudra

The Narasaraopet inscription says that Manma-Gandagopala owed his royal power to the favour of the Kakatiya king Prataparudra.2 It also says that he had taken Kanchipuram, the old capital of the Pallavas and Cholas.2 E. Hultzsch noted that one of his titles also names the city: Kanchipura-Tripura-Trinetra.2

Yashoda Devi thought that he submitted to the Kakatiyas only after a war.5 She noted an inscription saying that the Kakatiya general Adidemma invaded Nellore and killed a Telugu Choda.5 In her account, Manma-Gandagopala was defeated and then put back on his throne.5 From about 1296 he stayed loyal to Prataparudra.6

Ranganatha at Nellore

Sewell listed records of Ranganatha alias Raja-Gandagopala, whom he took to be the same king.78 A gift at Nellore is dated in the 6th year of Vijaya-Gandagopala, on 26 December 1296.7 Another record, of the 12th year of Ranganatha-Raja Gandagopala, is dated 10 January 1302.8 So Sewell put the accession before January 1291.8 His latest record, of the 27th year, is dated 4 March 1316.9

Losing Kanchipuram

In Sewell’s account, the Kerala king Ravivarman Kulasekhara seized Kanchipuram and drove out “Manma-Siddha III, Raya-Gandagopala”.10 Ravivarman was crowned there in 1312–13.11

In June 1316 the Kakatiya general Muppidi came to Kanchipuram and installed a governor named Manavira.12 Hultzsch thought it probable that Manavira belonged to the same Telugu Choda family.11 He noted that the standard coin of Kanchi was then the madai of Gandagopala.11

The end of the line

The Nellore gazetteer of 1942 found records of a Manmagandagopala and a Rajagandagopala at Nellore in these years.13 It noted that they do not name Prataparudra as overlord.13 It found no Telugu Choda record after 1305, and thought that from then the Kakatiyas ruled the district directly.13

Where the sources disagree

  • One king or two? Sewell treated Manma-Gandagopala and Ranganatha alias Raja-Gandagopala as one man, Manmasiddhi III.19 Yashoda Devi held that Manma-Gandagopala ruled from 1281 to 1299, and that Ranganatha alias Rajagandagopala followed him, from 1299 to about 1325.144 She thought Sewell wrong to make them one man, and did not know how the two were related.34
  • His father. The Narasaraopet inscription makes Manma-Gandagopala the son of Nallasiddhi.2 Yashoda Devi, who numbered the kings differently, called his father Manmasiddha III alias Nallasiddha III.14
  • Kakatiya rule. The Narasaraopet inscription of 1297–98 calls him a subordinate of Prataparudra.2 The Nellore gazetteer found that the records of Manmagandagopala and Rajagandagopala at Nellore do not name the Kakatiya king.13

Footnotes

  1. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 396, genealogical table of the Telugu-Choda chiefs (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Hultzsch, “Arulala-Perumal Inscription of Prataparudra” (1903), p. 129 and notes 9–10 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 492 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  4. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 496 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 493 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 494 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  7. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 172 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  8. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 174 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 179 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  10. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 178 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for the name quoted. ↩

  11. Hultzsch, “Arulala-Perumal Inscription of Prataparudra” (1903), p. 130 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. E. Hultzsch, “Arulala-Perumal Inscription of Prataparudra; Saka-Samvat 1238”, Epigraphia Indica VII (1903), p. 128 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. W. E. Johns, Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938 (1942), p. 47 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. V. Yashoda Devi, The History of Andhra Country, 1000 A.D.–1500 A.D. (1993), p. 491 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

Dynasties

Telugu Chodas of Pottapi and Nellore

c. 1120–1316 CE

The Nellore Telugu Chodas called themselves Madhurantaka Pottapi-Cholas and Ganda-Gopalas and claimed descent from the Chola king Karikala. They ruled Pakanadu, in Nellore and southern Kadapa (Cuddapah), from the early 12th century to about 1316. Their capital was first Pottapi and then Nellore. They first served the Cholas as subordinate rulers, and took Kanchi under Tikka I and his successors. They later came under the Kakatiyas, who restored Manumasiddhi II, the king who supported the poet Tikkana. A related branch ruled Konidena in the Guntur country.

References

Sources (4)
  1. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VII (1902–03), with Kielhorn's List of Inscriptions of Southern India (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the ASI 1981 facsimile reprint), 1903, pp. 128–130. E. Hultzsch, Arulala-Perumal Inscription of Prataparudra (No. 18). [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. 172, 174, 178–179, 396. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  3. W. E. Johns, Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938, Vol. A (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1942, pp. 47. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  4. 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. 491–496. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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