RANI RUDRAMA DEVI OF KAKATIYA DYNASTY

RANI RUDRAMA DEVI OF KAKATIYA DYNASTY :

Rani Rudramma Devi ( 1262-1295 CE )was one of the most prominent woman rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty on the Deccan Plateau in Indian history. Queen Rudramma Devi remains as one of India's most important woman and very few female rulers in south India for all time. Rani Rudramma Devi ruled from 1261 or 1262 until 1295 or 1296. Rudramadevi changed her name on her inscriptions and pretended she was a man.

It is said that Rani Rudrama Devi was married into a famil having Recharla surname. The uncle's name of rani rudramadevi is Recherla prasaditya nayaka. The surname of Brahma Naidu, a chieftain who participated in the terrible war of Palnadu, was also Recharla. Today we can see the people with Recharla Gotram among Mudiraj, Velama and Kamma communities. The Mudiraj community is very ancient and it's name can be traced to 1st Century A.D and even before. This once again indicates that Kakatiyas were the warriors relating to Mudiraj community and belonged to ancient bhil - koli - Erukala block of Dravidians. While bhil koli dravidians became experts in fishing, hydrology & water management, the bhil erukalas became experts in archary & hunting. It is already explained that Kakatiyas were Maharastrian Kaikadi branch of Erukalas ( A variant of Bhils ) belonging to Kaikadi branch. 

Kaikadi => Kakadi => Kakati => Kakatiya 

It is said that Mudiraj warriors occupied prominent positions and they headed the Research and Development Wing of Martial Arts in Kakatiya dynasty rule. 

It is said the Ekalavya belonged to Yerukala brach of Bhils. Erukalas are also known as Nishadhas in North India. There were several Nishadha kongdoms in North India during the time of Aryan invasions inside India. Ekalavya is said to be a king and son of a Nishadha Bhil king. Ekalavya's father worked for Jarasandh, who was an adversary of the Hastinapur kingdom. 

According to ballads, who narrate the story of Mudiraj ancestors during Ankamma Kolupu, it is said that one Dharma Choda Chari and his six brothers belonged to solar race and hailed from Devagiri in Maharastra. According to the story of ballads, the Mudiraj brothers were anti-yadavas and fought against them. The Kakatiya rulers also belonged to solar race and they also fought against Yadavas. 

It appears that according to some historians the Kakatiyas were Erukalas who initially worked as BONDED LABOURERS for Chalukya lords and ultimately came up to king level through hard work and struggle. It may be true as both Chalukyas and Kaikadi Erukalas were from Maharastra. The bhil - koli people are famous world over as labourers with simple living styles. The very alternative terms for labourers such as cooli ( koli ) and bantlu (Rama bantu hanuman) became very well known due to their honesty and hard working in nature. 

She was born, as Rudramba, to King Ganapathideva (or Ganapatideva, or Ganapathi Devudu). As Ganapathideva had no sons, Rudramma was formally designated as a son through the ancient Putrika ceremony and given the male name of Rudradeva. When she was only fourteen years old, Rani Rudramma Devi succeeded her father. Though Ganapatideva was alive until 1269 CE, he handed over the threads of administration to his daughter Rudramadevi in 1262 A.D. itself and retired from active politics. 

She ruled Andhra for 40 years in the thirteenth century with Warangal as her capital city. She was trained systematically in all the subjects and groomed to rule the country.She was a popular and sagacious ruler known for her shrewdness in statecraft. She dressed and ruled like a man in those times when women had no say in important matters. Her rule is described as the golden age in the history of Andhra desa.

The fort at Warangal was built with Geometric intricacies during the reign of Ganapathi Deva in 1199 AD . The construction continued even after the death of the king and was finally completed by his daughter, Rani Rudramadevi, in the year 1261 A.D. The main attraction here is the Warangal fort a big abandoned mud-brick fort with carved stones from wrecked Chalukyan temples set at random. The temple in it has four decorated gateways that bear a striking resemblance to the gateways at Sanchi. There are also some exquisite pieces of sculpture here. The remnants of the fort that are present in the city provide some useful insights of the past civilization that used to occupy these lands. It is located at a distance of 12 Kms from Hanamkonda. Warangal Fort with three concentric circuits of fortification is believed to have been planned by Ganapatideva. The inner granite fortification with 45 bastions, enclosing an area of 1.2 km, was built by Rudramadevi.

It is said that Golconda Fort dates back to the reign of the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal. Some historians attribute the initial construction of Golkonda mud fort to Rani Rudrama Devi. It was ceded to the Bahamanis and subsequently became the capital of the Qutb Shahi rulers (AD 1518 –1687). Bhongir Fort is well associated with the herioc queen Rudramadevi and her grandson Prataparudra's rule. 

Despite initial misgivings by some of her generals who resented a female ruler, she suppressd both uprisings within Kakatiya territory and incursions by neighboring kingdoms. In the beginning, Rudramadevi's half-brothers aided by certain nobles rebelled against her and they ousted her from the capital which she recaptured and put her half-brothers to death.

An able fighter and dynamic ruler, Rudramba defended the kingdom from the Cholas and the Yadavas, earning their respect. Kakatiya authority re-established in the Godavari valley with the help of Nayak commanders. 

Queen Rudrama Devi of the Kakateeya Dynasity wanted to bring large tracts of the Kakteeya Kingdom primarily the Telanga Region into Cultivation. With her Alliance with the Chalukyan Prince came the migration of these Agriculturits from Andhra.And Three Hundred ( Munnuru = 300 ) Families were dispatched to bring these vast Tracts of land under Cultivation. These fmailies are called as Munnuru Kapu. 

Among Rani Rudramma Devi's accomplishments during her reign was the completion of Warangal Fort, begun by her father, in the Kakatiya capital of Warangal (one stone hill). Parts of the fort are still standing, including examples of distinctive Kakatiya sculpture. 

Legend has it that due to her upbringing as a boy, Rani Rudrama was not much a connoisseur of music and art, but she was quite taken by a form of Shiva Tandavam. She found this dance more of an exercise to the soldiers and had it made part of the training of the royal force. Aknoor is one of the historical village near to siddipet where a great Shiva temple was established at the time of Rani Rudramadevi. Marco Polo who visited Orugallu during the rule of Rani Rudrama devi recorded his observations about a prevelent custom of dedicating girls ( DevaDasi) to religious services of temples there. 

Rudramadevi died in the month of November, 1289 CE., fighting battle against the rebel Kayastha chief Ambadeva. On the death of Rudrama, her grandson Prataparudra, who was adopted by her as son and as heir apparent on the advice of her father Ganapatideva, ascended the throne at the beginning of the year 1280 CE. 

Kakatiya Inscription : No. 395. (A. R. No. 94 of 1917.) On the huge Nandi pillar lying near the ruined temple in Malkapuram, Guntur Taluk, Guntur District. (Published in the Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. IV, pp. 147-64.) S. 1183. (Durmati) :Gives a detailed account of the Kakatiya family and of the foundation and pontifical succession of the Golaki-matha of the Saivas and states that king Ganapatideva promised the village of Mandara in the Velanadu-Kandravati country to his guru Visvesvara Sivacharya and that Ganapati's daughter Rudramadevi made a formal gift of that village along with the village of Velangapundi, that Visvesvara Siva established a new village with the name of Visvesvara-Golaki and peopled it with person of different castes brought from various parts of the country, that he also established the temple of Visvesvara, a Sanskrit college, a matha for Saivas, a choultry for feeding people without distinction of caste and creed, a general land a maternity hospital, besides some other things and that he made grants of land for the maintenance of all these institutions. Gives a detailed description of the administration of the trust and of the village affairs. Incidentally, it mentions a large number of other religious and charitable institutions established by Visvesvara Siva in several other places. Kakatiyas are described as belonging to the Solar race of Kshatriyas.