Madakasira

Madakasira lies on the Mysore border in the south-west of the Anantapur district.¹ It stands below a steep hill “formed of gigantic rocks which rise sheer from the lower slopes”.¹ The Anantapur gazetteer of 1905 describes the fort that crowns the two peaks of the hill.¹

A southern path leads up “through narrow passages which a few resolute men could have held against an army”.¹ In one place it is “only a few feet in width and … walled in by perpendicular rocks which must be 50 feet in height”.¹ From the top Penukonda hill could be seen to the east.¹ See Mysore under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.

The chiefs of Sira

According to a tradition that the Anantapur gazetteer records, the present town was built by the chiefs of Sira in Mysore.¹² The gazetteer summarises Munro’s report of 1802 on their family.² It traced them to Hira Udaiyar, who under the Vijayanagara kings held twelve villages in Chitaldurg for military service and built the old fort at Sira.² When the Bijapur kings conquered the country, the family were “given Ratnagiri and Madakasira in exchange”.²

The Imperial Gazetteer adds that Hira Udaiyar served Vijayanagara with a thousand peons (foot soldiers).³ The chief temple is of Venkataramanasvami.¹ People in the town say that it was built by a blind minister of Morari Rao, whose sight was restored by the god of Tirupati.¹

Morari Rao and Haidar Ali

The gazetteer says: “In 1741 Morári Rao reduced the place and made the poligar pay tribute”.² His father Siddoji Rao, known as Hindu Rao, is said to be buried in the tomb east of the taluk office.²

The Imperial Gazetteer gives a different order.³ It says that the Marathas took Madakasira in 1728.³ Morari Rao took Ratnagiri in 1741 and imposed a tribute of Rs 8,000.³ See Gooty.

In 1762 Haidar Ali was angry at Morari Rao for helping the poligar (local military chief) of Chikballapur against him.² He swept through the south of Anantapur.² Wilks lists “Merg Sera” among the places he took that year.⁴

The gazetteer follows Kirmani’s history of Haidar.⁵⁶ Kirmani says that the commandant “was a brave man”, whose guns and musketry “killed a great many of the Nawaub’s troops”.⁵ Haidar mounted large guns on the hill to the north.⁶ He ordered his gunners to fire at the rocks above the houses of the fort.⁶ Kirmani writes that “as these rocks were knocked to pieces by the cannon balls, the fragments killed a number of the besieged, and scattered the rest”.⁶ The commandant surrendered on a promise of his men’s lives, and he was allowed his life and property.⁶

Haidar’s hold did not last.² Morari Rao recovered the place a year or two later.² In 1776, “like the rest of the district”, it fell again to Haidar.² The Imperial Gazetteer says that Haidar then demanded a tribute of Rs 15,000.³ When it was not paid on time, he sent the chief and his five sons prisoners to Srirangapatna (then Seringapatam).³

1799

The Musalmans held Madakasira until 1799.³ In the partition treaty of that year, “Murrugseera” appears in the Nizam’s share next to Penukonda, valued at 8,000 Kanthiraya pagodas.⁷ The Anantapur gazetteer says that the rest of the district went to the Nizam in 1799 and passed to the Company in 1800.⁸ See Penukonda.

Footnotes

1. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Anantapur (1905), p. 182 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Francis, Anantapur Gazetteer (1905), p. 183 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 492 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Vol. I (1810), p. 446 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

5. Mir Husain Ali Khan Kirmani, The History of Hydur Naik, tr. W. Miles (1842), p. 122 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

6. Kirmani, History of Hydur Naik, tr. Miles (1842), p. 123 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

7. C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, Vol. IX (4th ed., 1909), p. 63, partition treaty of Mysore, Schedule B (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

8. Francis, Anantapur Gazetteer (1905), p. 23 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩