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Sriranga I (Vijayanagara)

Sriranga I, son of Tirumala, was the second king of Vijayanagara's Aravidu dynasty, ruling from Penukonda from 1572 to about 1585. As a prince he had governed the Telugu country from Udayagiri and taken Kondavidu and Vinukonda. As king he faced rebel chiefs and three attacks by Bijapur on Penukonda, in one of which he was taken prisoner. About 1579–80 the Golconda army took Vinukonda, Bellamkonda, Kondavidu and Udayagiri, and the Telugu province was lost. He won back the country round Ahobilam. He died without a son.

Sriranga I was the second king of Vijayanagara’s Aravidu dynasty. He ruled from Penukonda, in the present Anantapur district, from 1572 to about 1585.12 He was a son of King Tirumala, and before he became king he governed the Telugu country.3 In his reign Golconda took most of that Telugu province, and Bijapur pressed on Penukonda itself.45 See Vijayanagara and Tirumala.

Prince of the Telugu country

H. Heras wrote that the capital of Sriranga’s viceroyalty was Udayagiri, “in the heart of the Telugu country”.3 A grant of his brother Venkatapati says: “Making Udayagiri his residence, he conquered Kondavidu, Vinikondapura and other forts, and began to rule at Penukonda.”3 Several other grants say the same.3 After he took Kondavidu, he is also called its governor.3

The poem Vasucharitramu says that Tirumala made Sriranga Yuvaraja (crown prince), and that he looked after the affairs of the whole empire.6 Heras thought this happened at the end of 1571.6 See Udayagiri and Kondavidu.

King at Penukonda

Heras says that Sriranga followed his father at the beginning of 1572.1 Grants say that he was crowned “to the kingdom of Penugonda”, and that at his coronation his gifts wiped out poverty for good men.17 His queens were Tirumala Devi and Krishnamba.7

Some writers said that he moved the capital to Chandragiri, but Heras found no contemporary source for this.7 Inscriptions from almost every year of the reign show him “ruling at Penukonda”.78 A temple of Kesavasvami at Penukonda was dedicated in 1580.2

His officers included Pemmasani Pedda Timmaraja and the minister Timmaya.89 Another officer, Rayasam Venkatapati, wrote the Telugu poem Lakshmivilasam, and took his name from his office of despatch-writer.9 The king gave him a village and gold jewels.9

In his first years the king had to put down rebel chiefs.9 Heras thought the disorder after Sadasiva’s murder lasted into the first four years of his reign.9 His grants say that he reduced “the eighty-four hill forts”.9

Wars with Bijapur

Heras counts three attacks by Bijapur on Penukonda in this reign.5

  • About 1575 Ali Adil Shah advanced on Penukonda. Sriranga asked Ibrahim Qutb Shah of Golconda for help, and their armies together made the sultan withdraw.10
  • Probably in 1576 Bijapur came again. In a great battle the king was taken prisoner, and his army was routed.11
  • In 1577 the attack was renewed. Jagadeva Raya, the chief of Baramahal, defended the fort and drove off the besiegers.1213

After the second battle, the land north of Penukonda passed to Bijapur for good.11 The chief Hande Malakappa Nayadu went over to the sultan.11 Heras thought the king soon won his freedom with a heavy ransom, because inscriptions of 1577 again show him ruling at Penukonda.12 The king rewarded Jagadeva Raya with a large territory, with its capital at Channapatna.13

The Telugu province lost

Ibrahim Qutb Shah then broke his alliance with Sriranga.13 With Hande Malakappa Nayadu he took the country round Ahobilam.13 An inscription of 1584–85 at Ahobilam tells what followed.1314 The religious teacher Van Sathagopa Swami asked the king to win back the temple lands.13 The king sent two of his chiefs, Kondaraju Venkataraju and Kondaraju Tirumalaraju, who defeated the Hande chiefs and the sultan’s other allies and restored the temples.14

At the end of 1579 or early in 1580, the Golconda army entered the Udayagiri province.14 It crossed the Krishna and took Inakonda, Kacherlakota and Cumbum, and then, after a long siege, the fort of “Kandbir”.1415 An inscription of the Golconda commander at Aminabad lists more forts taken: Vinukonda, Bellamkonda, Tangeda, Kondavidu and Udayagiri.15 Kondavidu, Heras says, was surrendered in 1580 by a governor who took bribes.15

Heras wrote that in this way the greatest part of the Telugu country passed to the Golconda sultan, “and was lost for ever to Vijayanagara”.4 Even so, inscriptions in the southern parts went on naming the Vijayanagara kings as overlords.4 See the Qutb Shahis and Ibrahim Qutb Shah.

Death

Sriranga’s last inscription is of 1584–85.2 An inscription at Ahobilam names him in 1584, and another by the same chief names his brother Venkatapati as king in 1585.2 So Heras thought Sriranga died in about the first half of 1585.2 He left no son, but he had at least one son-in-law.2 His brother Venkatapati followed him.2 See Venkatapati II.

Heras judged the reign “one of the most fatal periods” in the history of Vijayanagara.5 The only land won back, in his view, was the country round Ahobilam in the Kurnool district.5

Where the sources disagree

  • His reign. Heras has him reign from the beginning of 1572 to about the first half of 1585.12 Sewell’s later work gives 1578–1586, because it has Tirumala’s reign end in 1578.1617 Sewell (1900) wrote that Tirumala was followed in 1575 by his son, whom he called Ranga II.18
  • His capital. Some later writers said he moved the capital to Chandragiri. Heras found inscriptions from nearly every year of the reign that place him at Penukonda.78

Footnotes

  1. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 264 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 277 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. H. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I (1927), p. 255 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 275 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 279 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 260 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 265 and notes (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  8. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 266 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 267 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  10. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 269 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 270 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 271 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 272 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  14. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 273 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty, Vol. I (1927), p. 274 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Robert Sewell, ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 402, pedigree of the Aravidu dynasty (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  17. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 404, notes to the pedigrees (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  18. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) (1900), p. 218 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Vijayanagara Empire

c. 1336–1646 CE

Harihara and Bukka founded this South Indian empire about 1336 on the Tungabhadra. The Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties ruled it in turn. It held Rayalaseema and the Nellore country from the fourteenth century. It fought the Reddis, the Velamas, the Bahmanis and the Gajapatis of Orissa for the Telugu coast. Under Krishnadeva Raya it took Udayagiri, Kondavidu and Kondapalli and marched to Simhachalam. Its court made Telugu a language of high poetry. After the defeat of 1565 its kings ruled from Penukonda and Chandragiri, until Golconda took the last of the Telugu districts in the 1640s.

References

Sources (3)
  1. Henry Heras, The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I (1542-1614) (opens in a new tab), B. G. Paul and Co., Madras, 1927, pp. 255, 260, 264–279. [Public domain]
  2. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India (opens in a new tab), Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1900, pp. 218. [Public domain]
  3. 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. 402, 404. Public domain in India; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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