Mummadi-Bhima II and Satya I (Kona)

Mummadi-Bhima II and Satya I were joint rulers of the Haihayas of Kona, the chiefs of Konamandala in the Godavari delta.¹ They ruled after their brother Rajendra Choda I, from about 1135 to 1150 in V. Yashoda Devi’s account.¹² They were the first pair of joint rulers in a family that kept this custom for several generations.³

Family

Both were sons of Rajaparendu I, lord of Konamandala.⁴¹ Mummadi-Bhima II was the elder brother of Rajendra Choda I.¹ Satya I, also called Satyasraya or Sattiraja, was a younger brother, born to Rajaparendu’s wife Tondidevi.¹

Mummadi-Bhima II was the father of Lokamahipala.⁴ Satya I was the father of Rajaparendu II and of Bhima III.⁴ Yashoda Devi, in a thesis printed in 1993, wrote that Mummadi-Bhima II married Rajadevi, a daughter of Rajaditya, also called Rayabhupa, of a Chalukya family.⁵

Joint rule

The Pithapuram inscription of 1195 says that after Rajendra Choda I died, his two brothers ruled the country together.¹ Yashoda Devi noted that this passed over Rajendra Choda’s own sons, Beta and Mallideva.³ She thought that the troubled times made a joint rule safer for the small kingdom.³ In her reading, the same inscription praises the two brothers for burning their enemies by their valour.²

Records at Draksharama

Two lamps were given at Draksharama on the same date, in Saka 1057, about 1135 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).¹ One was given by Rajadevi, queen of Kona-Mummadiraja.¹ The other was given by Satya or Sattiraja himself, who calls himself lord of the Kona country.¹ Both records are also dated in year 60 of the Chalukya-Vikrama era, the era of the Western Chalukya kings of Kalyani.¹

Yashoda Devi read these dates as a sign that the brothers began by accepting Western Chalukya rule.² The Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1932–33 added two Draksharama records of Saka 1072, about 1150.⁶ One names Kona Satyaraja, and the report gave the other, whose name is lost, to the same chief.⁶ Yashoda Devi noted that these records are dated in the 17th year of the Chola emperor Kulottunga II.² So in her view the brothers ended their rule as subjects of the Cholas.²

Successors

The brothers were followed by their sons, Lokamahipala and Bhima III, who also ruled jointly.¹ The 1932–33 report noted a Lokaraja in a Draksharama record of 1135, and thought he was probably Lokamahipala.⁶ Yashoda Devi took this to mean that Lokamahipala had served for fifteen years before he became ruler.⁷

Where the sources disagree

• How long they ruled. E. Hultzsch (1897) knew only their records of 1135.¹ The 1932–33 report added records of 1150 for Satya.⁶ Yashoda Devi used them to give the brothers a joint reign of fifteen years, from 1135 to 1150.²
• Their overlords. Yashoda Devi argued that the Chalukya-Vikrama dates of 1135 show Western Chalukya rule, and the dates of 1150 Chola rule.²⁸ Hultzsch, editing the records of 1135, gave the dates without drawing any such conclusion.¹

Footnotes

1. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Inscription of Mallideva” (1897), p. 86 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

2. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 81 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. V. Yashoda Devi, The History of Andhra Country, 1000 A.D.–1500 A.D. (1993), p. 80 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. E. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Inscription of Mallideva and Manma-Satya II; Saka-Samvat 1117”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1897), p. 85, table “The Chiefs of Konamandala” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 83 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

6. Annual Report on South-Indian Epigraphy for 1932–33 (1936), Part II, para. 10, p. 57 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 84 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

8. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 82 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩