Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
upto 1565 A. D.
DURGA PRASAD
P. G. PUBLISHERS
GUNTUR-10
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April, 1988.
Guntur. J. DURGA PRASAD
CONTENTS
Pages
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1. Sources of History of Andhras till 1565 A.D. 1 -5
2 Aryanization of the Andhra country and its condition
in the pre-Mauryan and Mauryan periods 6-8
CHAPTER VII THE AGE OF THE MUSUNURl CHIEFS AND THE REDDIS
1. The Musunuri Chiefs 165-172
2. The Reddis of Kondavidu and Rajahmundry 172-180
3- The relations between the Reddis and the Reyas
of Vijayanagara 180-187
ILLUSTRATIONS
Introduction
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES.
LITERARY SOURCES.
The literary sources for ancient and medieval Andhra
history may be divided into indigenous and foreign. Early
references to the Andhras were found in indigenous literature
which includes sriti and smriti works like the Aitareya Brahmana,
4 HISTORY OF THE ANDHRAS
the Epics, the Puranas, the early Buddhist and Jain works.
Gunadhya's Brhatkatha, Hala's Gathasaptasati and Vatsyayana's
Kamasutras reflected the social and cultural life of the Sata-
vahana period. Mention was made to the details of the
Rashtrakuta-Eastern Chalukya conflicts in poet Pampa's Gade-
yuddha and Vikramarjuna Vijaya, both Kannada Kavyas, His-
torical data relating to the Kakatiya, Reddi and Vijayanagara
times was obtained from the Sanskrit and Telugu literary
works dedicated by poets and scholars to their royal and
princely patrons. Purely literary works and quasi-historical
kavyas like Prataparudra Yasobhushanam, Siddheswara Chan-
tramu, Somadevarajiyamu, Saluvabhyudayamu, Rayavachakamu,
Rangarajacharitra and others, after being purged of all exag-
gerations, provided some solid historical information relating
to the deeds of the kings, princes and potentates. The Kalaj-
nanas and Vamsavalis also rendered help in the reconstruction
of history.
Apart from these works, some glorified popular ballads
like the 'Siege of Bobbili' and ballads relating to Sarvaya Papadu
and others threw light on the courage, heroism and reckless
valour of the local heroes of different Andhra regions. Another
interesting source of historical information relates to the
'Kaifiyats', These were local revenue records maintained by
village karnams during the medieval and later periods relating
to details of the village lands, their nature, ownership, and
payable tax etc. Changes in the political set up, revenue
assessment and life of the village were faithfully recorded in
these village annals which are of great value now as sources
of historical information. Colonel Colin Mackenzie and sub-
sequently C.P. Brown, the two Britishers, rendered yeomen
service in getting these records collected and copied. These
local chronicles provided valuable historical material especially
from the age of the Vijayanagara Rayas to the British period.
In the Indian Muslim historical writings of the medieval
period, only passing references to the events in Andhra were
made. For example. Allauddin Khilji's invasions of Andnra
were referred as part of his southern conquests in Amir Khusru's
Persian works especially in his Tarikh-i-Alai. Isami gave an
Introduction 5
The Satavahanas
VIDARBHA ORIGIN
MAHARASHTRA ORIGIN
ANDHRA ORIGIN
The theory that the eastern part of Deccan, i.e. Andhradesa
was the homeland of the Satavahanas, is championed by
16 HISTORY OF THE ANDHRAS
2)
18 HISTORY OF THE ANDHRAS
gave only the kings of the main line, and that Vayu's statement
that 17 kings ruled for 300 years. The point to be borne in
mind is that Vayu also in its general statement mentioned
30 kings with a total reign of 411 years. If in Bhandarkar's
view, Vayu gave only the names of the kings of the main line,
it had surprisingly omitted the name of Pulomavi II, who
was a king of the main line, succeeded to the throne after
Gautamiputra. Therefore, the argument and the view expressed
by R.G. Bhandarkar may be rejected and the Matsya Purana
may be accepted in preference to the other Puranas as our
authority, for it is fuller in details with regard to the number
and names of the Andhra kings and also as it is in harmony
with the general statements of the other Puranas including
the Vayu which allot more than 400 years to the Andhra
dynasty.
The Satavahanas did not hold the western Deccan for long.
They were gradually pushed out of the west by the Sakas
(Western Khatrapas). The Kshaharata Nahapana's coins in
the Nasik area indicate that the Western Kshatrapas controlled
this region by the first century A.D. By becoming master of
wide regions including Malwa, Southern Gujarat, and Northern
Konkan, from Broach to Sopara and the Nasik and Poona dis-
tricts, Nahapana rose from the status of a mere Kshatrapa in
the year 41 (58 A.D.) to that of Mahakshatrapa in the year
46 (63 A.D.).
3)