Kakatiya Dynasty

The 12th and the 13th century was the emergence of Kakatiyas. They were initially the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyana, ruling over a small territory near Warangal. A ruler of this dynasty, Prola II, who reigned from 1110 AD to 1158 AD, extended its sway to the south and declared independence. His successor Rudra (1158 - 1195 AD) pushed the kingdom to the north up to the Godavari delta. He built a fort at Warangal to serve as a new capital and faced the invasions of Yadavas of Devagiri.

The next ruler Mahadeva extended the kingdom to the coastal area. In 1199 AD, Ganapati succeeded him. He was the largest of the Kakatiyas and the first after Satavahanas to bring the entire Telugu area under one rule. He put an end to the rule in Velanati Chola in 1210 AD. He forced the Telugu Chola Vikramasimhapura to accept his sovereignty. He established order in his great dominion and encouraged trade.

As Ganapati Deva had no sons, his daughter Rudramba succeeded him in 1262 AD and carried on the administration. Some generals, who did not like being ruled by her, rebelled. She could, however, suppress internal rebellions and external invasions with the help of loyal subordinates. The Chola and Yadavas suffered such set backs at her hands that they can not think of disturbing her for the rest of her rule.

Prataparudra succeeded his grandmother Rudramba in 1295 AD and ruled till 1323 AD. He pushed the western border of his kingdom up to Raichur. He introduced many administrative reforms. He divided the kingdom into 75 Nayakships, which was later adopted and developed by the Rayas of Vijayanagara. In his time the territory constituting Andhra Pradesh had the first experience of a Muslim invasion. In 1303 AD, Delhi Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji sent an army to plunder the rich, but Prataparudra defeated them by Upparapalli in Karimnagar district. In 1310 AD, when another army under Malik Kafur invaded Warangal, Prataparudra given and agreed to pay a great tribute. In 1318 AD, when Ala-ud-din Khilji died, Prataparudra withheld the tribute. It provoked another invasion of the Muslims.

In 1321 AD Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu country then called Tilling. He laid siege to Warangal, but owing to internal strife he called off the siege and returned to Delhi. Within a short period, he came back with a much larger army. In spite of unpreparedness, Prataparudra fought bravely. For want of supplies, he surrendered to the enemy who sent him to Delhi as a prisoner, and he died on the road. Thus ended the Kakatiya rule, opening the gates of the Telugu land to anarchy and confusion, giving space to an alien ruler.