Jayapa or Jaya was a military commander ('' senani'') under the

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their territory comprised much of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and p ...

king Ganapati-deva (r. c. 1199-1262 CE), whose core territory included the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-speaking region in present-day

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. Jayapa was a member of the Ayya family of the Divi island in the

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

delta. After Ganapati invaded the island, his family accepted the Kakatiya suzerainty, and Jayapa entered the Kakatiya service as a military commander. Ganapati later appointed him as the governor of newly-conquered territories, including Vela-nadu. Jayapa wrote ''Nṛutta Ratnavali'', a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language treatise on dancing and choreography.

Early life

Jayapa, also known as Jaya, belonged to the Ayya family of the Divi island in the

delta. Jayapa's father Pinni Choda (or Pina Chodi) was the ruler of the island. The Kakatiya king

Ganapati Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hi ...

invaded the island sometime around or before 1203 CE, as suggested by the 1203 CE Kondaparti inscription and another 1241 CE inscription of his Malayala chiefs. The Ayyas accepted the Kakatiya suzerainty, and Ganapati allowed them to retain the control of the island. Jayapa entered the Kakatiya service as a commander ('' senani''), as attested by his 1231 CE Ganapesvaram inscription. His sisters - Naramba and Peramba - married Ganapati.

Military career

Ganapati appointed Jayapa of Ayya family as the governor of the newly-conquered Vela-nadu region, as attested by his 1213 CE Chebrolu inscription. The appointment possibly happened earlier than 1213 CE, but this is not certain, as Jayapa's Chandavolu inscription is partially built in a wall, rendering its date unreadable. The 1213 CE Chebrolu inscription of Jayapa refers to Ganapati's military campaign against the southern kings. It states that upon his return from this campaign, Ganapati conferred the lordship of the southern region to Jayapa. The identity of the "southern region is not certain, but they were most probably the Nellore Choda chiefs, who were

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

vassals. Ganapati installed Tikka, a member of the Nellore Choda family and a rival claimant to the throne, as the ruler of Nellore. The 1231 CE Ganapesvaram inscription of Jayapa states that he subdued several countries including Chola, Kalinga,

Seuna The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a realm stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of the ...

, Brihat-Karnata, and

Lata Latha (Hindi: लता, Kannada: ಲತಾ) is a Hindu Indian female given name, which means "creeper" and "Durga". Latha may refer to: Notable people named Lata *Lata Mangeshkar (1929–2022), Indian singer. *Lata Bhatt (born 1954), Indian sin ...

; he also annexed Vela-nadu and Dvipa (Divi). It appears that Tikka faced invasion from rulers or chiefs belonging to these countries, and Ganapati helped Tikka repulse their invasion. Jayapa led the Kakatiya elephant force, as suggested by his title ''gaja-senani'' ("elephant commander").

Cultural contributions

Jayapa composed ''Nrutta Ratnavali'' (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: ''Nṛtta Ratnāvalī''), a

-language treatise on dancing and choreography. Both Desi and Margi forms of dances have been described in ''Nrutta Ratnavali''. It contains eight chapters. Folk dance forms like Perani, Prenkhana, Suddha Nartana, Carcari, Rasaka, Danda Rasaka, Siva Priya, Kanduka Nartana, Bhandika Nrityam, Carana Nrityam, Chindu, Gondali and Kolatam are described. In the first chapter the author deals with discussion of the differences between Marga and desi, tandava and lasya, Natya and nritta. In the 2nd and 3rd chapters he deals with angikabhinaya, caris, Sthanakas and mandalas. In the 4th Chapter Karnas, angaharas and recakas are described. In following chapters he described the local dance forms i.e. desi nritya. In the last chapter he deals with art and practice of dance. Jayapa built a temple (Ganapeswara) in the honour of Ganapatideva and made a grant of many villages to the temple (1231 CE). He built another temple (Chodeswara) in the name of his father Pinna Choda in Chebrolu (Guntur district) and made a grant of Modukuru village to meet the temple expenses. According to the Chebrolu inscription (21 April 1235 CE) he also built two-storied quarters in two rows for Devadasis (Temple dancers) in front of the temple.

References

Indian military leaders Indian military personnel Year of birth unknown Kakatiya dynasty

Bibliography

* * * {{ref end 13th-century Indian writers Kakatiya kingdom Telugu people Sanskrit writers