The Kakatiyas-Rani Rudrama Devi

Rani Rudrama Devi was one of the greatest rulers of the Kakatiyas, and a great queen in Indian history. She was the daughter of Ganapati Deva, her real name was Rudramba, as he had no male heir, he raised her like a son, and gave her the name of Rudrama Deva. She ascended the throne somewhere in 1296 AD, however many of the feudatories revolted against her, not willing to accept a woman sitting on the throne. At the same time the Pandyas captured Nellore, while the Gajapati ruler Narasimha I invaded Vengi. It was under such challenging cirumstances Rudrama Devi showed her mettle.

She had to fight a lot of battles against feudatories, most of them vassals of her father, who revolted when she ascended the throne. Her first challenge came from her half brothers Harihara and Murari Deva, who ousted her from Orugallu. She rallied all her supporters together, defeated both of them, and claimed the throne.She also subdued most of the rebellious vassals, and bought them under her control. Her biggest challenge came from Mahadeva, the Yadava ruler of Devagiri, who attacked Orugallu with an 8 lakh strong army, and surrounded it. Rudrama Devi fought furiously for 10 days, and not just defeated Mahadeva, but chased him all the way back to Devagiri, made him sue for peace, and also obtained a tribute of 3 crore gold coins. The Yadavas never attacked Orugallu again. She was assisted in the war by her maternal uncle Jayapa Rudra, considered Ganapati Deva’s right hand man, who also wrote the books Gita Ratnavali, Nrutya Ratnavali. Some others who assisted her in the battle were Yerranaidu, Pothinaidu, as well as the Recharla chieftain Rudranayaka.

She married the Chalukyan prince of Nidadavolu, Veerabhadra and they had two daughters Mummadamma, Ruyamma. Having no male heir of her own, she nominated her grandson Prataparudra, daughter of Mummadamma as her successor, and coronated him as Yuvaraja. She however lost her husband in 1266, followed by the loss of her father Ganapati Deva due to old age in 1267, that would be a double blow to her.

When the Gajapatis under Bhanudeva, the son of Narasimha I, invaded Vengi in 1274 AD, she sent an army under her generals Potti Nayaka and Prola Nayaka, who repulsed the invasion and established the Kakatiya authority in much of coastal Andhra. One of her most loyal vassals was Gona Gannareddy of Buddhapuram, the son of Gona Buddhareddy, who on his death bed, asked his brother Lakumareddy, to look over his kingdom, till Gannareddy grows up to be capable enough. However when Rudramadevi ascended the throne, Lakumareddy was one of the chieftains who revolted, claiming he could never serve under a woman. It was Ganareddy who along with few others, formed a rebel army, and assisted Rudrama Devi against her enemies. When Lakumareddy tried to get rid of Gannareddy, he trapped him at Srisailam, and bought him as a prisoner to Rudrama Devi. During the Yadava invasion of Oruguallu, Ganareddy played a crucial role in routing Mahadeva’s army, and chasing him all the way back.

Amba Deva, who was defeated many a time by Rudrama Devi, swore revenge and was waiting for the right time. When the Pandyas, Cholas attacked Orugallu, he sensed an opportunity, and turned all other feudatories against her, at a time when they should have been supporting her. Rudrama Devi countered Amba Deva fiercely on the battle field, and once again defeated him. It’s believed that Amba Deva, got his men to kill Rudrama Devi when she was doing Puja on a Kartika Somavaram, and she was stabbed to death along with her faithful general Mallikarjuna Naidu, thus ending the life of one of the greatest queens of Indian history.

She was a wise administrator, and started the policy of appointing warriors and officers, from outside the aristocracy, a practice that was adopted by Prataparudra and later Vijayanagara Empire too. Her reign saw the rise of many Reddy, Velama chieftains notably Gona Gannareddy and Prasaditya. Another vassal Bhairava, assisted her in the campaigns in Vengi and against the Yadavas. She continued the fortification of Orugallu, raising the height of the wall, and surrounding it with a wide moat. She also comissioned the construction of an outer wall around 2.4km in diameter, and an additional 150 feet wide moat.

She also constructed a series of tanks to help the farmers in the arid Telangana region, using an interlinking system, by which when one tank overflows, the excess water would be drained off to another tank, through canals. This ensured that the water would never go waste, and these tanks would forever be brimming with water. Every village, town had these small tanks for water supply and drinking, as well as larger reservoirs like Pakala, Laknavaram, Ramappa, which supplied water to the entire kingdom. Her kingdom extended from Kanchi in South to Bastar in the North, and all the way up to the East Coast.

Rudrama Devi would be one of the greatest queens ever in Indian history, on par with the likes of Rani Durgavati, Rani of Jhansi, Ahilyabai Holkar, who not just fought innumerable battles and put down revolts, but also proved to be a wise and able administrator under whom the Kakatiya kingdom achieved great heights.