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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Singabhupala (Recherla)

Recherla Velama king of Rachakonda (late 14th century), son of Anapota Nayaka. He wrote the Rasarnavasudhakara, a Sanskrit book on drama whose opening verses are the fullest early account of his family. Later tradition calls him, or a namesake of the next century, Sarvajna ('the all-knowing') Singa, patron of Srinatha and Potana. Who was who is disputed.

Singabhupala, also called Singa or Singama Nayaka, was a son of Anapota Nayaka of the Recherla family.12 He ruled from Rachakonda after him.12 He is remembered above all as the author of the Rasarnavasudhakara (“the moon risen from the ocean of rasa”), a Sanskrit work on the art of drama.12 See the Recherla Velamas.

The author of the Rasarnavasudhakara

T. Ganapati Sastri edited the work for the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series in 1916, from six palm-leaf manuscripts.1 He wrote that its introduction “shows that it was written by Singabhupala of the Rechalla dynasty who ruled over the country lying between the Vindhyas and Srisaila, of which Rajachalam was the hereditary capital”.1 He added that the author “was born of Ananta alias Anapota and Annamamba”.1 The author’s great-grandfather and grandfather were Dachaya-nayaka and Singaprabhu.1

He judged it a clear and detailed account, in three chapters, of the rules of drama that the Dasarupaka treats briefly.3 He knew of no other work on the art of drama “so comprehensive and at the same time so simple”.3

The opening verses tell the family’s story, from Dachaya’s victory over the Pandya king’s elephants to the reign of the author himself.42 According to the Rasarnavasudhakara, Anapota and Annamamba had two sons: the elder, Devagirisvara, and the younger, Singabhupala.2 It says that the king and his sons lived in Rajachala, the capital that had come down in his family.5 They protected the land between the Vindhya mountains and Srisailam (our paraphrase of verses 40–42).5

M. Seshagiri Sastri reported on the manuscript, which the Madras government acquired in 1896–97.67 He called it “historically the most important” of that year.67 He read the same verses as a family tree of the ancestors of the Rajas of Venkatagiri.67

One Singa or two?

The family histories know more than one Singa. The sources do not agree which of them wrote the book or bore the title Sarvajna, “the all-knowing”. Seshagiri Sastri’s manuscript ends its family tree with the author as the seventh of the line.87 But a printed life of the Rajas of Venkatagiri, compiled from their palace records, made the author a Singama of the tenth generation, the son of a later Anapota.87 On the strength of that book, Seshagiri Sastri dated the author to about 1330.87

A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar, writing in 1940, noted that the Velugotivari Vamsavali knows three chiefs named Singa.9 Of these, Singa III, who came to power in 1425, was called Sarvajna.9 The author of the Rasarnavasudhakara, a Singa son of Anavota, had been identified with Singa II and placed about 1380.9

The prose chronicle of 1910 also separates two Singabhupalas, of the seventh and tenth generations.1011 It gives the dedication of the Telugu Bhoginidandakamu to the later one.1011 It makes him a contemporary of the Vijayanagara king Praudha Devaraya.1011 Epigraphia Telanganica lists a Singama Nayaka III, “Sarvaga Rao”, from 1430 to 1475.12

The census survey of the Nalgonda district (1964) makes Singama II, ruling from 1384 to 1399, the scholar called Sarvajna and the author of the Rasarnavasudhakara.13 It makes Singama III a later king who fought the Bahmanis.13 The dates given here, 1384 to 1399, are the census survey’s, and no inscription of this Singa has been read for this page.

Scholars and poets at his court

A Vaishnava life of the teachers, the Guruparamparaprabhava, tells of Nainaracharya, the son of the teacher Vedanta Desika.147 It says that he went to the court of Singama Nayadu, defeated the scholar Sakalyamalla in debate and established the Vaishnava faith there.147 A commentary on Desika’s poem Subhashitanivi says that the poem was written for Singama Nayadu and sent to him as a present.147

Ramanatha Ayyar observed that Desika dedicated three works to a chief who is called a son of Madhava-nayaka.15 So that chief cannot be this Singa, son of Anavota, and Ramanatha Ayyar left his identity open.15 Epigraphia Telanganica suggests that this son of Madhava was Venna of Kandikonda.16

Telugu tradition links the poets Srinatha and Bammera Potana with a Sarvajna Singa. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar’s Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919) prints verses attributed to Srinatha.17 They are said to have been composed when he visited the court of “the Velama ruler Sarvagna Singa Bhupala”.17 In them he prays to the goddess of learning for success in the debates there.17

P. Chenchiah and M. Bhujanga Rao wrote in 1928 that Potana lived in Singa’s lands.18 They wrote that he “was persecuted because he would not dedicate his Bhagavata to him”.18

Seshagiri Sastri wrote that Singama supported both Potana and Srinatha.71920 He said that Srinatha composed the Bhoginidandakamu in his honour.71920 But H. H. Wilson’s catalogue of the Mackenzie manuscripts (1828) and the later family histories give the Bhoginidandakamu to Potana.71920 See Bammera Potana.

The census survey also names Visvesvara among the poets he supported.13 Wilson describes a Telugu-script manuscript of the Chamatkara-chandrika of Visvesvara Kavi as “a poetical and panegyrical account of Sinha Bhupala”.2122 But he makes this Sinha Bhupala a chief of Pithapur in the Rajahmundry district.2122 He describes another work of 1416 in praise of a “Sarvajna Sinha Nayudu”.2122 He says this man came from Kanakagiri and made Pithapur or Peddapur his capital.2122 The public-domain sources read for this page do not settle whether Visvesvara wrote for the king of Rachakonda.

Other works and descendants

Alladi Jagannatha Sastri wrote a family history in 1922.23 It credits a Sarvajna Singa Bhupathi, the author of the “Singabhupaliyam” (the Rasarnavasudhakara), with a commentary on the Sangitaratnakara, the book on music.23 It also credits him with other Sanskrit works that earned him the title Sarvajna.23

According to the Devalanagaram inscription of 1429, Ravu Madhava was the son of Singa and the grandson of Annapota.24 The inscription stands on the bank of the tank Nagasamudram, near the village of Nagaram, north of Rachakonda.2425 The 1910 chronicle prints it.2425 It says that Ravu Madhava wrote a commentary called Raghaviya on the Ramayana in the year Plavanga, Saka 1349 (1427; Saka is an Indian way of counting years).2425 It says that his queen Nagamba dug the tank.2425 See the Devalanagaram inscription of Nagamba.

Footnotes

  1. T. Ganapati Sastri, preface to Singabhupala, The Rasarnavasudhakara (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series No. L, 1916), p. i (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Singabhupala, Rasarnavasudhakara, ed. Ganapati Sastri (1916), p. 4, verses 24–27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Translation and paraphrase ours. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Ganapati Sastri, preface to The Rasarnavasudhakara (1916), p. ii (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. Singabhupala, The Rasarnavasudhakara, ed. T. Ganapati Sastri (1916), p. 1, verses 5–6 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrase ours. ↩

  5. Singabhupala, Rasarnavasudhakara, ed. Ganapati Sastri (1916), p. 7, verses 40–42 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrase ours. ↩ ↩2

  6. Seshagiri Sastri, Report on a Search for Sanskrit and Tamil Manuscripts (1898), p. 7 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Seshagiri Sastri, Report on a Search for Sanskrit and Tamil Manuscripts (1898), pp. 9–10 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  8. Seshagiri Sastri, Report on a Search for Sanskrit and Tamil Manuscripts (1898), p. 8 and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar, “Conjeeveram Inscription of Brahma-tantra-svatantra-Jiyar: Saka 1282”, Epigraphia Indica XXV (1939–40), p. 323 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. Vellala Sadasiva Sastri, Velugotivari Vamsacaritramu (1910), introduction, pp. 60–61 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Telugu; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Sadasiva Sastri, Velugotivari Vamsacaritramu (1910), introduction, pp. 64–65 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Telugu; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica, vol. 4 (2023), p. 11, list of rulers. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  13. A. Chandra Sekhar (ed.), Census of India 1961, Vol. II, Part VII-B (20): Fairs and Festivals, Nalgonda District (1964), Section I (Nalgonda taluk), entry “Rajkonda” (PDF p. 23) (censusindia.gov.in (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. M. Seshagiri Sastri, Report on a Search for Sanskrit and Tamil Manuscripts for the Year 1896-97, No. 1 (1898), p. 4 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Ramanatha Ayyar, “Conjeeveram Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXV (1939–40), p. 324 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  16. Epigraphia Telanganica, vol. 4 (2023), p. 31, No. 12. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  17. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 61 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao, A History of Telugu Literature (1928), p. 25 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  19. Wilson, The Mackenzie Collection, Vol. I (1828), p. 321 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. Jagannatha Sastri, Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas (1922), p. 30 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. H. H. Wilson, The Mackenzie Collection, Vol. I (1828), pp. 104–105 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  22. Wilson, The Mackenzie Collection, Vol. I (1828), pp. 106–107 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. Alladi Jagannatha Sastri, A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas (1922), p. 28 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  24. Sadasiva Sastri, Velugotivari Vamsacaritramu (1910), appendix, pp. 43–45 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Sanskrit; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  25. Sadasiva Sastri, Velugotivari Vamsacaritramu (1910), appendix, pp. 46–47 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Sanskrit; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

Dynasties

Recherla Velamas

c. 1336–1475 CE

A family of Telugu warrior chiefs of the Recherla line and the Velama (Padmanayaka) community who rose after the fall of the Kakatiyas. Singama Nayaka's sons Anapota and Mada overthrew the Musunuri chief Kapaya Nayaka about 1368. They ruled Telangana from the hill forts of Rachakonda and Devarakonda for about a century, between the Bahmanis, the Reddis, Vijayanagara and the Gajapatis of Orissa. The king Singabhupala wrote the Sanskrit Rasarnavasudhakara, and tradition links the poets Srinatha and Potana with their court.

References

Sources (10)
  1. Singabhupala; ed. T. Ganapati Sastri, The Rasarnavasudhakara of Singabhupala (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series No. L) (opens in a new tab), Government of His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore, Trivandrum, 1916, i–ii, 1–7. Preface and opening verses; translation ours. [Public domain]
  2. M. Seshagiri Sastri, Report on a Search for Sanskrit and Tamil Manuscripts for the Year 1896-97, No. 1 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1898, pp. 4, 7–10. [Public domain]
  3. N. P. Chakravarti (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXV (1939–40) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1940, pp. 323–324. A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  4. Vellala Sadasiva Sastri, Velugotivari Vamsacaritramu leka Venkatagirirajula Vamsacaritramu (వెలుగోటివారి వంశచరిత్రము) (opens in a new tab), Madras (Chennapuri), 1910, introduction 60–65; appendix 43–47. Telugu; paraphrased. [Public domain]
  5. Alladi Jagannatha Sastri, A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas (opens in a new tab), Addison Press, Madras, 1922, pp. 28–30. [Public domain]
  6. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1919, pp. 61. [Public domain]
  7. P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao, A History of Telugu Literature (The Heritage of India Series) (opens in a new tab), Association Press (Y.M.C.A.), Calcutta / Oxford University Press, London, 1928, pp. 25, 64. [Public domain]
  8. H. H. Wilson, The Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts of the South of India, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Asiatic Press, Calcutta, 1828, pp. 104–107, 321. [Public domain]
  9. A. Chandra Sekhar (Census of India), Census of India 1961, Vol. II: Andhra Pradesh, Part VII-B (20): Fairs and Festivals, Nalgonda District (opens in a new tab), Superintendent of Census Operations, Andhra Pradesh, 1964, Section I, 'Rajkonda'. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  10. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.); Gautam Pingle (gen. ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica, Vol. 4: Post-Kakatiya Telangana, Dr MCR Human Resource Development Institute, Government of Telangana, 2023, pp. 11, 31, 34–36. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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