Context:
Two rare sculptural portraits of Kakatiya queen Rudrama Devi were unearthed and identified by an archaeologist on the premises of Sangameswara Swamy Temple at Teerthala village in Khammam district recently.
Relevance:
Prelims, GS-I: History, Art and Culture
Dimensions of the Article:
- Rudrama Devi
- Kakatiya dynasty
Rudrama Devi
- Rudrama Devi was a monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263-1289 (or 1295).
- She was one of the very few women to rule as monarchs in India and promoted a male image in order to do so.
- Rudrama Devi faced challenges from the Eastern Ganga dynasty and the Yadavas soon after beginning her rule.
- She was, however, unsuccessful in dealing with the internal dissent posed by the Kayastha chieftain Ambadeva after he became head of his line in 1273. Ambadeva objected to being subordinate to the Kakatiyas and he gained control of much of southwestern Andhra and what is now Guntur District.
- Rudrama Devi may have died in 1289 while fighting Ambadeva, although some sources say she did not die until 1295.
Kakatiya dynasty
- The Kakatiya dynasty was a South Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Their capital was Orugallu, now known as Warangal.
- Ganapati Deva (r. 1199–1262) significantly expanded Kakatiya lands during the 1230s and brought under Kakatiya control the Telugu-speaking lowland delta areas around the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
- Ganapati Deva was succeeded by Rudrama Devi (r. 1262–1289) and is one of the few queens in Indian history. Marco Polo, who visited India sometime around 1289–1293, made note of Rudrama Devi’s rule and nature in flattering terms.
- In 1303, Alauddin Khilji, the emperor of the Delhi Sultanate invaded the Kakatiya territory which ended up as a disaster for the Turks
- But after the successful siege of Warangal in 1310, Prataparudra II was forced to pay annual tribute to Delhi.
- Another attack by Ulugh Khan in 1323 saw stiff resistance by the Kakatiyan army, but they were finally defeated.
-Source: The Hindu
